The Plazas are two small, narrow islands separated by a shallow channel, lying just off the east coast of Isla Santa Cruz.
Landings are not permitted on North Plaza but South Plaza offers a spectacular short walk along the south coast clifftop, providing views of seabirds flying past in the wind and coming and going from roosting and nesting sites along the cliffs.
Our visit was timed to see:
Galápagos Shearwaters were flying around the boat in the channel between The Plazas and I managed to get this one as soon as we set foot on the landing site on South Plaza.
Galápagos Land Iguanas greeted us as soon as we hit the trail.
We saw these signs all over the islands, where the limits of the trail were not obvious. This one seemed a little redundant,
perched on the brink of a 25 metre high cliff.
Every evening at this time of the year, Red-billed Tropicbirds take flight off these cliffs in a courtship ritual with pairs flying in unison.
Many single birds were flying along the cliff, apparently trying to attract a mate to join them in their aerial ballet, providing one of the easier birds-in-flight photographic opportunities I've had. With a strong wind coming from the south-west, providing an updraft off the cliffs, the tropicbirds were consistently flying at a predictable speed, just above head height. I set the exposure to ISO 800 and aperture to f/5.6, which, with aperture priority, gave me the highest shutter speed I could get without it jumping under my camera's minimum speed of 1/8000. Then it was 'just' pan and fire at 8 frames a second! Well, not quite that easy...I got about 20 keepers from over 500 shots in an hour but it was great fun. Here's a few of them.
Tropicbirds were not the only attraction. Swallow-tailed Gulls were nesting along the cliffs, some so close that you could get wide-angle shots,
along with Brown Noddies
and Brown Pelicans,
which were glorious to photograph in flight in the late afternoon golden light.
A large school of mullet, surfaced just offshore. We were not sure what had prompted this but it is likely they were feeding on smaller fish near the surface.
As the Portulaca flowers began to open (they only do this in the late afternoon),
we turned our attention 'inland' to look for Galápagos Land Iguanas feeding on the flowers
but some were content to just catch the last rays of sun.
Cactus Ground Finches were perching on Prickly Pear
and others were otherwise engaged at ground level
and a male Yellow Warbler perched nearby, singing.
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| Galápagos Land Iguana, Tip Top III and North Plaza from South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 800, f/22, 1/100 |
Landings are not permitted on North Plaza but South Plaza offers a spectacular short walk along the south coast clifftop, providing views of seabirds flying past in the wind and coming and going from roosting and nesting sites along the cliffs.
Our visit was timed to see:
- courtship flights of Red-tailed Tropicbirds
- Galápagos Land Iguanas feeding on the yellow Portulaca flowers
both of which occur in the late afternoon at South Plaza at this time of year.
On the passage from Santa Fé, we were accompanied by more frigatebirds. This time, in addition to flying overhead and beside the boat, a few hitched a ride on the awning over the lounge deck.
On the passage from Santa Fé, we were accompanied by more frigatebirds. This time, in addition to flying overhead and beside the boat, a few hitched a ride on the awning over the lounge deck.
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| Magnificent Frigatebird, Tip Top III Photograph courtesy of Joanne Smissen |
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| Magnificent Frigatebird, Tip Top III Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
Galápagos Shearwaters were flying around the boat in the channel between The Plazas and I managed to get this one as soon as we set foot on the landing site on South Plaza.
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| Galápagos Shearwater, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
Galápagos Land Iguanas greeted us as soon as we hit the trail.
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| Galápagos Land Iguana, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 180mm, ISO 400, f/11, 1/200 |
We saw these signs all over the islands, where the limits of the trail were not obvious. This one seemed a little redundant,
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| South coast of South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
perched on the brink of a 25 metre high cliff.
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| South coast of South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Pentax 16-50mm f/2.8 @ 24mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/640 |
Every evening at this time of the year, Red-billed Tropicbirds take flight off these cliffs in a courtship ritual with pairs flying in unison.
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2500 |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
Many single birds were flying along the cliff, apparently trying to attract a mate to join them in their aerial ballet, providing one of the easier birds-in-flight photographic opportunities I've had. With a strong wind coming from the south-west, providing an updraft off the cliffs, the tropicbirds were consistently flying at a predictable speed, just above head height. I set the exposure to ISO 800 and aperture to f/5.6, which, with aperture priority, gave me the highest shutter speed I could get without it jumping under my camera's minimum speed of 1/8000. Then it was 'just' pan and fire at 8 frames a second! Well, not quite that easy...I got about 20 keepers from over 500 shots in an hour but it was great fun. Here's a few of them.
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2000 |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1000 |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2500 |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2000 |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2000 |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/4000 |
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| Red-billed Tropicbird, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/5000 |
Tropicbirds were not the only attraction. Swallow-tailed Gulls were nesting along the cliffs, some so close that you could get wide-angle shots,
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 20mm, ISO 400, f/11, 1/320 |
some with chicks,
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/400 |
others 'making out'
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1000 |
and plenty in flight.
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/500 |
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2500 |
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/8000 |
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/3200 |
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1000 |
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| Swallow-tailed Gull, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/640 |
Blue-footed and Nazca Boobies roosted on the cliff
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| Blue-footed Booby, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/8, 1/4000 |
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| Blue-footed Booby, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5, 1/200 |
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| Nazca Booby, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/800 |
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| Nazca Booby, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
along with Brown Noddies
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| Brown Noddy, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/8, 1/100 |
and Brown Pelicans,
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| Brown Pelican, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5, 1/1600 |
which were glorious to photograph in flight in the late afternoon golden light.
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| Brown Pelican, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5, 1/640 |
A large school of mullet, surfaced just offshore. We were not sure what had prompted this but it is likely they were feeding on smaller fish near the surface.
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| Galápagos Mullet, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/10, 1/125 |
As the Portulaca flowers began to open (they only do this in the late afternoon),
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| Portulaca flowers, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 10-20mm f/2.8 @ 15mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/500 |
we turned our attention 'inland' to look for Galápagos Land Iguanas feeding on the flowers
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| Galápagos Land Iguana, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/8, 1/800 |
but some were content to just catch the last rays of sun.
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| Galápagos Land Iguana, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/16, 1/400 |
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| Galápagos Land Iguana, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/10, 1/500 |
Cactus Ground Finches were perching on Prickly Pear
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| Cactus Ground Finch (male) on Prickly Pear, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5, 1/1250 |
and others were otherwise engaged at ground level
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| Cactus Ground Finch, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/8, 1/50 |
and a male Yellow Warbler perched nearby, singing.
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| Yellow Warbler (male), South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/5, 1/200 |
As with all the other sites, you're not allowed on shore after sunset but I managed a few shots as we headed back to the pangas.
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| Prickly Pear, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Pentax 16-50mm f/2.8 @ 28mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/200 |
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| Sunset, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/8, 1/800 |
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| Sunset, South Plaza, Galápagos Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 400, f/8, 1/500 |
Tomorrow - Sombrero Chino and Isla Rábida
Another outstanding post. ALL of the shots are fabulous so I cannot even think of picking a favourite.
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