Waved Albatross on the Island of Isabela
plus a Galapagos hawk and an exclusive view of the blowhole
The Galapagos Hawk
The Blow-hole.
Two adults. What exactly they are doing eludes me, presumably they get to have a rest now and then.
Perhaps this is what all animals do if the humans leave them alone Like most of the wildlife the Galapagos hawk seems unpeturbed by the endless trail of camera wielding tourists, and although it has chosen a reasonable vantage point on which to perch, presumably in the hope of an ill-attended hatchling. It's activity level was fairly low. One does get the impression, that the greater part of the time of most animals is spent not doing much, although the younger sealions muck about in the water a fair bit. The hawk's very existance should at least make the smaller lizards a bit nervous, but nobody seemed at all anxious. Perhaps all the animals know they are being watched and only hunt, kill or hide when the tourists go home.Juvenile Waved Albatross
After a rather uneven walk to see the Albatross and Blue Footed Boobies, along with a less expected hawk, it was a good excuse to stand and stare at the sea for a while. In the meantime a pair of sealions tried to get ashore safely. one surfed nicely into a safe landing place, the other failed, and went off to try elsewhere.There was a little bit of rain, but it was short lived and light. Considering it was the beginning of the rainy season we were lucky to have ideal conditions throughout the holiday, enough sun to tan if wanted, but not enough to expect burning. The occasional bit of cloud-cover meant we were able to do as we pleased most of the time without undue risk.Not much I can tell you about the Waved Albatross, It seems a stoic bird.
The juvenile seen here must have a continuous stream of tourists going past it, though it seemed unconcerned. It's parents built the nest (that streches the term about as far as it will go) on the edge of the path, so it has had more photo-opportunities than Mz Beckham, although it probably worries about it's beak rather less, and weighs rather more.It's parents return every five weeks or so and feed it in the usual sea-bird manner, an oily pulp of part digested raw fish which is, I'm told, quite unlike sushi
Albatross & Hawk
