¡Hola a todos!

I am following the sound advice of Mum and so this first blog entry concerning the Galapagos will focus upon creatures of the air. I shall endeavour to include when and where I saw the many protagonists of this piece, along with some of the mind-boggling quantity of information surrounding these marvellous beings served up to we travellers by our all-knowing Galapagean guide, Monica, who spoke flawless English.

Even before we steppe aboard the good ship 'Beluga', our vessel for discovering the Islands upon our first morning, we were drawn to the loud, raucous cry of the Lava Gull, the rarest of all the gulls, found only upon Galapagos. Later that day, our first land-walk, upon North Seymour Island, saw us come face-to-beak with Swallow-tailed Gulls, Frigate birds and the famous Blue-footed Boobies (yes, they are birds…). The Swallow-tailed Gulls we encountered almost as soon as we had disembarked from our 'panga', or dinghy. These birds have deep red rings encircling their eyes. These rings store sunlight, which they are exposed to during the day, and this light is then used as phosphorescence to illuminate the sea after darkness has fallen. Phosphorescence occurs when atoms store energy that is later released slowly in the form of light particles. In this case, the gull's feathers light the sea and attract the bird's preferred food source, namely, squid. These gulls once fished during the day but, they have subsequently evolved this process for hunting at night so as to avoid losing their food to larger, more agressive plunderers such as the Frigate birds.

To look upon the Frigate birds settled upon the ground, it is difficult to imagine these comical creatures causing such problems for various other feathered friends. The males have a large, bright red throat-sack, located directly below their beaks, stretching down their necks to the top of their breasts. This can be inflated to a sizeable bulge in a particularly showy effort to gain the attention of a female, which is typically drawn to the largest, brightest sacks. The sack can be inflated at will in twenty to thirty minutes and remain filled for hours at a time. Once a mate is found, the sack is purposefully deflated by the male but, it can later be reinflated if necessary; for example, if the female mate dies. Of the five species of frigate existing worldwide, two can be found on the Galapagos Islands and both in only a small number of the Islands. Comical as these particular birds appear with their bulging sacks upon the ground, enraptured females cooing softly as they rub up against the male's wind-bag of sorts, once they take to the air, the picture changes entirely. Here the Frigates appear huge and graceful, with a powerful wing-beat and accomplished aerial abilities. They are ever-watchful, vigilantly alert to potential meals arriving from the sea, carried by fisher-birds such as the Blue-footed Boobies. It was thrilling to see these smaller birds fearlessly fending off the attentions of the larger Frigates as they set about attempting to feed their young, hounded at every moment by the local bullies. Often, two Boobies would double up in their defence, leaving one parent to feed the young while the other tried valiently to fend off the unwanted dinner-guests. It is not only fellow birds that must maintain a close watch upon the sly Frigates: breakfast upon our third morning was interrupted by a mesmerizing display of aerial prowess as a flock of Frigates crowded around our boat, where sea-lions were hunting around our hull. Wheeling and diving sharply, there were numerous instances of these fabulous birds successfully stealing small fish from disgruntled sea-lions who had surfaces, however briefly, to snack upon their prey above the water-line.

My favourite birds of the first day and perhaps of the entire trip were undoubtedly these Blue-footed Boobies. Their most eye-catching feature and the origin of their strange name is their equally odd webbed feet, which turn blue upon reaching sexual maturity. Surely anywhere else in the world, such an obvious characteristic would have led to the species dying out years ago but, on Galapagos the birds have thrived, free from predators. Another change occurs at the onset of adulthood; the white, fluffy down sported by young Boobies is replaced by true feathers, including the commonplace brown streaks that run down their backs. While walking at Suarez Point on Espiñola Island during our second day, I witnessed the mating ritual of these fabulous birds. I stumbled across a male engaged in 'sky-pointing', whereby he tilts his beak, wing-tips and tail-feathers towards the sky, while emitting a quite high-pitched whistle. The female briefly copied this stance, while sounding her deeper, louder, harsher honk. Both spread their wings and hopped from foot to foot, a quite sensational sight. These are quite wonderful creatures, full of character and great fun to observe.

