Galápagos Islands

July – August 2016 OSCAR CAMPBELL

This trip report outlines an 11-day visit (7 days on a boat cruise; two days either side based in Puerto Ayora, Santa

Cruz) to the Galápagos Islands, made during July–August 2016. As trip reports written by independent birders to this

location were a little hard to find when I was planning this, I thought it would be useful to put a few things down on

paper for anyone coming along in the future. If you want to see everything, or pretty much everything on the

Galápagos, you need to go on a custom birding trip where you won’t need any of the information that follows as,

presumably, you will simply pay your cash and be led around by a guide who knows all of what follows (and more).

But if you are planning to visit independently, and particularly if like me lack the time, money and/or inclination for

two weeks on a boat and/or being led around by somebody else, hopefully what follows will help.

Where to go First and foremost, pretty much all of the Galápagos Islands are awesome and a visit there, in particular a

cruise to any of the visitor sites away from the main centres of habitation (which are very few) will surely by one of the

career highlights for any birder or naturalist. This will be the case for pretty much any cruise you take, regardless of

exact route. But given that you are likely only to be doing this once, there are a few things worth bearing in mind:

If, like me, you rate seabirds as being straight out of the top drawer, visits to the famous seabird islands of Genovesa and

Española with their large and spectacular breeding colonies of various species are absolute musts. Waved Albatross is only

on the latter island (although we also saw a handful on the runs from Santa Cruz to Floreana and Santa Fe islands) and not

going to the former will make Red-footed Booby very tricky and you will miss the remarkable diurnal maelstrom of

Galápagos Storm-Petrels. Further, there are several landbirds that are endemic, or nearly so (in that other islands where

they occur are even more remote and/or have no visitor sites) on both Genovesa and Española too. The problem is that

both islands are far-flung (north-west and south-west corners of the archipelago respectively) and require an overnight sail

to get there. Many general cruise routes go to one or the other (or sometimes even neither); few go to both.

The other really outstanding place to visit is (apparently) Fernandina and the adjacent shoreline of Isabela (most

spectacular volcanology on the archipelago; this is the only place you will see Flightless Cormorant and there is, maybe, an

extremely outside chance of the critically endangered Mangrove Finch) plus the biggest concentrations of Marine Iguanas

and Galápagos Penguins. However, Fernandina is in the far east of the archipelago and a long way from Santa Cruz, let

alone Genovesa or Española. No seven day, general interest cruise would or could take in all three islands. So if you are

taking a seven day cruise, something has to give; for me it was the cormorants (we saw a few penguins and masses of

iguanas elsewhere) and I did not go to Fernandina or Isabela at all.

Birdwise, it is very advisable, nay essential, to have a few days shoretime before or after your cruise to visit the highlands of

one of the large islands. Santa Cruz, by far the main population centre on the islands, is the easiest and most central place

to do this; an easy 20km taxi ride or cycle from Puerto Ayora (in itself not at all a bad place to stay with some nearby nice

sites and good birds right in the town) will get you to suitable habitat to look for several of the Darwin’s Finches, Galápagos

Rail, Paint-billed Crake etc. and you can see lots of Giant Tortoises too. Most general cruises do not include time in the

highlands, and, even if they did, it would be a rushed group tour and you would not have time to find some or most of the

birds, which are at low density and, in some cases (those pesky finches; see page 13) hard to identify. For that reason,

adding a few days (at least) in Puerto Ayora is a good idea and well worth doing.

Santa Cruz is the obvious island to base yourself at and, if you have longer than a couple of days, you could also do visits

from there to San Cristóbal to try for the mockingbird (although I saw this on the beach during the cruise; not sure how

lucky this was; I didn’t expect it) and to Floreana to try for Medium Tree Finch (apparently highlands only). To have a

reasonable chance of finding these (certainly the finch) an overnight stay would be preferable. Isabela can also be visited by

public ferry from Santa Cruz but to get to the most interesting parts (i.e. Fernandina) you would need another long trip,

with at least one overnight. Sites around Puerto Villamil, where the Santa Cruz boat comes in on southern Isabela sound

quite interesting, and getting uphill to one of the volcanoes may yield more Giant Tortoises and Galápagos Martin (a

species I didn’t see but apparently easier here). It is easy to get to any of these other main islands from Puerto Ayora, Santa

Cruz; there are several ferries per day and you can buy tickets in many places. The crossings are on small speedboats and

often rough; don’t count on good views of many seabirds.

