Coquimbo Chile is a marine bird paradise!
It is home to the impressive Peruvian Pelican.
Peruvian Pelicans are twice the size of their northern cousins and stand up to five feet tall!
They somehow manage to look individually comical,
but sober as judges in a group.
These beauties were photographed in Coquimbo Chile, and on the Palomino and Ballestas Islands off the coast of Peru.
Cheers to you from the pretty as a picture Peruvian pelis~
Sulas, more commonly known as boobies live on both the Palomino and Ballestas Islands off the coast of Peru. This is picturesque Pisco Harbor, gateway to Islas Ballestas.
There are six different types of sula species. They are commonly called boobies because of the comical method in which they land, often stumbling over their large feet, and because they were incorrectly assumed to be not be very intelligent. These are quite smart Peruvian Booby adults and juveniles on Islas Ballestas.
Peruvian Boobies are confined to areas near The Humboldt Current, in Peru, Chile and Ecuador.
They have pure white heads and chests.
Blue Footed Boobies have brown heads and the famous blue feet. 50% of them live in the Galapagos.
The rest are distributed from the Gulf of California to Peru.
Sulas are rather tame birds, and will let a cautious and respectful visitor approach closely.
Cheers to you from Peru’s fascinating, and quite bright, sulas~
Islas Ballestas, an island group off the coast of Paracas, are often referred to as Peru’s Galapagos. They are a group of uninhabited islands that are part of the wildlife rich, Paracas National Reserve. This is a colony of Guanay Cormorants native to Peru and Chile.
You cannot visit the islands without passing the giant Candelabra carved into the rock face and carbon dated to 200 BCE.
The islands shelter an incredible variety of fauna. There are literally millions of birds and their feathers float and fill the air like lazy drifting snowflakes.
There are fur seals, Humboldt penguins, Inca terns, blue footed boobies, and so many more amazing wild creatures here. I will show you them in my next few posts.
But for now, let’s just look at these unusual islands.
They are volcanic, and riddled with arches and ancient sea caves. The layers in the caves show the process of geologic time.
You can go in the caves, if you dare, and if you do, look at what you will see!
Cheers to you from Peru’s incredible islands~
