Deb Burhinus
Used to be well known! 😎
Great diversity of wildlife! Those iguanas are incredible to look at - like paint flaking off ancient buildings.
Great diversity of wildlife! Those iguanas are incredible to look at - like paint flaking off ancient buildings.
Amazing - it really is the ‘land that time forgot’ isn’t it! What’s that behind the Oystercatcher- it looks like an ossified giant tortoise!?
16 January
This was also a hangout for Galapagos Fur Seal families. The pups really are the cutest things alive (see pic). And at last, just as we were heading back to the dinghy, we saw our first and only Galapagos raptor: the endemic Galapagos Hawk. Although just a typical buteo in appearance (c.p. Swainson's), it was great to find the bird. There may be as few as 150 individuals.
CORRECTION: 150 mating pairs
That’s a healthier number Matt but still a critically low number for an endemic species - sadly human disturbance/occupation may be partly to blame - and like all island habitats, cat predation is apparently a serious issue for wildlife on the Galapagos https://www.darwinfoundation.org/en/datazone/checklist?species=5211
What a view for the room...
Been really enjoying this account Matt. I spent 5 months in Ecuador way back in '89, mostly in cloud forest, but also along the Napo, so this is bringing back a lot of fond birding memories. Sounds like you had a great trip.