Isla Rasa in the Gulf of California
The still seas are with us another day, and morning dawns calm and pink while many of us sleep in a little after yesterday’s long San Ignacio trip. Following breakfast we rush on deck as the ship nears Isla Rasa and the sight and sound of gulls and terns fills the air. Hundreds of charcoal gray Heerman’s gulls with their pearl white heads and bright red beaks sail by the ship crying “ow!…ow!” Graceful aerial displays of elegant terns carve the air as the courting pairs mirror each other’s movements wing beat for wing beat. They twist and turn on the air with their slim white forms that leave me wondering if they were named for their looks or this brilliant behavior. We make a slow pass around the island watching these birds as well as eared grebes, Brandt’s cormorants and a few boobies and pelicans flying by, then launch a Zodiac to check and see if the seabird biologist is on the island.
While the ship nears another small island white with bird guano and bordered with slouching California sea lions our Zodiac reports that Henriqueta Velarde, the famous Mexican seabird biologist, has just arrived on the island with her research team and we are welcome to visit the island this afternoon. Our morning activities end with a talk by our guest artist and environmental activist Robert Bateman, entitled “Thinking Like A Mountain”, a phrase originated by Aldo Leopold. Bob inspires us with his passion and message for the work and new thinking required of all of us to keep the planet we so love alive and well for our grandchildren’s grandchildren.
After lunch we are introduced to Henriqueta Velarde as she shares a short slide presentation on the M.V. Sea Bird about the productivity of the Gulf of California and Isla Rasa. This is the breeding island of nearly 95% of the world’s Heerman’s Gulls (260,000) and almost all of the world’s elegant terns (200,000). By the time the tide has come in enough for us to visit the island we are primed with cameras, binoculars, even recording equipment to try and take home some of this unique experience to visit a seabird nesting island.
Henriqueta leads us on the island trail between the rocks piled a century ago by bird guano collectors to an overlook where we can observe even more birds. We watch Heerman’s Gulls in all directions and a cacophonous crowd of perhaps ten to fifteen thousand elegant terns nesting in a density of 15 pairs per square meter! Two terns can make a shattering set of screeches overhead as they pass, but multiplied by thousands it’s a deafening din of impressive proportion. With binoculars we watch the terns “tango” in a terrestrial courtship display. Their crested black head plumes, brilliant red bills and enthusiasm of displays and chatters leaves this “birdhead” with a new favorite bird, at least for the day. Once again flexibility has graced us with a memorable opportunity to witness the rich beauty and abundance of the world of Baja California.
The still seas are with us another day, and morning dawns calm and pink while many of us sleep in a little after yesterday’s long San Ignacio trip. Following breakfast we rush on deck as the ship nears Isla Rasa and the sight and sound of gulls and terns fills the air. Hundreds of charcoal gray Heerman’s gulls with their pearl white heads and bright red beaks sail by the ship crying “ow!…ow!” Graceful aerial displays of elegant terns carve the air as the courting pairs mirror each other’s movements wing beat for wing beat. They twist and turn on the air with their slim white forms that leave me wondering if they were named for their looks or this brilliant behavior. We make a slow pass around the island watching these birds as well as eared grebes, Brandt’s cormorants and a few boobies and pelicans flying by, then launch a Zodiac to check and see if the seabird biologist is on the island.
While the ship nears another small island white with bird guano and bordered with slouching California sea lions our Zodiac reports that Henriqueta Velarde, the famous Mexican seabird biologist, has just arrived on the island with her research team and we are welcome to visit the island this afternoon. Our morning activities end with a talk by our guest artist and environmental activist Robert Bateman, entitled “Thinking Like A Mountain”, a phrase originated by Aldo Leopold. Bob inspires us with his passion and message for the work and new thinking required of all of us to keep the planet we so love alive and well for our grandchildren’s grandchildren.
After lunch we are introduced to Henriqueta Velarde as she shares a short slide presentation on the M.V. Sea Bird about the productivity of the Gulf of California and Isla Rasa. This is the breeding island of nearly 95% of the world’s Heerman’s Gulls (260,000) and almost all of the world’s elegant terns (200,000). By the time the tide has come in enough for us to visit the island we are primed with cameras, binoculars, even recording equipment to try and take home some of this unique experience to visit a seabird nesting island.
Henriqueta leads us on the island trail between the rocks piled a century ago by bird guano collectors to an overlook where we can observe even more birds. We watch Heerman’s Gulls in all directions and a cacophonous crowd of perhaps ten to fifteen thousand elegant terns nesting in a density of 15 pairs per square meter! Two terns can make a shattering set of screeches overhead as they pass, but multiplied by thousands it’s a deafening din of impressive proportion. With binoculars we watch the terns “tango” in a terrestrial courtship display. Their crested black head plumes, brilliant red bills and enthusiasm of displays and chatters leaves this “birdhead” with a new favorite bird, at least for the day. Once again flexibility has graced us with a memorable opportunity to witness the rich beauty and abundance of the world of Baja California.