While continuing our walk upon Espiñola that second morning, we met a second type of Boobie as well, the Nasca Boobie. These are a related species to their Blue-footed counterparts but, they are much-altered in appearence. These Boobies sport white feet and bills with black markings running down their backs, where the Blue-footed species has brown feathers. Engrossed in watching these birds upon the rocks, we caught a fleeting glimpse of the third and final Boobie that inhabits Galapagos as it winged through the air above our heads. The Red-footed Boobie, much closer in appearence to the Blue-footed species but, with red feet instead of blue, was far from home indeed. This species usually inhabits only the northern Islands, including its favourite haunt of Genovesa: we were lucky indeed to enjoy a sighting in such an unusual location. This special guest soaring off into the horizon, we returned our attention to the Nasca Boobies, engaged in waterproofing their feathers. This plummage is not waterproof at birth: it requires delicate and meticulous care to ensure that these fishers do not become waterlogged when diving for food. The Nascas squeeze oil out of a gland located between their tail-feathers (indeed, this is the bird's sole gland anywhere on the body). They then carefully distribute the oil among their feathers using their beaks in a time-consuming task to achieve a fully waterproof plummage. Furthermore, none of the species of Boobies have the ability to cool themselves bar for a strange vibrating of their throats, a procedure that encourages and accelerates evaporation from the mouth much akin to a dog's panting: in fact similar techniques are utilized by a variety of feathered and fur-covered animals.

This same walk yielded one further fascinating discovery, that of the Waved Albatross, the largest bird to be found on Galapagos. This bird boasts a distinctive, delicate wave pattern visible upon its breast and tail-feathers. Beautiful to observe in flight these huge creatures nonetheless require a "run-way" of sorts for taking off and landing. Able to spend large amounts of time airbourne, flying vast distances, a Waved Albatross' first landing in some days, or months, can often be a clumsy affair! Sometimes these birds simply drift off the tops of cliff-faces to glide upon thermals. Again, we were lucky enough to witness this bird's courtship dance, another odd event in which couples face one another and imitate each other's movements. Mates tip their heads from side to side and sometimes clash beaks in a motion similar in appearence and sound to those of sword-fighters! Loud cries accompany the action.

Waved Albatross couples are very devoted: they mate for life and continue to practise their courting methods throughout and especially towards the end of the year when their young are "flying the nest". Sadly, these albatrosses are often caught in unfriendly fishing methods or perish through other means while hunting for food for example. In such instances, the remaining partner awaits their mate in vain: here, any young that have already been born will die also because a single parent cannot support a growing offspring, they require too much feeding. In these haunting cases, a widower may remain alone for some years, although there is evidence of some individuals eventually taking a new partner after some five years or so. Parents feed their young by eating fish, which they then convert into oil and store in a gland located at the back of their throats. This oil can then be secreted back into the waiting mouths of the expectant offspring: a growing youth can ingest roughly a litre of this oil every day - the parents certainly have their work cut out!

A beach-walk at the beginning of this second day also brought the opportunity to observe three of the thirteen species of Darwin's finches to be found on Galapagos. I was afforded multiple close-up viewings of these interesting birds, which all appeared so different to one another. First the yellow-coloured Warbler Finch, the smallest of all the species, with small, thin beaks for pecking small seeds from the ground. Then the Small Ground Finch, sporting a wider, orange beak used for taking berries from bushes. Finally, the Large Cactus Finch, boasting a large, black beak able to crack open hard nut-casings. Such diversity and this upon just one Island, one location even!

A visit to Cormorant Point on the island of Floreana (named after Ecuador's first president as a republic, Juan Jose Flores) brought with it the opportunity to view Greater (Carribean) Flamingoes at close proximity as they fed in brakish water near to the beach. These Flamingoes, distinct from the Andean species that I saw while travelling through the Atacama Desert in Chile, arrived in Galapagos from the Carribean. The beautiful birds take their pinkish tinge from the copious amounts of tiny shrimp that they ingest at every meal-time. Pigment in these shrimp is transferred to the Flamingoes: one in particular seemed quite the eater, being a much pinker shade than his dining companions. Gender can be distinguished based upon the size of the bird, the males being significantly larger in size and height than their fairer sex. These birds are filter feeders, meaning that they take up water in their beaks before filtering out the nutritious food and releasing the now defunct water back out of their bodies through nostril-holes in their beaks: it is quite amusing to see these birds with what appear to be small sprinkler systems spraying out from their large, curved beaks.

