North Seymour Part I

Since we managed to get all of our poop samples - Team Poop for the win! - we took a day off. Well, Sarah did extractions all day, but she told Marco and I to take the day off, so we booked a day trip to North Seymour. This day trip tends to be one of the favourites of everyone who has ever done it, and Marco is only here for a limited time. We depart from the channel in between Baltra and Santa Cruz, which allows for a lovely view of both islands

We are treated to lovely views of Daphne Major and Daphne Minor, made famous by Peter and Rosemary Grant and their seminal work on Darwin's Finches.

There were many Frigate Birds of all ages, males and females. 

Frigate feet!

They are incredibly large birds, and the males have a red pouch that they inflate to attract females.

One of my favourite things to see this trip was a pair of Blue Footed Boobies courting. They both show off their feet, but the male especially took the time to lift each foot and show it off while turning in a slow circle around himself.

Finally, we stayed long enough to watch juvenile Frigates begging for food. Eventually, the parent would (literally) cough some food up for the juvenile. 

However, sneaky birds would try and steal the food!!

I will have more about what we did after lunch soon!