Genovesa Island
Also known as Tower Island, this is a land dedicated to the birds. Squabbling aerial fights were continuously distracting us during the day, the great frigate birds harassing boobies, gulls, tropicbirds as well as each other. This inbred tendency to steal from others leads even juvenile frigates who have no intention of building a nest in the next eight to nine years, to snatch twigs from the hard-working red-footed boobies trying to complete their nests in time for an egg to be laid, completing the cycle of life. The fully-inflated red gular pouches of the male frigates shimmied with vibrating passion as females searching for the perfect mate (and location) flew overhead. They created waves of sound that followed in their wake, telling everyone where the available female was checking out the best real estate options and their owners.
The morning had us convinced the cool season had arrived, what with a misty overcast sky keeping temperatures fresher than ever. This didn’t stop the snorkelers however, and huge parrotfish and schools of surgeonfish were spotted.
By afternoon, however, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining full force. A short-eared owl caught a Galápagos storm petrel in front of a group of guests visiting Prince Philip’s Steps, and promptly stuffed it into a crack a few feet away for safe-keeping and presumably later consumption. With the sunshine seemed to come an increased ardour, the instinctive necessity to get on with courtship, breeding, nesting and chick-raising. Two swallow-tailed gulls had the beach practically to themselves.
Also known as Tower Island, this is a land dedicated to the birds. Squabbling aerial fights were continuously distracting us during the day, the great frigate birds harassing boobies, gulls, tropicbirds as well as each other. This inbred tendency to steal from others leads even juvenile frigates who have no intention of building a nest in the next eight to nine years, to snatch twigs from the hard-working red-footed boobies trying to complete their nests in time for an egg to be laid, completing the cycle of life. The fully-inflated red gular pouches of the male frigates shimmied with vibrating passion as females searching for the perfect mate (and location) flew overhead. They created waves of sound that followed in their wake, telling everyone where the available female was checking out the best real estate options and their owners.
The morning had us convinced the cool season had arrived, what with a misty overcast sky keeping temperatures fresher than ever. This didn’t stop the snorkelers however, and huge parrotfish and schools of surgeonfish were spotted.
By afternoon, however, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining full force. A short-eared owl caught a Galápagos storm petrel in front of a group of guests visiting Prince Philip’s Steps, and promptly stuffed it into a crack a few feet away for safe-keeping and presumably later consumption. With the sunshine seemed to come an increased ardour, the instinctive necessity to get on with courtship, breeding, nesting and chick-raising. Two swallow-tailed gulls had the beach practically to themselves.