The fifth day's walk upon the surrealist, awesome landscape of a two-hundred year-old lava floe at Moreno Point on Isabela Island brought with it the sighting of more feathered friends and also a stark reminder of the impact alien species - none moreso than the actions of we humans - can have upon the delicate ecosystems of these wondrous Islands. We first sighted Galapagos Martins, a rare sight to behold so close to the coast and at such low altitude: normally these birds are to be found deep within Isabela's interior, especially within the active calderas of the Island's multiple volcanoes. This bird - there was only one - was swiftly followed by the sighting of two Smooth-billed Ani birds. These birds are not native to Galapagos: they were brought over from the mainland specifically by farmers settled upon the Islands who were seeking ways of eradicating tics and other bothersome insects that threatened the welfare of the farmers' livestock, carrying harmful diseases as these pesky, winged beings are wont. Unfortunately, upon arriving in Galapagos, the Anis soon discovered much more abundant, easier food sources and set about eating the eggs of other birds, particularly those of the Darwin finches. A sobering thought indeed to realise quite how fine is the balance between the species currently inhabiting these awe-inspiring climes.

Another quirky, humorous bird that popped up everywhere was the Galapagos Mockingbird, available in four flavours dotted liberally among the Islands. These fearless birds were real attention-seekers, often hopping around and over my feet, so close that on more than one occasion I was forced to take swift evasive action for fear of stepping upon one (no matter how numerous these birds, I doubt such a faux pas would go down favourably with the Islands' authorities…). Indeed, these "peacocks" actually boast a key attraction: it was the mockingbird and its rather obvious distinctions between three of the four species that first alerted Darwin to potential differences among what at first sight appeared to be only one species and gave rise in time to Darwin's theories as explored first in 'Origin of the Species'. Finches and tortoises were unable to help Darwin further: the first he had numerous examples of, collected from his expeditions deep into various Islands' interiors but, alas, these examples were not labelled and so he had no idea which Islands his collection had come from and thus was unable to compare them properly. The tortoises taken aboard, all forty-five of them, had long since been eaten by the time Darwin's theories began to take shape, aided by such large, mentally taxing periods of time spent at sea: their carpaces had thoughtlessly been cast overboard.

The fifth day also brought with it my first sighting of the infamous Galapagos Flightless Cormorant, some of which were perched upon a rock outcrop that we motored past in our 'panga' while exploring a bay full of Mangrove trees. These birds have, over time, lost the ability to fly, their wings now shrivelled, useless and stumpy limbs ill-suited to their current form and behaviour. These birds are wonderful divers and it is here in the water that they excel: perhaps in time they will lose all shape of a wing completely.

As I am sure this blog is making obvious, I saw a vast array of fabulous winged creatures while touring Galapagos. There are numerous other birds that deserve a mention: the strikingly red-billed American Oyster Catcher, observed as it waded in the shallows off Santiago Island, accompanied by a nearby Yellow-crowned Night Heron, which has beautiful eyes with orange pupils. I shall end this blog with the descriptions of two more excellent experiences. Firstly, upon the morning of the sixth day, landing upon a beach in Urvina Bay on Isabela Island, we were greeted by an adolescent Galapagos Hawk, standing proud at the head of a sand-dune. He was fearless, allowing us to approach to within approximately a meter's distance, yet another fantastic example of just how unaccustomed to the threat of humans these creatures have remained, uninhibited as they have been, relatively, over the years. These birds are solitary hunters and very territorial: the whole time that I observed him, this young male kept his beady eyes primed, ready as much to fend off the unwanted trespassing of a rival hawk as to hunk for potential prey.

Finally, upon our final morning in the Galapagos Islands, moored off Baltra Island, which housed the airstrip and plane waiting to carry us back to the mainland, we set out one last time in the 'pangas' to seek a few remains thrills. Returning to the boat from a rather successful trip, we bore witness to literally hundreds of Blue-footed Boobies dive-bombing the surf en masse, strafing the water like knives through butter. It was a remarkable sight and a fantastic end to such a wonderful, wondrous trip. Of course, I have yet to describe the land and sea creatures that I encountered upon my trip out west but, the aerial beasts alone were a quite magical experience and one that it has been a pleasure to reminisce over as I share these moments with you.

¡Saludos a todos!

David xxx