Genovesa and Darwin Bay Day 2 March 8th
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Prince Philip Steps, Darwin Bay, Genovesa Island
Genovesa is dubbed ‘Bird Island’, a name it lives up to in a spectacular way. Huge colonies of seabirds create a bird-watcher’s paradise. Take a walk on the sandy beach of Darwin Bay, home to one of the world’s largest Red-footed Booby nesting colonies.
Travelling in the Zodiac Along the Cliffs
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Cliffs and Trees of Genovesa Stained with Bird Excrement Looking like a WaterfallsHundreds of Swallow-Tailed Gulls nest in the cliffs.
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Swallow Tailed Gull on the Cliffs196923p.8.jpg
Swallow Tailed Gulls on the CliffsThe red around their eyes is to aid night vision and night hunting
Genovesa
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Female Frigate on the CliffsNote the Shape of the Beak and the White Breast
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Male Frigate with Inflated Red Pouch and Bifid Tail which it uses like a Rudder196474p.8.jpg
SEA LIONGENOVESA
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SALLY LIGHTFOOT CRABGENOVESA
The crabs change colors by molting their shells. … When sally lightfoot crabs hatch, they are black with small red spots. Each time they change their shell, the spots get bigger until the crab is eventually all red!
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Red Footed Booby on the Cliffs of Genovesa196567p.8.jpg
Red Footed Booby on the Cliffs of Genovesa196830p.8.jpg
Red Footed Booby LandingGenovesa
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Red Footed Booby Perched – KindaGenovesa
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Red Footed Booby PerchedGenovesa
‘Prince Philip’s Steps’,
Climb ‘Prince Philip’s Steps’, a steep path named after the Duke of Edinburgh who visited the island in 1965,
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and you will be well rewarded with a remarkable spectacle of Nazca Boobies
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2 Nasca BoobiesFemale with Pink Beak (l) and Male with Orange Beak (r)
Genovesa
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Nasca BoobyGenovesa
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Nasca Boobies Male and Female?Nazca boobies are white with black feathers on their tails. The males have yellow or orange beaks, while the female’s beak is far paler and has a more pinkish tone. However, their colours do slightly vary between different populations. Females are also slightly larger in size.
Genovesa
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Nasca Booby and ChickGenovesa
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Nasca Booby and ChickGenovesa
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“Could this be be my Mother ?” asked the Nasca Booby Chick?Genovesa Island – Galapagos
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Young Nasca Booby with its Heart on its BackGenovesa
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Nasca Booby Fledgling Cooling OffGenovesa
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Nasca Booby Fledgling Cooling OffGenovesa
Nazca boobies (Wiki)
Great Frigatebirds with their fiery red sacs,
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Male FrigateGenovesa
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Two Male Frigate Birds seemingly connecting but in truth the lower one is looking to the heavens with inflated sac and opened wings to attract a female flying above and the upper frigate – “seen that done that!”Genovesa
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Two Male Frigate Birds Upper one has an inflated sac and looking to attract a female and lower frigate – “seen that done that!” looking for foodGenovesa
Courtesy Jorge Piganno
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Male Frigate in All His Glory Red Pouch and Wings Widespread Opening His Heart and Soul to Find a MateGenovesa
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Male and Female FrigatesSaid she “I look with the corner of my eye to this beautiful red sac on my partner ..”
Genovesa
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‘Wow is it that big?!”Genovesa
Male and Female Frigates
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“OMG It is huge!”Genovesa
Male and Female Frigates
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Male Frigates Hanging Out Together in the Men’s Club, Females in the forefront and a Swallow Tailed Gull Resting in Front – Birds AboundGenovesa
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Short Eared OwlGenovesa
Courtesy Jorge Piganno
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Juvenile Marine IguanaGenovesa
On the Beach
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On the BeachCourtesy Jorge Piganno
Genovesa
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Galapagos MockingbirdGenovesa
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Galapagos MockingbirdGenovesa
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Dove of the GalapagosGenovesa
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CactusGenovesa
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MangrovesGenovesa
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Mangrove SeedGenovesa
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Mangrove New GrowthGenovesa
Yellow-Crowned Night Herons feed near tidal lagoons,
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Yellow-Crowned Night Heron Near the LagoonGenovesa
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Yellow-Crowned Night HeronGenovesa
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Yellow-Crowned Night HeronGenovesa
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Yellow-Crowned Night HeronGenovesa
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Yellow-Crowned Night HeronGenovesa
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Lava GullGenovesa
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Nursing Female Sea Lion – This can go on for up to 3 yearsGenovesa
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Sally Lightfoot Crab on the BeachGenovesa
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Sally Lightfoot Crab on the BeachGenovesa
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Crab on the Rocks on the BeachGenovesa
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Crab on the Rocks on the BeachGenovesa
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Male Fiddler Crab BattleThese crabs are very small being less than an inch long
Genovesa
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Male Fiddler Crab BattleThese crabs are very small being less than an inch long
Genovesa
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Male Fiddler Crab BattleThese crabs are very small being less than an inch long
Genovesa
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Male Fiddler Crab BattleThese crabs are very small being less than an inch long
nesting on the ground, Great Frigatebirds with their fiery red sacs, and, if you are lucky, you might even see the elusive Short-eared Owl on a daytime hunt for Storm Petrels, a favourite prey.
After a morning walk, you will have a chance to enjoy the first snorkelling excursion and experience the diverse, underwater wonderland that surrounds the island.
There will also be the opportunity to kayak around Darwin Bay – which is actually a flooded caldera -and admire the island’s craggy landscape.
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Genovesa Island, named after the Italian city of Genoa, in honor of Christopher Columbus, (referred to in English as Tower Island) is a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean.[1] The island occupies about 14 square kilometres (5 sq mi), and its maximum elevation is 64 m (210 ft).[citation needed] The horse-shoe shaped island has a volcanic caldera whose wall has collapsed, forming the Great Darwin Bay, surrounded by cliffs.[2] Lake Arcturus, filled with salt water, lies in the centre, and sediment within this crater lake is less than 6,000 years old. Although no historical eruptions are known from Genovesa, there are very young lava flows on the flanks of the volcano.
This island is known as Bird Island, because of the large and varied bird colonies which nest here. There are an abundance of frigatebirds
and it is among the best place in the archipelago to see
female 200,000 on the island
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Male
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Prince Philip’s Steps is an extraordinary steep path that leads through a seabird colony full of life, up to cliffs that are 25 metres (82 feet) high. At the top, the trail continues inland, passing more seabird colonies in a thin palo santo forest. The trail also provides overviews of a rocky plain. Storm petrels here are different from any others in the world because they are active during the day. To avoid predators, they only return to their nest holes at night.
The smallest marine iguana in the archipelago lives here.