Booking the cruise After spending a lot of time looking, we booked a cruise from 29 July to 5 August 2016 on the

motor yacht Golondrina (see this link) as that boat, unlike most others, was going to both Genovesa and Española on the

same itinerary (itinerary C; see map below). All the other days and visitor sites we went too were great as well.

Golondrina was a very small boat (maximum passengers 16) and one of the cheaper ones (definitely in what they call

tourist, or even budget tourist class). It was still pretty expensive by our standards (c1900 – 2000 USD per person for

seven nights) but everything in the Galápagos Islands is (very) expensive; coming from mainland Ecuador you can easily

double – at least - the price of hotels, eating out etc. There were plenty of more expensive options but, unless you pay

1.5 or 2 times as much, all you are paying for is a few inches more bunk / bed space, or maybe a few more cocktails

thrown in before dinner; the experience in terms of the route, guide etc. is not going to be any different. Despite being

on a ‘budget’ trip, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Golondrina; food was decent and there was plenty

of it; itinerary and all landings and snorkeling trips were very good or better (exact detail and timings of these are all

controlled by the national park authorities and so likely to be similar on most boats), the guide (whilst not a birding

specialist) was ok and very relaxed about things and the small crew were very friendly. We booked our trip in early

March (i.e. five months in advance) via

Galápagos Travel Centre who provided good

and prompt service via email. The boat was

nearly full but not quite and a couple of people

managed to get a space within a few days

before we started. Playing this game will be

slightly cheaper presumably but, if you don’t

have unlimited time, rather risky – and you will

also have limited choice over the itinerary. So

if there are sites you really want to go to,

especially if they are far-flung, taking a punt

like that is not really an option.

Transport

practicalities Most

(almost all?) cruises

leave from Baltra Island,

where the main airport

is; the jetty is a short, 5-

minute bus ride from

the airport. If you don’t

step off a flight onto a

cruise you will need to

get to the meeting point

at the airport from

Puerto Ayora; this takes

1.5 hrs or so, depending

on how long you need to

wait for the ferry across

the Baltra channel.

Buses meet all the flights

and regularly leave

Puerto Ayora, at least in

the mornings. Flights

from Quito are generally

booked by the tour

agent that books your

cruise.

Accommodation in Puerto Ayora Via www.booking.com we booked four nights, two either side of the boat at the

Hostal Estrella del Mar. This was a decent enough place and not excessively expensive, with great views of Academy Bay

and its Galápagos Petrels, amongst others, its main selling point. Puerto Ayora is full of various guesthouses, hotels and

agents selling tours; even in August (high season) it looked easy to find somewhere at short notice.

Weather Weather in the Galápagos, certainly during the garua season (April / May to December) is dry and pleasantly

cloudy and with invariable mist at higher elevations. Thanks to the Humboldt Current, it is never too hot; although the

sun is strong we never saw more than a few hours of it most days, so it was easy to dodge. Breezy conditions, whilst not

making for rough seas, kept the temperature down too. Visits to the highlands were characterized by low swirling cloud

and, once, wet mist for several hours. Boots and raincoats were essential here.

Timing Pretty much all key species can be found year round, the one big exception being Waved Albatross (absent

January to March). During our visit in July, many boobies, frigatebirds, Swallow-tailed Gulls etc. had chicks and seabird

activity at the colonies was excellent. Galápagos Rail apparently breeds in the garua season and therefore should have

been calling but my one visit to its Miconia forest habitat drew a blank. Most other landbirds breed much earlier in the

year; however some of Darwin’s Finches, apparently breeding mainly in the moist and transitional zones seemingly

disperse lower when not breeding. That may explain the very good selection I found in the arid zone very close to Puerto

Ayora, but I also spent the day before tramping round the highlands exerting a lot of effort trying to find several that

was missing. Small numbers of boreal waders winter here and presumably there would be bigger numbers and better

variety during September to April than during our visit. But you are hardly going all the way to Galápagos for them.

