Tower Island

When we disembarked this morning on a small beach covered with chunks and pebbles made of white coral, seabirds immediately surrounded us. I have worked for twenty-two years as a naturalist in Galapagos but have never spent a more rewarding three hours on this tiny beach of Tower Island. Frigatebirds and redfooted boobies soared overhead. Half grown frigate chicks screeched at every passing adult, loudly demanding food, from dilapidated and guano covered nests. But most interesting of all, the swallow-tailed gulls were breeding. These lovely white, grey and black birds - with red highlights - almost seem to me to have been designed, not by chance evolution, but by an artist! As we strolled along the sandy beach trail one group of Polaris guests, lead by Naturalist Emma Ridely, paused to study a female gull that was puffed and crouched beside her mate. Only a few of us were actually watching when she … laid an egg! Thirty meters away, another group of guests with Naturalist Carlos Romero, watched a gull cough and struggle to bring up food to feed its hungry chick. What a thrill we had as we watched while a big hunk of slimy squid, a good eight inches long, was quickly passed from the adult to the wide open mouth of the chick. It took the chick several minutes of swallowing and rearranging to get the huge mouthful down. Truly, one never tires of these islands! It is an almost indescribable delight to be able to watch birds and animals in their natural habitat, going about their normal behaviors, and just a few meters away from our enchanted guests!