Oops! I planned to post the images and captions from my 2020 Galápagos calendar on the first of each month. I apparently got distracted since my last one was in April. So... we're catching up this week. Here's May's image (oh, how I would love to go back…):
Lava Gulls (𝘓𝘦𝘶𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘶𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘴) | Genovesa Island, Galapagos
400mm | 1/1,250th second | f/9.0 | ISO 900
Of the over fifty species of gulls on planet Earth, these lava gulls are the rarest. In fact, they are one of the rarest animals I have ever seen in the wild; second, perhaps, only to a California condor I was very fortunate to spot soaring over the skies of Zion National Park in Utah. I found this nesting pair on Genovesa, the northernmost island in the Galápagos archipelago. These birds are found exclusively in the Galápagos, and only an estimated 300-600 individuals remain, fewer than even the amazing whooping cranes who winter just a few miles from my hometown in Indiana, and which number around 800 if you include approximately 150 individuals in captive breeding programs. Unlike most gulls, lava gulls nest on the ground in isolation, never closer than 100 yards or so from another nest, typically under vegetation and often near calm water like a lagoon. That is exactly where I found this couple, who will hopefully be successful in fledging chicks to add to their tiny population. In this image they are telling us to stay away from their nearby nest!