Galapagos #1

This is my first trip report from a 11 day boat expedition to the Galapagos archipelago. This was a test trip to check for the possibility of arranging similar trips for photographers. The expedition I was on was not a specialized trip for photographers, so I missed most of the best lighting conditions. But, as you will see from my upcoming blogs from the Galapagos trip, it was still a productive and exciting place for photography. Because of the large number of pictures and situations, I have chosen to divide this trip report into several parts. First out is a blog about boobies, albatrosses and other seabirds of the Galapagos.

Boobies, albatrosses and seabirds

The first wildlife I encountered in the Galapagos were boobies. I had photographed boobies in Europe and Hawaii before, but I quickly realized that the Galapagos is one of the really great sites for boobies. From the first minute I entered the first visitor site, I started photographing Nazca and Blue-footed boobies. Later I also photographed a large number of Red-footed boobies. The timing of my visit was good, since many of the boobies were exhibiting breeding behaviour, with pair bonding activity, nest building and also some newly hatched chicks. There were also Frigatebirds – not just a few, but thousands! Frigatebirds have the largest wingspan of any bird in relation to body weight. With stunning aerial acrobatics as well as impressive courtship rituals, I had impressive experiences with these red warriors. One of my main goals foe this Galapagos trip was to explore and photograph the Waved albatross. The Waved albatross is endemic to the Espanjola island, southeast in the Galapagos archipelago. It was extremely interesting to observe their courtship behaviour with oversized beaks. The variety of species of seabirds is not the best, but the native seabirds are very impressive and photogenic. Some of the species I observed were the Elliott’s storm-petrel, the Galapagos Shearwater, the Brown Noddy, the Red-billed Tropicbird, the Lava Gull and the Swallow-tailed Gull.

OJL

Nazca Bobby. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6 and ISO 800.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Nazca Boobies. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/2000 sec, f/6,3 and ISO 2000.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Hungry chick. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/6400 sec, f/6,3 and ISO 1600.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Red-footed Bobby. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/1250 sec, f/5,6 and ISO 1600.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Red-footed Bobby. Nikon D3X with 28–300/3.5–5.6, 1/8000 sec, f/4,8 and ISO 800.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Blue-footed Bobby. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/1250 sec, f/5,6 and ISO 800.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Blue-footed Bobby. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/1250 sec, f/4,5 and ISO 1600.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Blue-footed Bobby. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/160 sec, f/11 and ISO 320.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Magnificent Frigatebird. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/4000 sec, f/5,0 and ISO 1000.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Magnificent Frigatebird. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/4000 sec, f/4,0 and ISO 1600.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0 + 1,4X Extender, 1/200 sec, f/5,6 and ISO 1000.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Waved Albatross. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/1000 sec, f/5,6 and ISO 800.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Elliot´s Storm-petrel. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/1000 sec, f/6,3 and ISO 1000.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Galapagos Shearwater. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/3200 sec, f/5,0 and ISO 1000.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGET.

Swallow-tailed Gull. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/1600 sec, f/5,0 and ISO 800.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Lava Gull. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/500 sec, f/7,1 and ISO 1000.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Brown Pelican. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/500 sec, f/7,1 and ISO 1000.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Red-billed Tropicbird. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/40 sec, f/13 and ISO 100.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

Brown Noddy. Nikon D3S with 600/4.0, 1/1000 sec, f/7,1 and ISO 1000.  Copyright © Ole Jørgen Liodden / Naturfokus. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION, BUY A PRINT OR DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE.

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