Gingerly disembarked, still half-dehydrated from the Death March, at Punta Pitt, the extreme eastern tip of the Galapagos Islands. In brutal heat we hiked up a draw between two tuff formations in an eroded volcano. Despite the advertising, there were no Red-footed Boobies at all, only a very few Blue-footed Boobies (none breeding) and a very few Masked Boobies doing infrequent beak-duelling courtship rituals.
As a booby stop it was a bust, but the scenery is very dramatic, with steep welded tuff walls and cliff drops to the ocean.
We sat on the hillside for a longish while, overlooking the Pacific, watching many birds kite by, with Manta Rays breaching and a couple of large schools of fish at the surface attracting large numbers of birds. Marine iguanas climbed up the steep face of the cliff beneath us. A late afternoon breeze took the edge of the heat.
Red-billed Tropicbird
San Cristobal Island
Blue-footed Booby, and yes, they are that blue
San Cristobal Island
Punta Pitt Trail
San Cristobal Island
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Birds
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Others
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| Red-billed Tropicbird Blue-footed Booby Masked Booby Audubon Shearwater Swallow-tailed Gull Small Ground Finch Medium Ground Finch Galapagos Flycatcher Galapagos Dove Magnificent Frigatebird Great Frigatebird Brown Pelican |
Lava Lizard Galapagos Sea Lion Sally Lightfoot Crab |