Southern Isabela
It was still early in the morning, but for birders, it is never too early to catch the worm!
This is the case of our guests on board the National Geographic Islander during this week. Our friend, Victor Emanuel, and 46 avid birders are scanning constantly every visitor’s site here in the Galápagos Islands, to find as many species of birds as possible during our seven days exploring this birders’ paradise.
So far so good, as their bird list gets new entries during every outing.
Today, our early morning outing gave them many rewards; we not only avoided the intense heat that could build up as the morning progresses, but the spotting and identification of new species such as the female vegetarian finch and the Galápagos Martin among other encounters, gave them all a nice surprise.
The late morning breakfast gave us all an excuse to have a laidback morning, and many found great pleasure just by sitting up in the sky deck observing the frigate birds, pelicans and boobies soar by. Even a young juvenile hawk came along and sat for awhile up on the highest pole of the ship, observing the curious faces that stared at him from down below. Even if you are not a birder, there was no way that you could not be amazed by the incredible fearlessness of the animals that, like the hawk, would never be so “friendly” in other parts of the world.
The Galápagos is often a place that attracts people with all kinds of backgrounds, from the most specialized molecular gene-biologist to the general audience that wants to simply enjoy what unspoiled nature means. In the end, everyone who visits the Galápagos is touched by an unexplained energy that is hard to find anywhere else.
It was still early in the morning, but for birders, it is never too early to catch the worm!
This is the case of our guests on board the National Geographic Islander during this week. Our friend, Victor Emanuel, and 46 avid birders are scanning constantly every visitor’s site here in the Galápagos Islands, to find as many species of birds as possible during our seven days exploring this birders’ paradise.
So far so good, as their bird list gets new entries during every outing.
Today, our early morning outing gave them many rewards; we not only avoided the intense heat that could build up as the morning progresses, but the spotting and identification of new species such as the female vegetarian finch and the Galápagos Martin among other encounters, gave them all a nice surprise.
The late morning breakfast gave us all an excuse to have a laidback morning, and many found great pleasure just by sitting up in the sky deck observing the frigate birds, pelicans and boobies soar by. Even a young juvenile hawk came along and sat for awhile up on the highest pole of the ship, observing the curious faces that stared at him from down below. Even if you are not a birder, there was no way that you could not be amazed by the incredible fearlessness of the animals that, like the hawk, would never be so “friendly” in other parts of the world.
The Galápagos is often a place that attracts people with all kinds of backgrounds, from the most specialized molecular gene-biologist to the general audience that wants to simply enjoy what unspoiled nature means. In the end, everyone who visits the Galápagos is touched by an unexplained energy that is hard to find anywhere else.
