A Galapagos Bird Sampler

[MrAlexTheDog]

my family spent 8 days in the galapagos in mid-august. here are a few shots of the birds you see there:

swallow-tailed gull chick:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/355782076_88qQU-M.jpg

swallow-tailed gull adult:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/355999355_MMaZy-M.jpg (http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/355782076_88qQU-S.jpg)

a sleeping male magnificent frigatebird atop its chick:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/355782201_2Lp9e-M.jpg

an immature magnificent frigatebird hassling two red-footed boobies:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/356032296_UGBw4-M.jpg

a male magnificent frigatebird and chick:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/356037634_zfAPK-M.jpg

a red-footed booby:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/356044326_BrYhK-M.jpg

more to follow...thanks for looking.

[MrAlexTheDog]

a nazca booby:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/356038820_6FUfx-M.jpg

a red-footed booby and chick:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/356327128_FaJLV-M.jpg

courting flightless cormorants:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/356530886_NKVdy-M.jpg

galapagos penguin:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/356749034_QeYkr-M.jpg

a female magnificent frigatebird:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/357760439_ToCt7-M.jpg

more to follow...

[Cato]

It's wonderful to see all these birds, most of which I had never even knew existed! :clap

The red-footed booby and chick and the flightless cormorants tickled me the most.

All, just really neat-o photos. :thumb

[Maestro]

Those are very nice and what rare birds. I love the magnificent frigate birds!

[MrAlexTheDog]

...and blue-footed boobies:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/357947883_AhyTP-M.jpg http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/357948258_UgtC4-M.jpg

http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/357948952_Qr2Sy-M.jpg http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/357979438_ePrJa-M.jpg http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/358525561_9U8Vs-M.jpg

[LouwPhotography]

Nice series! Isn't the variety of species amazing!? Which island(s) did the blue-footed booby pictures come from? When we went this past May we didn't get to see as many as we hoped for, but it was still a fantastic trip!

[MrAlexTheDog]

Nice series! Isn't the variety of species amazing!? Which island(s) did the blue-footed booby pictures come from? When we went this past May we didn't get to see as many as we hoped for, but it was still a fantastic trip!
thanks! i can think of no words that could fully describe the incredible variety of animals we saw in august. how mind-boggling it was to be able to walk as close to the animals as we did without them becoming defensive or fleeing. i really hope to go back again.

i think our biggest regret was that we didn't see as many waved albatrosses as we were hoping to on espanola. another regret was that our trip was too short (just 8 days), and that we couldn't spend enough time at each visitor site -- i could have easily stayed in the galapagos for two weeks, and spend an entire day at the 12 sites we visited.

the booby pictures were taken at north seymour. i have other blue-footed booby pictures that i took at espinola but haven't posted those yet. you can see my gallery here (http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/gallery/5743582_KVf2H/1/354877968_crDxW).

[Ric Grupe]

Very interesting! Thanks, Steve.:D

[LouwPhotography]

thanks! i can think of no words that could fully describe the incredible variety of animals we saw in august. how mind-boggling it was to be able to walk as close to the animals as we did without them becoming defensive or fleeing. i really hope to go back again.

i think our biggest regret was that we didn't see as many waved albatrosses as we were hoping to on espanola. another regret was that our trip was too short (just 8 days), and that we couldn't spend enough time at each visitor site -- i could have easily stayed in the galapagos for two weeks, and spend an entire day at the 12 sites we visited.

the booby pictures were taken at north seymour. i have other blue-footed booby pictures that i took at espinola but haven't posted those yet. you can see my gallery here (http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/gallery/5743582_KVf2H/1/354877968_crDxW).
Waved albatross are aplenty when we went in May (for future reference since you're planning to going back :thumb). So graceful in the air and so awkward walking on land. It's bizarre when you are walking around on the path and all of a sudden you've almost tripped on one right in front of you -- they just kind of stare at you and wonder what your problem is! :huh (Our albatross pics are here (http://www.louwphotography.com/gallery/4918240_VHBNL).)

We ended up seeing about 15 minutes of North Seymour because we chose to go scuba diving instead that day. So I guess you've twisted my arm to have to go back as well! (We did see some hammerhead sharks that day though -- very cool, but no pictures since water visibility was poor.)

