Genovesa Island
We started today a bit later than normal, recuperation time from the dancing last night. The sky was clearing by the time we arrived at the beach inside Darwin Bay, Tower Island, also known as Genovesa. The residents were already going about their daily life and death struggle to find enough to eat, a mate, lay their eggs or raise their offspring. We even spotted a male great frigate bird with his gular pouch semi inflated, which means the breeding season is almost upon us. However, there were a few individuals who seemed to be having an awful lot of fun in the middle of this struggle for survival.
The first questions I received on waking up this morning and heading upstairs for coffee, were descriptions of un-colorful birds sitting on the rigging, in every respect looking “boobyish,” but without red feet or blue bill (an accurate description of the juvenile red-footed boobies who have time on their wings to play around a bit). They are still being fed by their parents, yet have obtained their flying licenses, and so what better way to spend your daylight hours than familiarizing yourself with the highly trafficked airspace over Tower Island, learning to dodge great frigate birds on the wing. A couple brazen booby youngsters even got off a few pecks of their own on the few occasions they managed to sneak up behind juvenile frigate birds.
By mid-morning just about everyone was more than ready to get wet. I stayed on the beach and snorkeled around the offshore rocks nearby to great success…convict tangs, a huge jack, surgeonfish in hoards, parrotfish definitely. The female Galápagos sea lion nursing her pup on the rocks was an attraction hard to pass by, but a respectful distance was always maintained. “Lolling” behavior was practiced by many of us in the shallows, for the rest of the morning.
We started today a bit later than normal, recuperation time from the dancing last night. The sky was clearing by the time we arrived at the beach inside Darwin Bay, Tower Island, also known as Genovesa. The residents were already going about their daily life and death struggle to find enough to eat, a mate, lay their eggs or raise their offspring. We even spotted a male great frigate bird with his gular pouch semi inflated, which means the breeding season is almost upon us. However, there were a few individuals who seemed to be having an awful lot of fun in the middle of this struggle for survival.
The first questions I received on waking up this morning and heading upstairs for coffee, were descriptions of un-colorful birds sitting on the rigging, in every respect looking “boobyish,” but without red feet or blue bill (an accurate description of the juvenile red-footed boobies who have time on their wings to play around a bit). They are still being fed by their parents, yet have obtained their flying licenses, and so what better way to spend your daylight hours than familiarizing yourself with the highly trafficked airspace over Tower Island, learning to dodge great frigate birds on the wing. A couple brazen booby youngsters even got off a few pecks of their own on the few occasions they managed to sneak up behind juvenile frigate birds.
By mid-morning just about everyone was more than ready to get wet. I stayed on the beach and snorkeled around the offshore rocks nearby to great success…convict tangs, a huge jack, surgeonfish in hoards, parrotfish definitely. The female Galápagos sea lion nursing her pup on the rocks was an attraction hard to pass by, but a respectful distance was always maintained. “Lolling” behavior was practiced by many of us in the shallows, for the rest of the morning.
