A whirlwind morning--final packing, vacating our cabins so they can be readied for the next group (arriving on the plane that will take us back to the mainland), enjoying breakfast and conversation as we exchanged email addresses with several of our fellow travelers, and one last trip around the NG Endeavour.
Veranda deck
Sun Deck
Observation Deck (Kevin and the kayaks--sounds like the name of a band!)
Before I get to the afternoon hike, let me tell you about the rest of the morning.
When we returned from the beach walk, Kevin and I had our second kayaking outing for the week. We kayaked from near the east end of the opening into Darwin Bay to near the beach where we spent the morning, about halfway around the edge of the caldera. We followed pretty close to the wall, watching for mostly for fish and sea lions. We also saw many red-billed tropicbirds, but I have no photos of them. You can see what one looks like here: Red-billed tropicbird
It was a beautiful outing and I just kept marveling that we were kayaking inside an extinct volcano's caldera!
Our afternoon hike started at Prince Philip's Steps, named after the Duke of Edinburgh who visited here in the 1960s. There is a steep rock staircase with railings to get from the landing area to where we hiked. However, we had some delays in disembarking from the Zodiac because the sea lions were resting on the dock area. Clapping, yelling, and waving an orange life vest in their faces got them to move enough so some of us could disembark, but the routine had to be repeated a couple times before our whole group was off the Zodiac.
Then it was up the steps and onto the high ground.
The first area we walked through was a nesting area for Nazca and red-footed boobies. Unlike the beach area, many of the Nazca booby chicks were just hatchlings or still only eggs!
Yes, we could get quite close!
Nazca boobies lay 2 eggs about 5-7 days apart and generally both hatch. The second egg is really just insurance in case the first does not hatch or the chick dies in the first few days. If the first chick survives, it commits siblicide--it pushes the younger, smaller, weaker chick out of the nest. Exposed and unfed, it dies of cold, starvation, or as prey for other birds. The adults do not interfere.
And the Nazca boobies were also courting...
We also saw great frigate birds, red-footed boobies, and ground finches.
Great frigate bird
Red-footed booby chick
Ground finch
But our main objective was to find short-eared owls. The short-eared owls on Genovesa Island are diurnal (active during the day). While they will sometimes seek their prey by hovering and then diving, feet first, to secure the prey in their powerful beaks, they have developed another method of hunting on Genovesa. They will frequent the nesting areas of storm petrels, sitting quietly along the lava fields and faults, ready to jump on adult or young petrels as they enter or leave their nests in the lava tubes.
We were fortunate to spot 4 of these owls, each one on the ground, waiting near an opening. Some were sleeping but the arrival of their prey wakes them immediately. Each owl were saw was closer to us.
#1--Really hard to spot and very hard to photograph clearly
#2--Our view is mostly blocked by the rocks
#3--we could get within about 12-15 feet of it
#3
#3
#4--Less than 5 feet from us
Here are a few other photos from our hike.
These are mature marine iguanas. Notice how they are so much smaller and less colorful than the ones we saw on some of the other islands.
Lava Cactus
Almost sunset and time to carefully make our way back down Prince Philip's Steps.
After getting back into our Zodiac, we motored slowly along the caldera wall and soon we spotted the other species of sea lion that lives in the Galápagos Islands. It is called a fur seal, but it is NOT a seal, it is a sea lion. There are a number of differences, but the easiest one is that sea lions have external ears. The fur seal's snout looks more bear-like than the other sea lions we've been seeing. Neither of these photos is very clear--it was getting dark and hard to focus, especially as the Zodiac rode the waves.
Back to the ship for the Captain's Farewell Cocktail Party and dinner, and then it was time to pack.
During the night we crossed the equator--didn't even feel the bump! :)
This morning we maneuvered through a narrow opening into Darwin Bay at Genovesa Island, which is really huge submerged caldera of the dormant volcano. You can see the opening to the right beyond the ship and the range finders that help guide the ships into the Bay.
This was taken from the Zodiac as we went toward shore.
We landed on a white coralline beach and had a leisurely time in the area, mostly bird-watching. And there were many, many birds to watch! As we strolled, we encountered and re-encountered swallow-tailed gulls, ground finches, Nazca boobies, our first red-footed boobies, great frigate birds, and yellow-crowned night herons. The following photos are grouped by species, not the order in which we saw the birds.
Swallow-tailed gulls (the first 3 photos were not edited--I was that close and used a bit of zoom)
This was not edited... I was very close and used my zoom.
Adult feeding the chick
Chick
Courting ritual
And video of a bit of their courting ritual:
Ground finches--I think the species on Genovesa Island are the "large ground finch" type, although these didn't seem all that large.
Nazca boobies
Chick
Red-Footed Boobies
Adult and chick
These feet aren't all that great for twig-grabbing
This chick is a little older
Great Frigate Birds
Chick
Yellow-Crowned Night Herons
And there were "nurseries"...
Mostly red-footed boobies
Mostly frigate birds
And sometimes the birds were mixed together...
Frigate bird and yellow-crowned night heron
Frigate bird and red-footed booby
Swallow-tailed gulls and yellow-crowned night heron
And there were a few other creatures around that were not birds...
Fish in a tidal pool
Sea urchin shell
Sea lion
Marine iguana
Kevin & a sea lion pup
We also had a friend take a few "tourist" shots with the red-footed booby chick (and adult).
