It has been a spectacular trip after so many weeks away from the Galapagos. The chance to observe a feeding frenzy that involved pelicans, boobies, penguins, sharks and stingrays, all at the same time, was a great welcome back. After several weeks in the Farallon Islands working on my bird research project, I felt myself immersed in the Galapagos wildlife. I had the opportunity to work with different seabird species in the last years but still the Galapagos are unbeatable. So this week was a surprise to see a new species in our Islands, never seen before in the Northwestern part of the Galapagos and very rare on itself (first sighting for all Polaris Staff).
It arrived on board sometime during the night as we cruised to the west, and was discovered in the morning on the teak deck, a bit disheveled, by some of our guests. I gave it time to dry out before opening my hands. It sat there for almost five minutes as it adjusted to the light, and then flew off. The bird was the white-faced storm petrel, a.k.a. frigate storm petrel. It is very different to the other recorded storm petrels. It has a gray upper part, slightly darker on the wings, with the undersurface being all white. The face is white and it contrasts against a black crown and a black patch behind the eye. In the air it is easy to recognize from the black legs with yellow webs hanging well behind the tail.
Great week!
