Genovesa Island
The collapsed crater, or caldera, of Genovesa Island, Darwin Bay, is not only filled with water, there are thousands of birds flying around and interacting. Frigatebirds can’t dive in order to get the fish because their preen gland is too small to waterproof their feathers, so they steal it from the red-footed boobies and tropicbirds. In flight, they pull them from their feathers, make them regurgitate their caught food and take it. In the morning we walked around the frigatebird breeding colony and you could feel that “love was in the air.” The males show their inflated heart-looking pouches to the females by opening their wings, making an Indian warrior call while they sit on top of the saltbush. Also, the red-footed boobies were “sky pointing,” displaying and laying their eggs in between the red mangroves. Snorkeling along the cliff was amazing not only because of the abundance of colourful fishes, it was more the variety of species that we saw: Moorish idols, parrotfish, rainbow wrasses, razor fish, hogfish, and king angelfish. All of which were brought by the current system that bathe the Archipelago.
In the afternoon we walked through the dry vegetation zone, represented by the “Palo Santo” (Holy stick) forest. The short-eared owl was on the alert of the erratic flying storm petrels that have made them hunt during the daytime. We left the caldera with a beautiful sunset that spread its soft light on it. Another unreal day in the Enchanted Islands!
The collapsed crater, or caldera, of Genovesa Island, Darwin Bay, is not only filled with water, there are thousands of birds flying around and interacting. Frigatebirds can’t dive in order to get the fish because their preen gland is too small to waterproof their feathers, so they steal it from the red-footed boobies and tropicbirds. In flight, they pull them from their feathers, make them regurgitate their caught food and take it. In the morning we walked around the frigatebird breeding colony and you could feel that “love was in the air.” The males show their inflated heart-looking pouches to the females by opening their wings, making an Indian warrior call while they sit on top of the saltbush. Also, the red-footed boobies were “sky pointing,” displaying and laying their eggs in between the red mangroves. Snorkeling along the cliff was amazing not only because of the abundance of colourful fishes, it was more the variety of species that we saw: Moorish idols, parrotfish, rainbow wrasses, razor fish, hogfish, and king angelfish. All of which were brought by the current system that bathe the Archipelago.
In the afternoon we walked through the dry vegetation zone, represented by the “Palo Santo” (Holy stick) forest. The short-eared owl was on the alert of the erratic flying storm petrels that have made them hunt during the daytime. We left the caldera with a beautiful sunset that spread its soft light on it. Another unreal day in the Enchanted Islands!
