G14: Genovesa Island, Beach Walk (10/4/12 AM)

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).

And then it was time to head back to our ship.