Galapagos Islands Photo Collage ~ May 2007 - Top left: Galapagos Penguin, Greater Flamingo, Galapagos Giant Tortoise, Red-billed Tropicbird, Blue-footed Booby, Striated Heron, Land Iguana, Red-footed Booby, Great Blue Heron, and (title bar) Feeding frenzy of Blue-footed Boobies.

Photos were shot with a Canon 5D SLR using lenses EF100/400-IS (most of the time) and EF24/105-IS. ISO speed (usually 200-400) was adjusted so that the shutter speed was at least the inverse of the focal length, always used image stabilization. Most of the time shots were hand held rather than with a tripod.

"Wildlife of the Galapagos" by Julian Fitter (et. al.) was used as a reference.

Blue-footed Booby - from the Galapagos island of North Seymour.

Blue-footed Booby - from the Galapagos island of North Seymour. These wonderful birds have hilarious mating rituals. View the next picture for more mating display.

Blue-footed Booby - from the Galapagos island of North Seymour. Is anyone out there, I'm real sexy, and cooooool too!

Blue-footed Booby - at Punta Suárez on the Galapagos island of Espanola. Look ma, two eggs. Two or three eggs are often laid, but usually only one chick reaches adulthood.

Blue-footed Booby - from the Galapagos island of North Seymour. Hey, have you every tried to raise two chicks? It ain't gonna happen! Note the circle of white making up a perimeter of the nest [ugh, it's sprayed guano]. The parents only feed chicks within the nest perimeter, knowing this the first born forces its smaller siblings outside the nest area. I guess these guys are still to young.

Nazca Booby Downy Chick - from the Galapagos island of Tower. Ain't I cute? Of course I am.

Nazca Booby - at Punta Suárez on the Galapagos island of Espanola. Let's play swords.

Nazca Booby - from the Galapagos island of Tower.

Red-footed Booby - from the Galapagos island of Tower. How many points do I get for this handsome beak?

Red-footed Booby - from the Galapagos island of Tower. The plumage has two distinct phases: A brown phase as shown here and a white phase as shown in the previous image. Red-footed Boobies nest in trees, quite a feet for those feet.

Feeding Frenzy of Blue-footed Boobies - within Black Turtle Cove of the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz. An absolutely amazing experience, hundreds of Blue-footed Boobies dive bombing the waters for breakfast. Here they are circling again for another pass. Our panga boat was in the thick of it, one wrong move and we could have been skewered. View the next picture for contact.

Feeding Frenzy of Blue-footed Boobies - within Black Turtle Cove of the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz. In the water straight as an arrow, out of the water (hopefully) with breakfast.

Cattle Egret - within Black Turtle Cove of the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz. Sometimes referred to as Tree Cattle Egret, thankfully cows don't fly!

Flightless Cormorant - at Punta Espinosa on the Galapagos island of Fernandina. This guy is drying his feathers after a swim in the ocean. Unlike traditional water birds, the Flightless Cormorant has little waterproofing oils on its feathers - rather it's drip dry!

Flightless Cormorant - at Punta Espinosa on the Galapagos island of Fernandina.

Red-billed Tropicbird - from the Galapagos island of South Plaza. Not often does a photographer capture natural beauty in action. This Red-billed Tropicbird is landing along the rocky cliffs. The shot was taken with a Canon 5D SLR & EF100/400-IS lens: distance ~75' (25m), focal length 400 mm, ISO 400, shutter 1/800.

Waved Albatross - at Punta Suárez on the Galapagos island of Espanola.

Waved Albatross taking flight - at Punta Suárez on the Galapagos island of Espanola. Actually, the albatross walks/hops to the nearby cliffs where the winds are more favorable for takeoff.

Galapagos Dove - at Punta Suárez on the Galapagos island of Espanola. Like my sunglasses? I sold the design to Ray Ban!

Small Tree Finch - in the highlands of the Galapagos island of Santa Fe. It was the variability of the Finch's beak and body size which raised the curiosity of Charles Darwin.

Greater Flamingo - at Punta Cormoran on the Galapagos island of Floreana. Majestic as Jimmy Durante in drag, but that snoz makes for great filter feeding. Their pink plumage varies with the amount of carotinoid pigment consumed in their diet - ok, small crustaceans and micro-organisms.

Great Frigatebird - from the Galapagos island of North Seymour. In mating display with its bright red, goular (or throat) pouch pumped up. Just waiting for a nice chick to be impressed with me! The Magnificent Frigatebird is similar to the Great Frigatebird except the former exhibits a iridescent purple sheen on its back while this one has a green sheen.

Frigatebird (Juvenile) - from the Galapagos island of North Seymour. The breasts of adult frigatebirds are red for males and white for females.

Great Blue Heron - within Black Turtle Cove of the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz. Red Mangrove trees in the background.

