The Adventures of Kerri & Matt

It was a wet morning on Genovesa, the bird island.

The fur seals were sleeping upside down.

Most of the birds did not seem impressed by the rain.

Particularly the frigatebirds.

The baby booby was hiding his head.

But it is good for the incense trees.

This island was actually looking a bit green!

Fortunately it dried out later in the morning and the frigatebirds looked much happier.

Most of them had not yet inflated their pouches though.

But one was flying with a full pouch, which looked really funny.

These are nazca boobies. We saw one yesterday but not from close up.

They are a beautiful white colour.

And we finally got to see red footed boobies!

Kerri’s favourite boobies!

She wants to rename them pink footed boobies though.

They live in trees and grip the branches with their pink feet.

They are really pretty with blue eyes and pink beaks.

But still really funny looking because they are boobies.

Here is one showing off her wings.

And even better, a baby booby!

He is so fluffy!

We saw two new types of finch. This is the large ground finch.

His beak is as big as his head, making him look like a parrot!

He eats really big seeds.

This guy refused to stand still for a picture, but he is a sharp-beaked ground finch. He eats insects. But his relatives on Wolf and Darwin islands (where humans aren’t allowed, and water is really scarce) drink blood from other birds, earning them the nickname “vampire finch”. They think that they originally picked parasites off of other birds, but with their sharp beaks they accidentally drew blood, and discovered that this is a good source of water.

Then we went owl spotting. Can you spot the owl in this picture?

Now he is looking right at you.

Here is a closeup.

Fortunately one came closer and posed for us.

He didn’t seem too impressed by us.

But he leaned in to get a closer look.

He stretched his wings a bit.

Then he flew off.

And looked back at us over his shoulder.

Owls are extremely flexible.

And have feathers on their feet for some reason.

Can you spot him now? His wings are extended.

He’s right here in front of the sign.

There. He made it easy for you.

It’s a good thing we brought binoculars.

He hunts those little birds in the background.

There are tons of them to choose from.

That’s why he is awake during the day.

Most owls are nocturnal, but most owls eat rodents. There are no rodents to eat on Genovesa.