Thursday 08 May. CHINESE HAT and
RABIDO. I was up and on deck soon after dawn (05:00) to find us anchored of the
small island of Chinese Hat. I watched from deck until breakfast at 07:00. At
08:00 we had our first wet Panga landing on Chinese Hat, We walked a short
distance around the shoreline and back where a dry pickup was possible. I spent
an hour on deck while we cruised to Rabida. We had a wet landing there and a 40
minute walk along the beach to a lagoon before returning onboard for lunch. We
returned to the beach for a longer walk in the afternoon continuing inland to
the lagoon and returning along the coast. We were back onboard at 18:20 with
dinner at 19:00. A nice day to ease into life on the Chacalote Explorer. Birds
seen were 2 White-cheeked Pintail, 20 Galapagos
Doves, 2 Smooth-billed Anis, 4 American Oystercatchers,
Semipalmated Plover, Wandering Tatler, 20 Brown Noddies, 3
American Flamingoes, 30 Elliot’s Storm
Petrels, 50 Galapagos Shearwaters,
15 Magnificent Frigatebirds, 3 Nazca and
20 Blue-footed Boobies, 12 Brown
Pelicans, 2 Lava Herons, juvenile Striated and Great
Blue Heron, 3 Galapagos Hawks, 5
distant presumed Galapagos Martins, 12 Galapagos Mockingbirds, Mangrove
Warbler, a retrospective Medium and 8 Small Ground Finches and 3 Common Cactus Finches.
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| 08 May itinerary (our guide Darwin had many talents, producing superbly illustrated itineraries was one) |
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islands north of Chinese Hat viewed from the top deck
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| American Oystercatcher on the beach at Chinese Hat |
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| Lava Heron on Chinese Hat |
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| Sally Lightfoot crab on Chinese Hat |
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Galapagos Sea Lion pup on Chinese Hat
 | Marine Iguana looking as if it had just walked off the set of a 1930s monster film
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| Blue-footed Booby at Chinese Hat, they soon became a firm favourite |
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| Brown Pelican at Chinese Hat |
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| Great Blue Heron at Chinese Hat |
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| Elliot's Storm Petrel off Chinese Hat |
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| its long legs makes identification easier |
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| Galapagos Shearwater off Chinese Hat |
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| very flexible wings |
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| constant companion Beluga leaving Chinese Hat. Both it and our Chacalote Explorer (Chacalote being Spanish for Sperm Whale) are run by Enchanted Expeditions and follow the same route so in the very unlikely event that one gets into difficulties the other is nearby. |
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| looking back at Chinese Hat, in the mid distance as we head towards Rabida |
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| Magnificent Frigatebird en route to Rabida |
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| Nazca Booby |
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| Semipalmated Plover on Rabida |
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| Galapagos Hawk over Rabida |
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| American Oystercatcher on the beach at Rabida |
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| American Flamingoes on Rabida |
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| White-cheeked Pintail on Rabida |
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| immature Striated Heron on Rabida |
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| presumed Medium Ground Finch on Rabida. At the time all the Ground Finches I identified on Rabida were Small but looking at the bill in this image I think I was wrong with this one |
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| Lava Lizards on Rabida |
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| Chacalote Explorer off Rabida |
Friday 09 May 2025. ISABELA. Breakfast at
07:00, departed at 08:00 for a short panga ride into Puerto Villanil (dry
landing) where an open sided bus was waiting to take us up to the rim of the Volcan Sierra Negra. As soon as we reached decent forest we were engulfed by
cloud, so much for a finch extravaganza. We took a trail down into the bottom
of the caldera and half way down it slowly started to clear. Sulphur coloured sand
and rocks were revealed as well as a couple of columns of white smoke coming
from vents a little way up the other side. The others decided to continue up to
the vents, but with hardly any birds seen it was an easy choice to return to
the rim of the crater where I stood more chance of finding some. It had cleared when I reached
the rim and as I was well ahead of the group I told the driver I would walk on
down and the others would be back in half an hour, ‘mas or menos’. Rather
optimistic on my part as they were over an hour but I had a nice walk along the
rim getting good views of 3 Galapagos Martins.
I was picked up by the passing bus at 12:45 by which time the road had dropped
down into taller vegetation, recognizable as trees, but few birds. We made a
brief stop at a clearing by the park entrance and very much against the clock Darwin
and I saw a Galapagos Rail (front half only, helped by playback) and everyone
Darwin's Flycatcher, the only one of each we were to see. Back in town we were ferried out to
the Chacalote Explorer for a late lunch. At 16:00 we returned by panga to Puerto
Villanil where we walked to the flamingo lagoon on the edge of town. We weren’t
returning for 90 minutes so I walked along the beach and back. A good day that
didn’t get off to a particularly good start but saved by Rail, Flycatcher and 4
Lava Gulls
around the town. Other birds seen were 20 White-cheeked Pintail,
4 Smooth-billed Anis, 3 Common Gallinules, 2 American Oystercatchers,
2 Grey Plover, 5 Hudsonian Whimbrel, a first-summer Franklin’s
Gull, 15 Brown Noddies, 2 Royal Terns, 9 American
Flamingoes, 8 Elliot’s Storm Petrels, 3 Galapagos Shearwaters,
10 Magnificent Frigatebirds, 12 Blue-footed Boobies, 6 Brown
Pelicans, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, 5 Western Cattle and a
Great Egret, Galapagos Flycatcher,
2 Galapagos Mockingbirds, 3 Mangrove Warblers, a retrospective
Small Tree Finch and probable 25 Small Ground Finches.
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| descending into Volcan Sierra Negra |
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| it was starting to smell quite sulphury |
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| Galapagos Mockingbird at Sierra Negra Volcano, the only bird seen in the caldera |
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| our group on their way up to the fumarole |
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| Small Ground Finch near the rim of the Sierra Negra Volcano |
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