Las Baches, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos

Our first landing was what was called a “wet” landing – basically, expect to get at least your feet wet!!  We got from the Beagle to the landing site via panga.  That’s the name that folks on the Galapagos use for what I know as a zodiac.  Anyway, we hit the treasure trove in terms of animals on our first landing!

First Iguana

As we walked out of the surf and onto shore, we got our first taste of wildlife, this little iguana.  I know, he kind of looks scary and creepy, but really, he was more leery of us than we were of him!  He kind of reminded me of the monsters in the old black and white “B” horror movies I watched when I was younger – with monsters attacking some poor folks in Japan, usually!

A Gathering of Sally Lightfoot Crabs

As we walked along a trail on the shore, we came across these really bright colored, almost pretty crabs.  They are commonly called Red Crabs, but their formal name is Sally Lightfoot Crabs.  The bright blue color is actually the color of their tummies.

Sally Lightfoots in the Surf

Here’s another view of the Sally Lightfoots.  I loved the way the surf just sort of swirled around these bright little guys.

Great Blue Heron – Tree Sitting

Great Blue Herons are birds that I’ve seen around the Midwest where I lived for many years.  But, here, they seem to know this is their place and we are the interlopers, and they do not display any fear.  They just go about their business of looking for food (in this case, baby sea turtles) and calmly keep us at a distance they feel comfortable with.

Heron Stroll Before Dinner

Later in our hike, I came across this other heron.  He seemed to be taking a stroll before dinner.  He walked fairly close to me, as I just stood there and watched him.

Pretty in Pink

Just after we saw our first heron, in a small little pond just over the sandy bluff separating the sea from this pond, we saw some flamingos in the wild.  It was such a calm, serene sight, and I love the reflection that can be seen in the still water.

Sooty Tern

I heard this little guy way before I saw him.  He may be small, but his voice is huge!  He was so loud!  He’s actually not known for being on this island, but I guess he didn’t get the memo!

First Frigatebird in Silhouette

We’ll see more of these birds over the next few days, but this was our first sighting of a Frigatebird.  I really like the silhouette against the late afternoon sky.  A very different bird, but then, that is more of a promise of the Galapagos than anything else.

Enjoy!

Wildlife in Denali

In addition to the possibility of actually seeing Denali and just the overall beauty of the Park, seeing wildlife in their element is a big reason people take the bus tours.  We were very lucky on our tour to get to see many different types of wildlife.  Some of these images may not be up to my artistic liking, but, in this case, I was really just trying to capture them in nature…..

 

 

Everyone loves a photo of a baby, and a baby moose is no exception!  Here’s a little guy (actually, I don’t know if it’s male or female) out for a morning stroll thru the woods with Mom.  They were in the trees just off the road.  The amazing thing about this is that altho they look easy to spot in this image, they really blended into the trees, so that in reality, it was hard to keep an eye on them.  They seemed to just disappear, to reappear further down a moment or two later!  Pretty neat trick considering how HUGE they are….especially Mama!

 

Here’s a photo of a bull moose that we saw later in the day.  The sun is just gleaming off his coat, and he’s really showing off his antlers, aka his “rack”.  He was out in a sort of meadow area just munching on some low-growing willow, a favorite food if one is a moose.

 

Here are some caribou out in a big open area.  Look at the “racks” on these guys!  I kept thinking about how hard it would be to have something like that on my head all the time (I’d also look pretty silly!).  Amazingly, the antlers are something that are grown new each year.  The antlers are shed every late winter, and then grow them new in the spring.  They are covered in what looks like velvet as they grow and then in about September/October, when they fight in order to determine who gets to mate with whom, the velvet comes off and then the antlers fall off.  Pretty interesting!

 

Here’s a younger caribou.  You can sort of see the velvet a bit better on this guy!  His antlers aren’t nearly as impressive as the older guys in the previous image, tho.

 

I really like this image.  It’s of a caribou again, but what I love about it are the simple lines of the image and the feeling of the incredible space there is in this Park!

 

Here’s a shot of a golden eagle.  Unfortunately, the sky was not a wonderful color, nor were there enough clouds to make it an interesting background.  So, altho this is definitely not an image I like, I’m including it because it does show off a golden eagle flying free, and that’s always a good thing!

 

Not only were we lucky enough to see a grizzly bear, this guy actually came up on the road for a bit and then crossed over to look for more food.  I got some nice close-ups like this one, but I selected this one because you can see his teeth…..which is about as close as any one of us need get!

 

I like this image of that same grizzly because you get to see him in the back drop of where he typically hangs out. He was munching along with his head down, when he suddenly heard something.  I was lucky enough to catch this image as he looked around to check out his surroundings.  He looks so alert with his ears perked up.

Enjoy!