GALAPAGOS part 6: San Cristobal (16 May 2025)

Friday 16 May 2025. SAN CRISTOBAL. We woke off Cerro Brujo on the NW coast of San Cristobal with the impressive Kicker Rock further offshore. I spent an hour labelling photos then went on deck for 15 minutes before breakfast. We had a panga ride from 08:00-09:15 when we landed on a long sandy beach. We had 90 minutes to explore the beach but were not allowed into the vegetation backing onto it which was a little frustrating. I walked the length of the beach and back and easily found the endemic San Cristobal Mockingbird despite this restriction. Back on board we left Cerro Brujo for a quick circumnavigation of Kicker Rock which was more impressive up close. It took about an hour to cruise down the west coast of San Cristobal to Puerto Baquerizo at its southern tip. We had lunch while travelling and arrived at 13:00. A bus was waiting and took us up to El Junco, an extinct volcano with a freshwater crater lake. We arrived at 13:40 and slowly walked around seeing several Green Warbler Finches and a Woodpecker Finch. We made a brief unscheduled stop at the rather interesting cemetery on the way back into town where a quick walk around failed to produce the hoped for Vegetarian Finch in its favourite feeding tree, much to Darwin’s surprise. Not for the first time in my opinion not enough time had been allocated to finding the endemic landbirds and probably not at the best time of day on what from a birding perspective seemed to be a rather inflexible itinerary. We had half an hour in town, no finches there, before returning to the Chacalote Explorer at 18:10. Dinner then navigation to Espanola overnight. Birds seen were 5 White-cheeked Pintail, 3 Smooth-billed Anis, Common Gallinule, 2 American Oystercatchers, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, Wandering Tattler, a Swallow-tailed and 2 Lava Gulls, 7 Brown Noddies, Red-billed Tropicbird, 7 Elliot’s, 2 probable Band-rumped and 2 Wedge-rumped Storm Petrels, 14 Galapagos Shearwaters, 40 Magnificent and several probable Great Frigatebirds, 12 Nazca and 20 Blue-footed Boobies, 5 Brown Pelicans, 3 Lava and a Great Blue Heron, 10 Western Cattle Egrets, 6 San Cristobal Mockingbirds, 4 Mangrove Warblers, 5 Grey Warbler-Finches, Woodpecker Finch and 3 Small and 2 Medium Ground Finches.

Kicker Rock from Cerro Brujo bay, not a view I was expecting to wake up too

preparing Kayaks, I stayed in the panga

Lava Gull on the beach at Cerro Brujo

Marine Iguana on Cerro Brujo beach

Cerro Brujo from the far end of the beach

perhaps not the best place for American Oystercatchers to nest?

Semipalmated Plover at Cerro Brujo

Brown Noddy at Cerro Brujo

San Cristobal Mockingbirds at Cerro Brujo

fairly distant circumnavigating of Kicker Rock

Great Frigatebirds and Nazca Boobies on Kicker Rock

Nazca Booby and Swallow-tailed Gull on Kicker Rock

El Junco

hawk moth at El Junco

Cerro Brujo from El Junco

spider on El Junco

view north from El Junco

East from El Junco

NW from El Junco

Grey Warbler-Finches at El Junco

Charles Darwin model in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Galapagos Sea Lions at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Lava Heron going to roost in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Mangrove Warbler catching the last rays in Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

preparing to leave Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and San Cristobal, all being well it's albatross day tomorrow