What a great way to begin our day, with an early hike on Espumilla Beach, through the mangrove area and its surroundings. The trail lead us all the way up a hill, to a palo santo forest, where we had an amazing view of the lagoons, the coast and the highlands. We saw white-cheeked pintail ducks, Galapagos hawks, Galapagos doves, mockingbirds, Galapagos flycatchers, yellow warblers and different species of finches.
We were able to see a Galapagos dove sitting on a nest, as well as two finch nests; this allowed us to differentiate the nest building techniques between the two birds. Did you know that these doves take the abandoned nest of mockingbirds and fix them in order to occupy them? What an interesting way to recycle, don’t you think?
We had the amazing opportunity to see the Galapagos hawk, on the top of a cliff in the distance. He is an incredible predator, and also a scavenger, who feeds on virtually anything. This is the only species of land birds in the Galapagos that practices ‘co-operative polyandry’, which means that each female will mate with more than one male, who will help her to incubate the eggs, and also to feed the baby hawks.
Late in the afternoon, we disembark on Puerto Egas for a relaxing walk. We began on the coastline discovering oyster catchers, lava herons, marine iguanas and fur sea lions. Contemplating the landscape was the ideal way to end our day, before walking back to the beach on a beautiful trail, where colorful lava lizards are often spotted.
So far, every day has being a great experience, and we are building incredible memories on this expedition of discovery!