Looking forward to the rest of your pics!

[MrAlexTheDog]

and now, a final few...

on isla espanola,a blue-footed booby and chick:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/357987782_FLoMq-M.jpg

nazca boobies:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/358542577_Y9w4n-M.jpg

waved albatrosses:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/358545611_RRdEP-M.jpg

a soaked hood mockingbird (i think):
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/358813411_aufLS-M.jpg

a dying albatross chick:
http://mralexthedog.smugmug.com/photos/358814172_5pijJ-M.jpg

again, thanks for looking.

[Ann McRae]

Oooooh, dream of a lifetime!! I sooo want to go to the Galapagos.

Thanks for sharing these - love the boobies - so many different boobies - sorry just couldn't help myself. Which tour did you take, and do you recommend it??

ann

[LouwPhotography]

Thanks for sharing these - love the boobies - so many different boobies - sorry just couldn't help myself. Which tour did you take, and do you recommend it??

Not sure what company the OP used, be we went with Ecoventura (http://www.ecoventura.com/home.aspx), which was great! Modern yacht with 20 passengers to make disembarking to the island excursions very quick! We booked it through a 3rd party travel agent rather than through Ecoventura itself.

[MrAlexTheDog]

Oooooh, dream of a lifetime!! I sooo want to go to the Galapagos.

Thanks for sharing these - love the boobies - so many different boobies - sorry just couldn't help myself. Which tour did you take, and do you recommend it??

ann
we booked with ecoventura on the recommendation of a friend of ours. we went on the 8-day/7-night cruise only -- we didn't book any of their side excursions you can take before or after the cruise. because of the recommendation, i didn't check any other tour companies. i highly recommend ecoventura.

what i definitely wanted was to tour the galapagos with a small group of people (20 or fewer). our cruise had the maximum of 20 people on the yacht; because of this number, we had two naturalist-guides who were both excellent (16 people or fewer would have only had one guide). we were grouped with several families. we had the best time because everyone got along so well. the small number of people made the cruise more informal and personal.

the food served was excellent, the crew extremely helpful, and as i had said earlier, the naturalist-guides were top-notch.

we went in august because that's when the sea lions are pupping, so we got pictures of pups that were no more than three weeks old. but it's also the beginning of their garua season, so the seas are rougher than they are earlier in the year.

photographically-speaking, my biggest regret was that i couldn't stay longer than a few hours at each of the 12 visitor sites. i would have very much liked to have had the opportunity to photograph in the late afternoon or at dusk, which is my favorite time to take pictures. if they offered a two-week cruise which permitted staying an entire day at each visitor site (which i could do easily) i'd sign up for another trip. but as it now stands, i'm so glad i went. i hope to go back.

if you have any questions about the trip, let me know.

[Harryb]

Terrific captures Steve. :clap Looks like a great trip.

[MrAlexTheDog]

harry, thanks for your comment, and thanks to everyone else's, too!

[JenGrace]

:bow I love the albatross and frigatebird pics! I've never seen a live albatross but hope to someday. Everytime I go to the keys I look for frigates...they're one of my favorites. Great pics! :clap

[NorthernFocus]

Very interesting images. Thanks for posting. But now I'll have to add the Galapagos to the ever growing list of "must see" places :huh

[dlplumer]

Great stuff. It's now on my "bucket list" :rofl Thanks :clap

[MrAlexTheDog]

:bow I love the albatross and frigatebird pics! I've never seen a live albatross but hope to someday. Everytime I go to the keys I look for frigates...they're one of my favorites. Great pics! :clap
thanks, jen. then, i'm afraid you have no choice but to go to the galapagos. :D

even though you're already seeing frigates in the keys, you'll see more frigates at isla genovesa and at north seymour island than you can imagine. and to be able to get so close to them (without touching them, of course) and take as many photographs as you can...well, you just have to be there to experience it.

[MrAlexTheDog]

Great stuff. It's now on my "bucket list" :rofl Thanks :clap
it should be everyone's "bucket list" or "must-see" list... :D