Espanola

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Espanola Seal Sketching

On a Friday morning we visited one of the most pristine beaches in all the Galapagos: Bahia Gardner.

As our panga arrived, we were greeted by a seal lion in the surf who was between us and our chosen landing site. Here sealions rule the beach!

We walked up the beach and were greeted by the other ambassadors of Bahia Gardener: the Espanola mockingbird.

These mockingbirds aren’t hard to find because they find you. They readily approach beach visitors, inspecting your shoes or sandals. If you set your pack down it will be surrounded by mockingbirds, pecking at pockets and straps.

A mockingbird about to nutmeg Dave.

There were a fair number of Galapagos sea lions hauled out on the beach. Plenty of relatively stable subjects in repose to sketch.

I walked the beach adding sea lions to my spread (featured sketch).

My line work and nature’s work in the background.

Waved Albatross

There is something mystic about an albatross (think Rime of the Ancient Mariner) and seeing one is always special.

Most of my sightings have been from the deck during a pelagic boat trip. Sometimes the sightings aren’t quality as the bird appears and disappears among the swells. Fleeting and always leaving you wanting more.

On the island of Espanola, I was about to have one of the closest encounters with albatrosses anywhere.

As with the boobies, the albatross were tame and we often had to walk around them as they sat in the trails.

A young albatross sitting in the trail. It was remarkable to see these largely pelagic birds on solid rock.

As we headed to Punta Suarez, an albatross dropped out of the air and made a rough landing. The male greeted his partner with head swerving, skypointing, bill-gapping, and bill fencing. Watching this from such close range made me feel like I was in a BBC documentary. Now all we need was Sir David Attenborough to narrate the behavior.

A mated pair bonding. The male is bill-gapping.
An albatross in flight is a beautiful sight.

At Punta Suarez we paused to take in the sights and I had time to sketch the scene before me.