What to bring A scope was not essential, although I did have mine; it was used mainly for sea-watching over Academy

Bay, Puerto Ayora from the hotel. More useful were two DSLRs, with different lenses: I used my 400mm on one body

and an 18-135mm zoom on the other. The latter was essential as many things are extremely tame; I did not miss having

anything to cover 135-400mm range as footwork did that. Whilst most of the landbirds were pretty quiet, I had some

fun with my recorder with some of the seabirds; some of the results of this are downloadable here. I came armed with

the standard visitor guidebook by Fitter, Fitter & Hosking (see this link for its various guises); it was sufficient for many

species and covers all obvious animals, most common plants and has good sections on the island’s vegetation zones,

geology, an introduction to evolutionary theory etc. This book is well-nigh essential and a very good background to the

natural history of the island but is insufficient to identify many Darwin’s Finches, and to sort out all plumages of

frigatebirds and storm-petrels. For that reason, a specialized seabird guide, and time invested taking information from

HBW-Alive would be well spent; see bottom page for the best I could manage on the finches. There was reasonable

general background information in the appropriate volume of Lonely Planet whilst a copy of Barry Boyce’s Traveller’s

Guide (see this link) on the boat also provided a fair amount of background information. This book is supposed to be

good too, but I haven’t seen it. In addition, this excellent website is required reading for planning a birding trip anywhere

in Ecuador and includes a whole section (Chapter 7) on the Galápagos Islands including much specific site information

and useful maps. This report gives some good details on current taxonomic trends and conservation issues for some

species. Finally, I had some fun with my sound recorder (see here for the results) but it was hardly essential kit.

Clothing was very casual but seabirding from a moving deck was sometimes quite chilly; a few layers were necessary

quite often. Most landings could be done in flip flops but, for rocky ones, stronger shoes were a better idea. Snorkeling is

standard on all cruises, usually once or twice a day and wonderful; if you bring your own mask and fins you will save a

few dollars. The water temperature as a chilly 19oC which, for many people is decidedly uncomfortable for longer

snorkels; a wetsuit was invaluable (many be rentable on board or, cheaper, from various dive shops in Puerto Ayora).

Natural history interest other than birds Not being a specialist, I have elected not to say much about marine life and

vegetation zones in the location accounts below. However, the former is some of the best on the planet, bar nowhere,

and a real highlight of any visit will be lots of snorkeling. This is worthwhile just about anywhere, including right by

Puerto Ayora. Galápagos Sea lions are common, sometimes abundant almost everywhere, as are Green Turtles, both

from boats and underwater. We were unlucky to see only one distant whale off Genovesa and no dolphins; most cruises,

certainly if they go along the Bolivar Channel to the west of Isabela, do better than this.

The vegetation, in particular its striking zonation in with regard to elevation (a proxy for humidity), the adaptive

radiation of certain genera, most notably Scalesia and Opuntia and differing cacti growth forms selected for on islands

subject to different degrees of grazing pressure by Land Iguanas and Giant Tortoises over evolutionary time and blatant

ecological release (those Mangrove Warblers get EVERYWHERE…) is exceptionally interesting and obvious to any observant

visitor. A general but adequate introduction to much of this, and more, is given in the Fitter, Fitter & Hosking book.

Birding sites visited Below, brief information is provided on all the sites we visited, starting with sites on the cruise

(1 to 9, in itinerary order) and then various sites in or easily reachable from Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz (10A to E).

Highlights and key points are noted and the following information should be read in conjunction with Chapter 7 of the

aforementioned website. A number of widespread and fairly common (and very easily seen) species throughout all or

most of the islands (namely White-vented Storm-Petrel, Galápagos Shearwater, Blue-footed Booby, Brown Pelican,

Magnificent Frigatebird, White-cheeked Pintail, Common Noddy, Galápagos Dove – sparse on Santa Cruz but common

on most low, arid, unhabituated islands - Galápagos Flycatcher, Galápagos Mockingbird, Mangrove Warbler and

Medium Ground-Finch) are not generally mentioned in the account that follows, nor are all the shorebirds logged (total

12 species, mostly scattered and in very small numbers). Large Ground and Small Ground Finches appeared fairly

common on certain islands, including Santa Cruz but the presence of Medium Ground Finch, seemingly rather variable

in bill dimensions, confuses things and meant I was only

confident identifying the extremes of the former two species.

