Today was the first day of working at the WorldVets clinic here in town, and my job was cleaning the surgical instruments after use, packing them up into specific kits, and sterilizing those kits in an autoclave. It was a long day and we did our best to help reduce the number of feral animals threatening the endemic local critters.
Before breakfast, however, my sister and I hit the waterfront again, and this time we found this darling little semipalmated plover. You may recall that we just saw one in New Haven harbor, but this one let us have a much better look.
Yesterday, before we got to work, we all took a short tour of the island, and the first stop was Galapaguera de Cerro Colorado, a reserve for the Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger), specifically the chathamensis subspecies, which has “a wide, black shell, its shape intermediate between the saddle-backed and domed subspecies.” They are just as enormous as advertised and surprisingly active.
From there, we headed to the beach at Puerto Chino, and while Deb and I were searching for exotic and rare species, a pair of American oystercatchers flew in and began strutting around on the beach. This is another species we just saw in New Haven, where they really kept their distance. Here, on the other hand, I couldn’t back up fast enough to get the whole bird in the frame.
Finally, we stopped at the Biologial Reserve Of San Cristóbal to visit the Laguna El Junco in the caldera of a long-extinct volcano. It was mostly fogged/clouded in, which creates a unique biome, but doesn’t lend itself to spotting wildlife. As crazy luck would have it, though, on the climb back out of the caldera, I spotted this little cutie on the side of the trail. I had just joked a couple days ago with Deb about there being a “warbler-finch” here, and lo and behold, here it was, the grey warbler-finch (Certhidea fusca).
Lastly, I did manage a butterfly picture back at the beach, and this tiny creature turns out to be a Ramon blue (Hemiargus ramon).
Okay. Now it’s late, you’re probably asleep already, and I wish I was, so I’m gonna stick a fork in this post and hit the sack.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 