July 13-23, 2024 with Willy Perez & local guide
The Galapagos Islands have long been a top destination for naturalists and of course, birders. This tour to this magical place was stunning, once again. Staying 7 nights in the confortable Nemo III and one night in Puerto Ayora gave us the chance to explore this incredible archipelago. We visited all the major islands for the endemics, and we came across the incredible Waved Albatross that at this time of the year had chicks. To look for the elusive Galapagos Rail we had to adventure to the highlands of Isabela, where we had a great encounter with this secretive small crake. For most of the people, one of the highlights was watching the Wedge-rumped Storm Petrel colony, with thousands of birds flying around and getting into the little cracks trying to avoid the Short eared Owl that was hunting there. The nesting sites of both Frigatebirds were great, and we could study them properly and see the difference between each of them. The three species of Boobies were eye-catching, especially the Blue-footed. The challenge of identifying the Finches was good fun, but we managed to see 14 species and several subspecies of them. Sailing between the islands was very productive too, specially for sea animals. We saw Blue whale, Manta Ray, Mola Mola and people who did snorkeling even saw Hammerhead Sharks.
The last day we visited the highlands of Santa Cruz, and there we saw Large Tree Finch and the Giant Tortoises in the wild, and even had some time to walk the lava tunnel.
The most important part of the trip for me was to have a great group of people with different necessities but with the same goal, to enjoy watching these beautiful birds. Some people enjoyed the Flamingos, others the Penguins, Flightless Cormorant, Swallow-tailed Gull, or the one and only Galapagos Martin. Some people even enjoyed the Finches, especially the (Smedium) that came across several times… For me, also a highlight was the Great Blue Heron and you all know why. Overall it was a fun birding trip and I would like to say thank you to all of you for coming to the Galapagos to enjoy the islands.
Also thank you to our Galapagos guide Jairo for his excellent work and the crew of the Nemo III.
I will be back soon, until then, just keep birding. A big hug, Willy.
Other Wildlife in the tour.
Mammals:
Short-beaked Common Dolphin
Blue Whale
Galapagos Sea Lion
Galapagos Fur Seal
Santa Fe Rice Rat
Black Rat
Marine Iguana
Land Iguana
Santa Fe Land Iguana
Galapagos, Espanola, Floreana, San Cristobal, Santa Fe and Isabela Lava Lizards
Green Sea Turtle
Mobula Ray
Manta Ray
Spotted Eagle Ray
Hammerhead Shark
Sally Light Foot Crab
Hermit Crab
Mola Mola, Marlin and many incredible colorful fish.
Blue and Monarch Butterflies.
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/267487
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/gal24bTRIPLIST.pdf
A big hug, Willy.