1. Bacchus Beach and Baltra Channel (Santa Cruz)

This site is on the north side of Santa Cruz and close to

Baltra where most cruises start, so is a popular first visiting

point for many itineraries. The very scenic beach has small

numbers of Marine Iguanas and a range of common birds.

Very photogenic Lava Gulls and American Oystercatchers

were our highlights, whilst the short run across from Baltra

and later back to Baltra Channel in late afternoon produced

good or very good looks at the critically endangered

Galápagos Petrel (breeds in the Miconia zone of the

interior of Santa Cruz and San Cristóbal – and other larger

islands - so is worth looking out for close to dusk around

these islands) and my first views of Wedge-rumped Storm-

Petrel and Nazca Booby.

Baltra Channel, which you will cross several times in all

probability, is good for common inshore seabirds which

readily use the narrow channel as a conduit, plus Great

Blue and Lava Herons and Galápagos Dove (otherwise

decidedly scarce on Santa Cruz).

2. Genovesa Island

This unmissable island is famous for its diurnal blizzard of

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels and associated predatory Short-

eared Owls, but also has a sensational array of breeding other

breeding seabirds. You are unlikely to see Red-footed Boobies

anywhere else, but they are extremely common here and other

obvious nesting species include Nazca Booby, Great Frigatebird

(no Magnificent here?), Swallow-tailed Gull and Red-billed

Tropicbird. You can walk right up to pretty much all of these on

their nests.

There are two landing sites, close together in a sheltered bay

that is actually a flooded caldera. The Prince Philip Steps site

soon leads to the south-facing cliffs where the Wedge-rumped

Storm-Petrels nest; the colony was very active during our visit,

with birds everywhere and careful scanning revealed one or two

Short-eared Owls. The nocturnal Band-rumped Storm-Petrel

are here too, but our morning visit failed to find any. A late

afternoon visit would presumably be better but this is luck of the

draw depending on what landing times the boat has booked; in

fact we failed to see this species anywhere, despite avid

checking of any storm-petrels that came close enough. Most of

the longer journeys over deeper water are made at night on

most cruises so I am not sure what to suggest for finding

this species. Regarding landbirds, Sharp-billed and Grey

Warbler Finches were easy to find and distinctive

(Genovesa is the only easily accessible site for the former)

and I had a couple of Large Cactus Finches, although

rather more Large Ground Finches (former are more

obvious on Española). Also notable on Genovesa were

several approachable Yellow-crowned Night-Herons

(Lava Herons more distant), Galápagos Fur Seals (far

scarcer than sea lions; this is the only site we found them)

and a whale, possibly Sperm Whale in deeper water

offshore.

3. Bartholomé and Santiago (Sullivan’s Bay) Islands

The main interest of these islands is scenery and geology,

rather than birds. The viewpoint climbed up early

morning to Pinnacle Rock gives one of the best – and

certainly the most famous – Galápagos panoramas and

there are lots Lava Lizards and interesting early

successional vegetation such as Lava Cacti on the bare

slopes. We also spent some time walking over a recent

(approximately 120 year-old) lava flow. Birding was very

slow compared to Genovesa (inevitably) with Galápagos

Penguin being the one critical exception: there is a small colony

in the area and we saw several very closely at Bartholomé and,

even more memorably still, snorkeled into – and after – a trio

swimming at Sullivan’s Bay. This rare bird is very local unless

you go to Fernandina.

The cruise from Santiago back towards Santa Cruz was started

late afternoon and provided some of the best boat seabirding of

the trip as we sailed right through thousands of Galápagos

Shearwaters and also had some good petrel action, plus groups

of Red-necked Phalaropes.

4. South Plaza Island

This small, low island is on the west side of Santa Cruz and is full

of seabirds, although not to the same extent or variety as

Genovesa or Española. It is reachable on bumpy day trips from

Puerto Ayora but we overnighted here and went ashore first

thing in the morning. Key species are Galápagos Shearwater

(hundreds attending cliffs in the morning), Swallow-tailed Gulls

(many chicks) and Red-billed Tropicbirds (several incubating

adults and chicks found in crevices) plus lots of our first large

Land Iguanas and very photogenic Galápagos Sea lions. We also

found a very close, tame Short-eared Owl near the

landing point.

