Galapagos Islands Adventure 2009 – Part 9
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Aug 22, 2009 | by Kevin Loughlin
South Plaza is a small island. (North Plaza, visible in the background of the above image is only open for researchers.) The island’s most notable features are the giant opuntia cactus and carpet weed or sesuvium — which is red during the garua season and green in the rainy season.
The short trail on South Plaza takes visitors up hill to the edge of a cliff where Audubon’s Shearwaters and Red-billed Tropicbirds ride the winds at high speeds. The breeze coming up the cliff will quickly blow a hat off! The photo opportunities are wonderful however as Swallow-tailed Gulls slowly lift from the rocks on just by opening their wings.
The island has many land iguanas willing to pose under their favorite food — opuntia cactus.
Swallow-tailed Gulls are one of my favorites. Their huge eye gives away the fact that they are nocturnal feeders and can often be seen following boats motoring at night, in search of their next meal.
Typically resting during the day, they allow close-up studies of their subtle coloration.
Interestingly, when they close their large black eye, their red eye-ring appears as an eyebrow over a large white eye! Since there are no natural predators of these gulls, I wonder why they developed this always awake appearance?
As with all the other islands, watch for lava lizards in interesting poses. This one was in an opuntia cactus which was not typical.Next island… Santa Fe…
photos by Kevin Loughlin