Genovesa Island
My favorite baby red-footed booby has survived yet another week. I have named him “Archie”, after a friend. He is now 10 weeks old and his gray flight and tail feathers are rapidly emerging and lengthening. He still has much white, downy fluff, and still waits alone in the tropical heat for his parents to come and feed him. This morning he was not at all photogenic: he was sprawled on his nest platform panting in the sun. Maybe next week I will try and get another picture of him.
Genovesa was alive with birds and avian activity today! The swallow-tailed gulls have begun to court, breed and build nests. This pair (see photo) has chosen a shady site under a lava ledge and the male was bringing choice pieces of rock and coral for the female to incorporate into her pebble nest.
The frigatebird chicks are nearing fledging. Their parents still dutifully regurgitate food for them, but most of the juvenile birds are now as big as, or bigger than, the adults. In a few months the reproductive cycle will begin again and this island will be dotted with the red inflated balloon pouches of courting frigate males.
With an estimated population of one million sea birds, Genovesa is a bird lover’s paradise. But even if you aren’t particularly keen on birds, you can’t help being captivated by them here! So much activity going on around you – so much energy being expended. Preening, nest building, courtship and copulation, young being fed, eggs being incubated – you name it, we can find it on Genovesa this time of the year!
And what a finale we had to an already fabulous day! Having finished our panga ride along the cliffs and the walk at Prince Phillip’s Steps, we headed out the mouth of Darwin Bay to investigate a mixed pod of feeding dolphins and small whales. For the next hour we were treated to an exhilarating ride with dolphins and false killer whales! They were blowing and breaching and surfing beside us (and below us), as the sun set in a blaze of orange and the sky full of cottony clouds blushed pink. WOW!!
My favorite baby red-footed booby has survived yet another week. I have named him “Archie”, after a friend. He is now 10 weeks old and his gray flight and tail feathers are rapidly emerging and lengthening. He still has much white, downy fluff, and still waits alone in the tropical heat for his parents to come and feed him. This morning he was not at all photogenic: he was sprawled on his nest platform panting in the sun. Maybe next week I will try and get another picture of him.
Genovesa was alive with birds and avian activity today! The swallow-tailed gulls have begun to court, breed and build nests. This pair (see photo) has chosen a shady site under a lava ledge and the male was bringing choice pieces of rock and coral for the female to incorporate into her pebble nest.
The frigatebird chicks are nearing fledging. Their parents still dutifully regurgitate food for them, but most of the juvenile birds are now as big as, or bigger than, the adults. In a few months the reproductive cycle will begin again and this island will be dotted with the red inflated balloon pouches of courting frigate males.
With an estimated population of one million sea birds, Genovesa is a bird lover’s paradise. But even if you aren’t particularly keen on birds, you can’t help being captivated by them here! So much activity going on around you – so much energy being expended. Preening, nest building, courtship and copulation, young being fed, eggs being incubated – you name it, we can find it on Genovesa this time of the year!
And what a finale we had to an already fabulous day! Having finished our panga ride along the cliffs and the walk at Prince Phillip’s Steps, we headed out the mouth of Darwin Bay to investigate a mixed pod of feeding dolphins and small whales. For the next hour we were treated to an exhilarating ride with dolphins and false killer whales! They were blowing and breaching and surfing beside us (and below us), as the sun set in a blaze of orange and the sky full of cottony clouds blushed pink. WOW!!
