This morning we landed (again early) on the black sand beach of Puerto Egas (James Bay) on Isla Santiago to find
Marine Iguanas on the beach right next to the landing site.
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 1600, f/11, 1/40 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/200 |
Brown Pelicans were equally as close on the rocks right next to us.
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Brown Pelican, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
and these two were standing sentinel on the nearby cliff.
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Brown Pelican, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 1600, f/4, 1/1600 |
A Lava Heron was roosting conveniently in the arch beneath the cliffs
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Lava Heron, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 77.5mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
and another was perched in perfect silhouette on a small rock stack along the beach.
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Lava Heron, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160mm, ISO 1600, f/8, 1/8000 |
I took a few steps to the right and reshot the same bird, which had not moved, demonstrating that you can get very different results by making small changes to your shooting position.
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Lava Heron, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 170mm, ISO 1600, f/8, 1/400 |
The heron then jumped down to a lower part of the rock providing a different view again. I opened the aperture for this shot to blur out the otherwise distracting background and to make sure I 'froze' the bird. Despite its appearance here it was moving about quickly on the rock, seemingly looking for crabs (but I didn't manage to see it catch any).
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Lava Heron, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/6400 |
Most of the crabs clung to the vertical rock faces, out of reach of the herons.
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Sally Lightfoot Crab, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 87.5mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/60 |
The faster shutter speed also allowed me to catch this
American Oystercatcher walking along the beach right next to the heron on the rock
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American Oystercatcher, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/1600 |
and this Galápagos Sea Lion galumphed up the beach only metres away from me.
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Galápagos Sea Lion, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130mm, ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/500 |
This was to be a common challenge throughout the trip - sometimes it was difficult to know where to look as there was so much going on so close and I never seem to have the right lens on at the time (if only someone would develop a 10-600mm f/2 lens that could be hand held!).
Having exhausted the immediate opportunities on the beach we headed inland along a flat trail to a rocky shore a little further south.
Several (somewhat unimaginatively named) birds were spotted along the trail.
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Galápagos Dove, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/1000 |
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Galápagos Hawk, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8 (x2 adapter), ISO 1600, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
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Galápagos Flycatcher, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/8, 1/500 |
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Galápagos Flycatcher, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 800, f/11, 1/250 |
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Galápagos Mockingbird, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Sigma 300mm f/2.8, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/2000 |
One mockingbird walked (well, hopped) along the trail beside me
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Galápagos Mockingbird, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/500 |
until it got distracted by a hermit crab.
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Galápagos Mockingbird, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/500 |
The flycatchers typified the tame nature of the Galápagos wildlife.
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Galápagos Flycatcher, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/2000 |
The trail ended at a beautiful rocky shore
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Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Pentax 16-50mm f/2.8 @ 16mm, ISO 800, f/11, 1/160 |
with herons allowing close-up shots...
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Great Blue Heron, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 115mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
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Great Blue Heron, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 77.5mm, ISO 400, f/5, 1/2000 |
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Lava Heron, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/5, 1/1250 |
and the flycatchers continued to provide super-close-up opportunities!
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Galápagos Flycatcher up close, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Photograph courtesy of Mark Overgaard |
Galápagos Fur Seals frolicked in the rock pools
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Galapagos Fur Seal, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/160 |
and some lazed on the rocks.
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Galapagos Fur Seal, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/400 |
It wasn't just birds and mammals though. Reptiles made a significant contribution to the experience. There were plenty of Lava Lizards on rocks along the trail and on the beach.
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Santiago Lava Lizard, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/500 |
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Santiago Lava Lizard, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1600 |
The stars of the morning, though, were the Marine Iguanas, which provided tripping hazards all over the rock platform. It is amazing how cryptic such large animals can be.
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Pentax 16-50mm f/2.8 @ 16mm, ISO 800, f/11, 1/250 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 100mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/250 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 170mm, ISO 800, f/8, 1/200 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 150mm, ISO 400, f/11, 1/160 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1000 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 400, f/4, 1/1000 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160mm, ISO 400, f/16, 1/160 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 400, f/9, 1/400 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm, ISO 400, f/9, 1/500 |
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Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Pentax K-3, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1000 |
I spent a lot of time like this...
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Photographing Marine Iguana, Puerto Egas, Isla Santiago, Galápagos
Photograph courtesy of Joanne Smissen |
This afternoon -
Buccaneer Cove