Swallow-tailed Gull - of the Galapagos island of South Plaza. Say a little prayer for me.

Swallow-tailed Gull and Chick - of the Galapagos island of South Plaza. A little stretch after feeding the kid.

Galapagos Hawk - at Punta Suárez on the Galapagos island of Espanola.

Land Iguana of South Plaza - Galapagos island land iguanas vary in coloration with location. The iguanas of South Plaza are the most distinctive.

Land Iguana of Santa Fe - this species is found exclusively on the Galapagos island of Santa Fe. Land iguanas feed mostly on the pads of the Opuntia cactus See below the image of Herb and Iguana for view of Opuntia cactus.

Marine Iguana - at Punta Suárez on the Galapagos island of Espanola.

Marine Iguana - from James Bay of the Galapagos island of James. After finishing a meal of grazing the ocean bottom, it's time to digest and warm up. Sally Lightfoot Crabs abound.

Sullivan Bay Lava - on the Galapagos island of James. Lava flows in artistic patterns, here in the shape of egg bubbles.

Sullivan Bay Lava - on the Galapagos island of James. Lava in the shape of colorful rope.

Lava Heron - at Punta Espinosa on the Galapagos island of Fernandina. Because his legs are orange (rather than silver gray), this Lava Heron is in breeding plumage. I'm the famous hunchback of Punta Espinosa!

Lava Heron - from James Bay of the Galapagos island of James. This guy is searching for small fish to pluck from the water. Ready for action baby!

Lava Lizard - at Punta Espinosa on the Galapagos island of Fernandina.

Galapagos Mockingbird - at Punta Suárez on the Galapagos island of Espanola. These guys are very curious and will approach you right to your feet.

American Oystercatcher - from the Galapagos island of Bartolomé. This bird is found throughout the islands and feeds near the water's edge.

American Oystercatcher - from the tiny Galapagos island of Rabida. It's fun to watch these guys feed along the waters edge on sandy beaches, for they act like little kids not wanting to get their feet wet, always staying just above the surf water line.

Brown Pelican - from the Galapagos island of South Plaza. The brown feathers on the neck means the pelican is in mating plumage. These birds are huge to view up close, just slightly smaller than the Waved Albatross.

Brown Pelican - from the Galapagos island of Baltra (near the airport).

Galapagos Penguin - from the Galapagos island of Bartolomé. Viewed from a panga boat ride, these penguins are some of the world's smallest, about 14 inches (35 cm) tall when standing.

Herb and Iguana - from the Galapagos island of South Plaza. The tree in the background is the Opuntia cactus, and it's pads are the favorite meal for land iguanas. Just like the iguana in this picture, it is common for land iguanas to wait under these trees for a pad to drop - then dinner time.

The Yacht - While not exploring wildlife, our group of 14 spent time on the Tip Top IV yacht. To and from shore we used two small inflatable water craft (panga), one shown at the stern of the yacht. In addition to our group of 14 were a crew of 7 and a Naturalist to guide, inform, and answer our questions.

Group Photo - from the Galapagos island of Sombreo Chino. From top left: Terry, Elena, Cindy, Lisa, Joed (our Naturalist), Francesca, Wagr, Andrea, Becky, Duane, Herb, Natasha, Ann, and Ched.

Ruddy Turnstone - from Gardner Bay of the Galapagos island of Espanola. It does not breed in the Galapagos, maybe that's why it has such amazing camouflage.

Sally Lightfoot Crab - from James Bay of the Galapagos island of James. Adult crabs are brilliant scarlet and orange in color, juveniles are much darker often black. The crabs may be seen throughout the islands.

Cow-nosed Ray - from Black Turtle Cove of the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz. These graceful swimmers glide through the water in groups. These were viewed from the panga boats near the Red Mangroves of Black Turtle Cove.

Galapagos Sea Lion - from the sandy beach of Gardner Bay on the Galapagos island of Espanola. The life of a sea lion ~ feed and play in the ocean, then relax on the beach ~ so it goes.

Galapagos Sea Lion - from the Galapagos island of Rabida. This beach has very fine red sand, its color caused by a large predominance of iron.

Striated Heron - from Venecia Islet of the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz. This heron is perched on the roots of a Red Mangrove, it is constantly searching the water below for small fish to eat.

Galapagos Giant Tortoise - from the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora on the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz.

Galapagos Giant Tortoise - from the highlands of the Galapagos island of Santa Cruz.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - from James Bay of the Galapagos island of James.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - from James Bay of the Galapagos island of James.

Yellow Warbler - from the Galapagos island of South Plaza. These small bright yellow birds have a pleasant and melodic call. One Yellow Warbler hitched a ride on our yacht. It soon discovered we were motoring a great distance between islands whereby it would attempt to fly off in search of land only to return to the yacht for safety.