Galapagos Day 8

I just wanted to start today's entry by apologising for not responding to all of your comments.  I read every one, but there just isn't the time at the moment to respond, my time is taken up with the adventure of each day, and a last minute scramble to upload my blip before bedtime.  Several of you have commented on my entries bring back memories of your own time in the Galapagos - it is a wonderful experience and one I am sure that I will never forget.

On our first day in the Galapagos one of the first birds that we saw was the Magnificent Frigate Bird, and we’ve seen them every day since.

This large and powerful bird is a superb flier, but has no oil in its feathers so it is unable to dive for food unlike Ganets, pelicans and indeed most other seabirds. As a result it gets its food by stealing from other birds and predating the young of other birds.

We stopped for a 6am landing on Seymour Norte to see nesting and courting Frigate Birds. This island has both the Magnificent Frigate Bird and the Great Frigate Bird. But it is the former that blows up the red pouch at its throat to attract and retain a mate. Mating season is not until the new year but on this particular island the birds are opportunistic hence my ability to capture today’s blip.

Now that we have completed our first week, the Beluga needed to put in to shore for supplies etc. Accordingly we then went on to return to Santa Cruz for the day.  During the course of the day we explored lava tunnels and visited the highlands, where it was raining. The first rain of the trip. The highlands are the home of the Santa Cruz domed giant tortoise, and there were thousands of them. So much so that some care was needed to avoid their droppings. A giant tortoise eats a lot of vegetation in a day (albeit slowly) and it all has to go somewhere! Also in evidence were Cattle Egrets, Anis (seen in the extras in the rain), and the yellow Mangrove Finch.

There were so many things I could have included (yet again) but I think 4 images a day is more than enough to give you a flavour of the trip, and I don't have the spare extras or indeed the time to be able to do more.