Hunt for Floreana Mockingbird...

Reflections on the bow of the National Geographic Endeavour II.

The Endeavour II preparing to anchor at Floreana.

The island of Floreana, due west of Espanola, is another which seems to have had name changes depending on its ownership. Previous names are Charles and Santa Maria. Floreana has suffered more from ravages caused by invasive species (introduced by man) than most others in the Galapagos, but massive eradication + repatriation programs are helping to restore the island to what it used to be. Lindblad-National Geographic is a major funder of such projects.

Dawn at Punta Cormorant, a turtle egg burial hole from last night.

Again on Floreana, we had the opportunity for a choice of before-breakfast nature and/or photography hikes at Punta Cormorant, followed by a Zodiac tour looking for the elusive and rare Floreana mocking-bird. The 05:30 start in the dark doesn't save us from the sudden heat as the sun pops up over the horizon.

Searching for turtles on the beach at Punta Cormorant. photographer-naturalists Rich and Socrates on the right.

A surfing turtle, pretty well the only glimpse we got off this beach.

We saw lots of new stuff, such as a turtle surfing, some pink flamingos in the distance, and the legendary blue-footed booby. The first boobies we saw were in the midst of a courtship dance where they stamp and display those glorious big blue feet.

Famous blue-footed boobys captured doing a courting ritual on Floreana.

You can rely on a Galapagos mocking-bird to get under your feet somewhere.

We think this is a Darwin Finch. Distinctions between finches (and mocking-birds) collected by Darwin on different Galapagos islands gave important insights into theories on evolution.

This distant glimpse is the closest we could get to flamingos on this outing.

A flamingo photograph we couldn't get, this one from the National Geographic collection in the Endeavour II.

But the most amazing activity on Floreana was a Zodiac ride hunting for the nearly extinct Floreana mocking-bird which survive only on two isolated isles off Floreana, and their population is declining. It is listed as "critically endangered", yet according to our expert local guide Antonio, we found one, by tracking its distinctive chirp on a coastal cactus on Champion Islet.

Sun shines through the prickles of these ubiquitous cacti. Floreana mocking-birds feed on their flowers.

From Zodiacs, we searched a long time for the Floreana Mockingbird around the coast of Champion Islet. Antonio claimed this to be one, but we don't know he can be so certain?

And we saw a few Galapagos penguins, a species totally endemic to the Galapagos and even then, only three of the Galapagos islands. This fellow is the only penguin which lives (in the wild) north of the equator, although those we spied today were just south of the equaltor.

To cool us off, there was time for snorkelling in the heat of the day. Again, no coral, but pretty fish, and some quite interesting sea-cliffs or walls to look at. The first appearance of the Endeavour II's glass bottomed Zodiac was made, for those who didn't want to snorkel. The expedition team now divides snorkellers up into "experienced" for drifting, deep water snorkelling, and off the beach snorkellers. For further aquatic recreation, there was swimming, kayaking and paddle boarding available.

The most common species in the water was homo sapiens! It actually was rather too crowded, but Lindblad prefer it this way for safety, and they enforce the buddy system.

A snorkeller bobs up to see the glass-bottomed Zodiac. Sorry about the water on the lens!

Some passengers on the Endeavour II brought their own high-tech snorkelling gear.

We saw some turtles while snorkelling, but no photos as good as this one in the L-NG Endeavour II.

Kayakers looking for sea lions and blue footed boobys.

Two brothers from Houston enjoyed calm waters on the bow of a Zodiac.

You've got to be quick to snap these turtles as they pop up for a breath.

Maybe the only penguin we didn't see in Antarctica, the endemic but not common Galapagos penguin.

The day was hot, hard and long! But an interesting diversion in the afternoon was a visit (by Zodiac) to the Post Office Barrel, following a 1793 approach to mail deliveries. We were able to leave post cards in the barrel, but in echange for that, we have to agree to hand-deliver any cards already in the barrel which are addressed to near our homes. We got six post cards with addresses in the Sydney area, but one is so incomplete that it is effectively undeliverable.

This location, a beach, was Charles Darwin's second calling in place on his 5 week 4 island visit to the Galapagos in 1835, and was also, apparently, the proposed site for a luxury resort which never eventuated.

Three of our local guides call out the addresses on cards from the Post Office Barrel.