GALAPAGOS 2010: Arrival to the Islands

It was great to be back on this my 11th trip to the Galapagos Islands! Each opportunity to visit offers new and different sights. Our first stop on this adventure was a new beach for me to explore — Tortuga Bay on Santa Cruz.

The surf and currents here are dangerous, so we did not go swimming. There were a few locals surfing, though they seemed to spend more time under water than on top of the waves.

The walk to the beach was quite long… about 45 minutes down a brick path. Of course we were birding all the way! The Galapagos Flycatcher was a common sight in the low trees along the path.

We had amazing views of the Woodpecker Finch. One of 13 finch species on the islands, the Woodpecker Finch will actually use and adapt tools to get grubs from holes in the trees. This one was peeling bark in search of morsels. We also saw a Vegetarian Finch but the bad light, dense brush and fidgeting movements made for some bad photos!

Adding to our walk… waaaaayyy down to the end of the beach (see that point in the distance?) we searched for more unique critters.

We were rewarded with several large groups of Marine Iguanas. The youngest members of our group were quite fascinated by all forms of reptile… as most boys are!

We ended our walk with great looks at a ‘sometime’ endemic species. Currently the Lava Heron, though much darker, is considered conspecific with the mainland’s Striated Heron.

Not a bad afternoon only having a few hours between landing and dinner!