The late morning cruise across to Santa Fe provided many fewer

seabirds than the Santiago – Santa Cruz run the afternoon before,

but very good variety including several Galápagos Petrels and

even our first Waved Albatrosses (a little distant, but exciting).

5. Santa Fe (Barrington Bay)

We spent the afternoon inside the beautiful, very

sheltered Barrington Bay full of Green Turtles, with

Galápagos Sharks and Spotted Eagle Ray squadrons

circling the boat at dusk. A landing and short walk

through the arid zone forest very quickly produced

Galápagos Hawks circling overhead (this species is very

local although not too tricky were it occurs) whilst a

complicated mixed feeding group of finches included

several unambiguous Common Cactus Finches.

Wandering Tattler was a bonus on the beach, where

there were many sea lions. We also easily found the

endemic Santa Fe Land Iguana, a rather plainer and even

bigger species than the much more widespread taxa we’d

seen on South Plaza earlier in the day.

.

6. San Cristóbal Island (Leon Dormida

and nearby Cerro Brujo beach; Islas

Lobos)

This island was reached overnight from

Santa Fe so no chance for any deeper

water seabirding; however, Galápagos

Petrel were very obvious late afternoon

along the east side of the island as we

approached Puerto Baquerizo Moreno,

presumably as they gathered to move

inland to nesting sites.

The offshore stack of Leon Dormida is an

impressive, faintly scary and – at 6am –

very cold snorkeling site and we endured

this with rafts of shearwaters all around

and reasonable numbers of other

seabirds, notably Nazca Boobies, on the

high cliffs. After breakfast and recovering,

we did a panga ride along the large cliffs

and into some of the big caves (very close

Brown Pelicans and Common Noddies)

on the adjacent main island before

landing at Cerro Brujo beach. This is a

stunning white sand beach with very

photogenic sea lions and the odd Marina

Iguana and Lava Gull, plus, at least on our

visit, Blue-footed Boobies fishing close in

the shallows. Even better was just behind

the beach, however, as I easily located

San Cristóbal Mockingbird in the

beachside scrub (one or two individuals;

not sure how lucky this was; maybe not at all but the website implies it is better to search the highlands for them;

somewhere we weren’t visiting). In addition I had my first very close Lava Heron in the beachside pools whilst a small,

drying saline lagoon behind the beach produced a few stilts and a male Ruff. I thought the latter was likely to be pretty

notable and, despite the distance, made sure to photograph it, only to find on making enquires of EORC on my return that it

represents the first Ecuadorian record!

Isla Lobos, a short sail east along the north coast of San Cristóbal, was visited in the afternoon. Here a small but very close

mixed colony of Great and Magnificent Frigatebirds are in residence and this was our first chance to be among nesting

Blue-footed Boobies, which, although doing limited foot-waddling, made up for that in attacking anything that came past

them and had lots of large chicks that could be watched juggling with sticks, presumably as practice for grasping fish when

they fledge.

7. Española Island (Punta Suarez; Bahia Gardner)

Genovesa notwithstanding, a visit to Española is likely to be the highlight of many Galápagos cruises. Geologically the

oldest island of the archipelago, bar a few pairs on an island off coastal Ecuador, this is the world’s only breeding site for the

critically endangered and quite wonderful Waved Albatross. Most accumulate on the sea on the south side of the island

where the prevailing south-easterlies are strongest and a visit to Punta Suarez allows a walk right through the middle of

part of the colony, with dozens of birds loafing on the

ground and sailing over the spectacular cliffs. During our

visit eggs and chicks were in evidence in some nests and

we saw quite a lot of allopreening and bill clattering;

however proper dancing is more likely at the end of the

breeding season (October – November) before adults

depart the colony for several months at sea.

Photographic opportunities for albatrosses in flight off

the cliffs are superb (fortunately as we saw rather few at

sea from the boat elsewhere and none especially close).

Punta Suarez has more than just albatross however;

there are large numbers of breeding Nazca Boobies and

Swallow-tailed Gulls, a few tropicbirds and good

numbers of commoner seabirds evident offshore.

