On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
arrieve
I’m skipping ahead to Genovesa, the last island we visited, because I have to start focusing on schoolwork rather than old pictures. Genovesa is known as Bird Island, and it is an amazing place. I would love to go back there.
Genovesa is a tiny, horseshoe-shaped island surrounding a volcanic caldera which forms Darwin Bay. There’s rock and mangrove and lots and lots of birds.
The boobies on Genovesa were mostly the red-footed, rather than the blue-footed, like these two. (The white morph is uncommon; most of the red-footed boobies are brown, like the one on the left.) The red feet might not be as striking as those of their blue-footed cousins, but they have one big advantage — they’re prehensile, so the red-footed boobies can perch on branches.
This booby had been wrestling with a much bigger branch for several minutes, trying to yank it off the bush, before finally settling for this one.
Unfortunately, the birds are back in the thicket so you can’t see them that clearly, but the booby from the previous picture was proudly displaying his branch to a potential mate. She does not look impressed.
Apparently the whole “offer a lady a branch” strategy is often effective, because the mangroves were full of booby nests and: baby boobies!
Another baby in a nest.
This booby has obviously not been out of the nest that long, but he thought he was more than ready to try this whole flying thing.
He waddled out of the tall grass to the open area on the trail, stretching out his wings and giving them a flap or two. This is it! Gonna fly now!
He tried over and over, managing only a brief hop or two.
This time for sure!
JeanneT
I’ve never before started my day looking at red footed boobies….
p.a.
Thanks for the posts! Great stuff.
Johnnys mom
You put it on my bucket list. Your telling brings it to life.
Albatrossity
Beautiful! We did not get to Genovesa; it looks like a destination to be considered for the next trip! We did see Red-footed Boobies; there is a small nesting colony on the eastern end of San Cristobal (Punta Pitt). And yeah, they like to hide among the branches so that it is tough to get a clear shot of them. Good work!
arrieve
@Albatrossity: Kind words from Albatrossity about my attempts to photograph birds? OMG. You can’t tell at this distance, but I’m blushing.
Seriously, Genovesa was my favorite of the islands. The bird behavior that we got to witness was just amazing. Every bush I peered into, or every rocky overhang I looked beneath, held something wonderful.
MelissaM
“Baby boobies” really is a phrase that shouldn’t be used, it seems.
I like the comparison of the dull fledgling vs the colors on the adults. Those beaks are lovely. Very nice, thanks. Also I never knew there was anything but blue-footed boobies, but I guess if you have to say “blue” then… there must be others.
arrieve
@MelissaM: There’s actually a third species of booby on Genovesa, the Nazca, but I didn’t get any good pictures of them. They’re black and white, and their feet are gray, so they aren’t as noticeable as the blue-footed and red-footed.
J R in WV
Swell set of frabjous birbs ~!!~ some crazy evolution going on out there in the Pacific ocean…
And the colors on the boobies are amazing, not just their feet but the klaidoscope of colors around their eyes. If I keep putting places on the bucket list, how will I make the list shrink? Can’t be done!!
arrieve
@J R in WV: I always say that my bucket list doesn’t get much shorter because I usually want to go back and see more instead of crossing a place off the list.
Everyone — including me — loves the blue-footed boobies. I mean, blue feet! How can you not love that? But I think the red-footed were actually my favorites. I love those clown colors on their faces.
way2blue
The juvenile booby looks like s/he has been in a pillow fight.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Johnnys mom: My thoughts exactly. Thanks, arrieve!