The Deskbound Birder: SE Isabela Island (Galapagos and Ecuador)

Wednesday 21 August 2019

SE Isabela Island (Galapagos and Ecuador) - 21st August (Day 8)

The night was spent motoring for some 12 hours from the west coast of Isabela to Puerto Villamial on the south-east coast of Isabela and for once the conditions were calm and we slept well. We arrived at the harbour of Puerto Villamial at around 05:00 and awoke to a misty and drizzly day over the port town. The harbour here is surrounded by rocky revetments and areas of mangrove swamp and as we left the Nemo III at 07:00 we took a short diversion for good views of a juvenile Galapagos Penguin perched on lava at the harbour entrance. On arrival at the town we climbed aboard a truck with seats in the rear known locally as a Chiva. We wound through the lazy seaside town and then out northwards through the semi-humid lowland scrub consisting of abundant convolvulus, cacti and scrub. Our first stop was at a small brackish pool known as Posada De Flamengos which, fittingly, contained seven American Flamingo as well as White-cheeked Pintail, Common Gallinule, Black-winged Stilt and a long staying vagrant American Coot. As we drove onwards, a Dark-billed Cuckoo was spotted from the Chiva in the vegetation besie the road and after a delayed emergency stop (I don't think the driver quite knew what all the shouts of 'stop' meant) we reversed back a 100m or so and were soon enjoying views of this bird at close range, albeit hidden in the vegetation. Also here was a single Woodpecker Finch working its way through a vine tangle. By now it was raining steadily.

As we climbed higher up the slopes of Volcan Sierra Negra the forest became damper and the trees larger with dense clumps of dangling moss. Our first stop along a short muddy track produced our first Green Warbler-finch, Large Tree-finch and Small Tree-finch and an obliging, if furtive, Paint-billed Crake. Climbing higher into the drizzle and the fog further stops produced Galapagos Mockingbird, a second Paint-billed Crake, calling Galapagos Crake, good views of Woodpecker Finch and finally, after much searching, a female Little Vermillion Flycatcher an endemic species recently split from Vermillion Flycatcher and fast declining.

Our descent produced a further Dark-billed Cuckoo and numerous Cattle Egret. We spent the final hour on the beach and walking the board walk through mangrove and pools on the western outskirts of Puerto Villamial close to the 'Iguana Crossing Hotel'. Waders on the beach included Grey Plover, Hudsonian Whimbrel and Semipalmated Plover while a very obliging Great Blue Heron showed well alongside the locals as it fished the rockpools amongst the lava. On the lagoons were Red-billed Pintail, Black-winged Stilt and we watched the Marine Iguana's wallowing in the mud of the lagoons often becoming stuck. A Common Cactus-finch showed well in the mangroves.

We were back on the board for a late lunch and then began a long journey of around 15 hours to Espanola seawatching through the afternoon produced a good dose of sunburn as well as many White-vented Storm-petrel, two Band-rumped Storm-petrel, three Wedge-rumped Storm-petrel, three rather distant Waved Albatross (the first of the trip), eight Galapagos Petrel, abundant Galapagos Shearwater and four Swallow-tailed Gull.