New England Seabirds - Wandering Birder, Trip Reports from outside New England

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Flightless Cormorant
Our afternoon landing was at Punta Espinosa (Spiny Point) on Fernandina the western most island. The tide was coming in as we landed . There were Wandering Tattler, Oystercatchers, Striated Heron and Lava Heron at the landing site. We walked a short marked path across pahoehoe lava and sand and around nursing sea lions and spitting Marine Iguanas.

There are two types of lava flows both with Hawaiian names. The pahoehoe lava is formed by a very slow moving tongue of lava which hardens on the surface while the flow continues underneath forming frozen waves. It forms a very solid sheet which is fairly easy to walk on.

The more common type of lava is called aa and consists of angular blocks of rock of various sizes. It can be almost impossible to walk through unless a path is cleared.

The parent bird on the left regurgitates food into the chick's mouth. Like penguins the chick whole bill seems to be in the parent's throat. That ought to make anyone gag.

Not all boat trips of the Galápagos reach the Flightless Cormorant colony on the far Fernandina Island. Our dry landing here turned a little wet when the tide came in and covered the rocks to the landing spot. We had to remove our shoes and walk barefooted over the sharp lava.

The bird on the far right is bringing a piece of seaweed for nesting material. Notice the vestigial wing of the bird on the left.

"Stop" the sign says, but as you can see you are allowed to walk very close to the colony. This picture was taken with a point and shoot Cannon Powershot Digital camera.

The Flightless Cormorantis a Galápagos endemic. The wings are functionless. Notice the parent Cormorant in the back has two chicks. The one on the right is almost as big as the parent while the second chick in the middle is much smaller.

A Long Day At Sea
The schedule called for us to sail all night and arrive the next morning at Floreana on the eastern side of the large island of Isabella. The next morning the early birds included Daan Sandee who had a remarkable GPS device that not only gave latitude and longitude but figured our speed. We were just passing the end of Fernandina and encountering heavy swells from the open Pacific. The boat was making 4 knots an hour. We were a long way from Floreana. The crew remained rather uncommunicative but eventually we figured out there would be no landing on Floreana and thus no Medium Tree-finch. The guide announced that breakfast would be delayed. Actually it turned out breakfast was cancelled. The cook passed out sandwiches and crackers instead.

The swells rocking the boat made it difficult to walk around, but otherwise it was a beautiful day at sea that turned into a long pelagic with at least 15 Waved Albatross, Galápagos Petrels, White-vented Storm-petrels, Red-billed Tropicbird, Swallow-tailed Gull, and Wedge-rumped Storm-petrel.

Eventually we stopped in the lee of the small island of Tortola for lunch where we spotted breeding Great and Magnificent Frigatebirds, Blue-footed Booby.

These kind of boat problems are not unknown on Galápagos trips. Several people in our group had made trips before and all had stories of boat problems. We were pretty lucky to complete most of our trip.

Endemic Land Birds
The next day we landed at the wharf of the major city Porto Ayora. We walked through town to the Darwin Research Station where they raise giant land tortoises for release in the wild and sell gifts.

On this walk and in the Darwin Station we saw: Cactus Finch, Medium Ground Finch, Lava Heron, Black-necked Stilt, Yellow Warblers, Galápagos Flycatcher, Galápagos Mockingbird, Small Tree Finch, Large Ground Finch.

We went by bus to Bellavista where we walked up a muddy trail looking for Galápagos Rail. It answered our tape and one person was able to see the tiny little black rail in the shrubs. At one time it was moving less than two feet from me, but I was unable to see it. On our last birding day in the islands we went back to the muddy trail at Bellavista where the persistent finally got great looks at the rail. I had enough and went back to the bus.We did see Warbler Finch, Woodpecker Finch and Vermilion Flycatcher.

Walking a farm road in an area reserved for giant land tortoises we saw many tortoises one with a Cattle Egret on its back and Smooth-billed Ani.

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