Genovesa
Naturalist Giancarlo and a group of early riser kayakers headed out this morning soon after our Captain had dropped anchor in the flooded caldera at Genovesa. The morning was cloudy and cool, perfect weather for a paddle along the base of the cliffs where red-footed boobies, frigate birds, swallow-tailed gulls and other seabirds were perched or in flight. We disembarked after breakfast on a small, white coral beach and were immediately enchanted by the seabird sounds and all the activity in the green mangrove shrubs and the flat rocky areas behind the beach.
Frigate birds had their red balloon pouches inflated and they trembled and trilled, with their wings spread, chin up and pouch to the sky, when the white-breasted females flew overhead. Red-footed boobies – some few the white color phase, but most the light brown phase – were perched in the shrubs on their nest. There were also fluffy white, downy booby chicks perched on their flimsy nests or holding onto branches with their gripping webbed feet. Swallow-tailed gulls and Nazca boobies were nesting on the ground and there were chicks of all sizes; the larger ones alone, the smallest watched over by the parents. What a marvelous piece of real estate, vibrant with wildlife, with wild sounds and with colors and scenery that delighted us.
A few guests stayed on the beach with me, and we greatly enjoyed the peace and intimacy of being among so many wild creatures without frightening them at all. Some returned to the ship, and two groups – with Giancarlo and Fernando – went to snorkel in the calm waters at the base of the submerged caldera cliffs. Colorful king angelfish and Moorish idols were among the brightest fish they saw; a hammerhead shark was the most exciting!
The afternoon hike began with a climb up a lava crack on rough lava stairs, and then a walk through a palo santo forest. Here we found more displaying and nesting frigates and red-footed and Nazca boobies. We also were happy to spot several short-eared owls. They can be hard to see on the reddish lava platform because of their camouflaged coloration, but today they were right along the trail! The owls feed on storm petrels that nest in cracks and crevices under the lava, and this afternoon they were catching their dinner or sitting quietly waiting to grab an unwary bird.
