Genovesa Island, Part II

Our ship's first stop in the Galápagos -- Genovesa Island -- was a tremendous introduction to the wonders we'd see throughout the week. Truly a birder's paradise, it was surreal to be around animals with virtually no fear of humans.

Baby Red-Footed Boobies may not fear people, but they certainly can fuss like their human counterparts!

Motherly affection also isn't unique to our species.

Did I mention that the chicks can get fussy?

The volcanic terrain had an interesting right along the edge of the plateau. Unfortunately, being a group excursion I didn't really have a chance to climb down and explore it.

The Galápagos also have their own endemic species of mockingbird.

Danelle demonstrating just how little this Nazca Booby cared about her.  A rule I always adhere to when observing wildlife is to not get so close that you disturb an animal.  Trust me when I say it seemed like nothing short of actually touching them would disturb these birds, which we obviously didn't do.

A Galápagos Short-Eared Owl was feasting on something that it would not let us get a good look at.  They might not fear people, but they don't have any interest in sharing their meals with us, either!

I admired the ambition of this Red-Footed Booby in trying to gather materials for its nest.

The bird's attempt to take flight with its branch proved unsuccessful, so it eventually just dropped it and moved on to presumably look for something more reasonably sized.

The arid landscape had fairly few flowering plants, with the main exception being Yellow Geiger.

We only covered about a mile on our walk, but what a densely packed mile it was!

Click here for more blog posts from my amazing visit to the Galápagos Islands!