Marina Iguanas, of an attractive pink-coloured

subspecies, are extremely numerous and, whilst not

quite reaching the size of animals on Fernandina gather

in similar masses. This was the only place we saw

Marina Iguanas swimming. Landbirds are significant too;

several Galápagos Hawks were evident throughout our

visit with Large Cactus Finch rather easier to observe

here than on Genovesa (and no Large Ground Finches

present to confuse things). The thrasher-like Española

Mockingbird is common and easy to see but best

enjoyed on the beach at Bahia Gardner, which we

visited in the afternoon – here groups gather on the beaches to

march right up to visitors and put on an outrageous show. This

beach is also a good site for very good views of Galápagos

Flycatcher, Mangrove Warbler and Grey Warbler Finch.

8. Floreana Island (Punta Cormorant and Devil’s

Crown)

This was an overnight sail from Española and we actually only had

about 4 hours here before setting sail back to Santa Cruz. The

landing site at Punta Cormorant was wonderfully peaceful at dawn

and you can do a nice walk to another beach over a ridge.

Although seabirds were pretty scarce save for breeding boobies,

views and sunrise were fantastic and here we finally saw a very

scenic group of Chilean Flamingoes, along with the best selection

of shorebirds of the trip (seven species; most notable being Least

Sandpiper on the lagoon and several tattlers on the beach).

Snorkeling at the offshore Devil’s Crown was the best anywhere

we tried on the islands, hosting veritable blizzard of fish, and

plenty of rays including a monstrous Marbled Ray, turtles, reef

sharks and the odd sea lion.

9. North Seymour Island

This small, seabird-rich island is

close to Baltra and hence used

on many itineraries as a final

stop before dropping people off

at the end of a cruise. We had

about two hours here, before a

30 minute sail back to the finish.

The main attraction on the

island is the large number of

Magnificent Frigatebirds, many

males sporting an inflated

throat sac, nesting on the low,

scrubby vegetation and

viewable at extremely close

range from the paths. Good

numbers of Blue-footed

Boobies and smaller numbers of

Swallow-tailed Gulls also nest

here and a good selection of

other seabirds, including

hundreds of shearwaters and

the odd Wedge-rumped Storm

and Galápagos Petrel not far

offshore. Here I also finally

found some properly

photogenic Brown Pelicans,

fishing and attended by

Common Noddies. A

reintroduced population of

Land Iguana also occur,

although we only saw one,

along with a few fur seals,

which we didn’t see.

10. Sites in or reachable from Puerto Ayora

A. Academy Bay This is the large bay around which Puerto Ayora wraps. It is viewable at many points, with our hotel giving a

particularly good vantage point. Scanning from here or a short walk is a pretty good introduction to the Galápagos Islands

as a whole, with black lava beach boulders covered in Sally Lightfoot crabs and, in places, Marina Iguanas. Several sessions

of seabird scoping in the late afternoon produced a good range of the common inshore seabird species, including

Galápagos Shearwater, Red-billed Tropicbird and Galápagos Petrel on several occasions (12+ one evening when the wind

was really blowing) and the odd wader such as Whimbrel and Semipalmated Plover. The small fish-market jetty is worth

visiting early morning or late afternoon to see the scrounging and outrageously tame (even by local standards) pelicans,

frigatebirds, sea lions and, especially, Lava Gulls. This very rare species is in better numbers (tens) in Academy Bay than

anywhere else. A visit to the main passenger jetty after dark is also compulsory to see the dozens of small Black-tipped

Reef Sharks that appear in the illuminated water.

B. Charles Darwin Research Centre This is a short walk from the centre of town and set on the west side of the bay in arid

zone vegetation and salt brush. There is a small but informative museum and some interesting displays in various issues,

including the dire plight of Mangrove Finch. The breeding pens are also interesting and contained the only ‘saddle-backed’

Giant Tortoises we saw. Being close to our hotel, I made several visits here but only really scored on the final morning when

I scratched up seven species of Darwin’s Finches inside an hour. These included Common Cactus Finch finally on cacti,

Large Tree Finch, Vegetarian Finch and even a Woodpecker Finch along with the usual few Large Ground and Small Tree

Finches etc. The first four species are described as being more typical of transitional or humid zones but this may be only

correct during their breeding season. Dark-billed Cuckoo eluded me whilst the jetty, full of young Marina Iguanas, also

produced fairly convincing examples of the local race of Striated Heron; worth studying as it is not far from Lava Heron,

which I didn’t definitely see around Puerto Ayora.

C. Tortuga Beach The 2.5km walk to here is a famous one locally and goes through classic arid zone vegetation, before arriving

at a sensational white sand beach with passing seabirds. Species such as Mangrove Warbler, Galápagos Mockingbird and

Flycatcher and the standard finches are common (as at the research station) and I also saw Common Cactus Finch and

Vegetarian Finch once (in two visits). Marina Iguanas are very abundant at the far end of the beach, just before the

impressive cacti forest starts.

D. Walk to Los Grietas This short walk to a deep chasm filled with crystal clear water starts after taking a water taxi from the

main jetty in Puerto Ayora and goes via mangroves (Yellow-crowned Night-Heron), salt ponds (holding tame Great Blue

Heron and a few waders, including several Wandering Tattler, at high tide) and arid zone scrub (Common Cactus Finch and

I saw my first Vegetarian Finch at the chasm itself; once you get your eye in this species was not too uncommon around

Puerto Ayora). There is a dramatic viewpoint over Academy Bay that produced plenty of common seabirds, plus shrieking,

displaying Red-billed Tropicbirds.

E. Santa Cruz highlands: Los Gemelos and Media

Luna

Although not as immediately appealing as the rest of the

islands, these highland sites hold some significant birds and

are well worth visiting from a general natural history /

ecology viewpoint. Both are easily reachable from Puerto

Ayora; we visited Los Gemelos twice (taxi up and cycle back

down) and Media Luna once (cycle up and down).

Los Gemelos is a well-known tourist site

and right by the main road. Three to four hours over two

visits in the mossy Scalesia forest here produced a

bewildering variety of finches, many of which were

unidentifiable (by me…) Small Tree Finch were definitely

present and many of the grey, streaky, large billed individuals

were probably Large Tree Finch. After much searching I

finally found Woodpecker Finch, more identifiable by its

habits and jizz than plumage features and turned from this

small but significant victory to find a stunning Short-eared

Owl posing wonderfully on a mossy branch. Other species

were limited and the forests generally quiet, although

Galápagos Doves seemingly nest in the collapsed craters.

Vermillion Flycatcher was notable by its absence; I am not

sure of its current conservation status on Santa Cruz. A visit

to Los Gemelos is easily combined with a stop at a tortoise

reserve on the way back downhill where Giant Tortoise are abundant and can be watched wallowing in muddy

pools. The mainly introduced forest at on the tortoise reserve was poor for birds, save for lots of perplexing finches

although the muddy pool had both Common Moorhen and, less expectedly, adult and juvenile American Purple

Gallinule, presumably a recently established breeder (?).

Media Luna This much less well-known and more tranquil site is detailed in the website; it was an arduous but not

killing 3km uphill cycle on a heavy duty mountain bike from Bellavista’s main square. You climb through quite well-

wooded agricultural land before reaching the trailhead and soon hitting the wonderful low, boggy Miconia forest.

This was in dense mist when I arrived, with pools of water everywhere and limited visibility. Galápagos Rail did not

co-operate or even squeak once; a tape (which I didn’t have) may have helped the situation. However, you can

almost smell the Galápagos Petrels up here and Green Warbler Finch (a recent split from Grey Warbler Finch and

in a very different habitat and niche) was noisy and obvious. The finches at the trail head did indeed seem to be

Large Tree, as foretold in the gen and I had many several flocks of other finches, lower down on the road up

probably including Vegetarian Finch. Cycling this track slowly in dense mist eventually produced a Paint-billed

Crake on the road, along with a couple of glimpses of others and one calling very closely, but not showing.

LARGE GROUND (Santa Cruz) WOODPECKER (Santa Cruz) LARGE TREE (Santa Cruz)

MEDIUM GROUND (Santa Cruz)

SMALL TREE (Santa Cruz)

SMALL GROUND (Santa Cruz)

GREY WARBLER-FINCH (Espanola)

SHARP-BILLED FINCH (Espanola)

VEGTARIAN FINCH (Santa Cruz)

LARGE CATCUS FINCH (Espanola;

Genovesa)

COMMON CACTUS FINCH (Santa Cruz)