Trip to Yelapa and Isla Isabel

I recently had a friend down to visit, and we went out to Yelapa and out to Isla Isabel, which of course are the best places to go around here to look at nature.  We saw a few whales, and there are babies on the way, in fact, as I write this, there is some singing coming through the hull. 

Sunset at Mita....

So at Yelapa, I managed to see a bird I have always wanted to see, a Bittern.  I'm not exactly sure of the species, but I am pretty sure its a bittern, based on the neck thickness.  I've heard one before in the marshes near Olympia, but never seen one.

The river was running pretty high, but its still the tail end of rainy season, and since the water is still pretty warm there's been a bit of rain.

Walking up the river is fantastic, and there were lots of butterflies along the way

And a woodpecker!  This one, a mexican kind that has a white bill, is always cool.  

And a Trogon.  I like them, but they are usually pretty shy

We also saw some Macaws, Military Macaws, having a bit of a squabble amongst themselves.

And some nice flowers.

Also a green kingfisher

And a Black Chachalaca.  This is the first time I've seen one of this kind.  Normally I see the brown ones, but this is really cool looking.  Very Turkey-esque.  I want one for Thanksgiving.

Anchored in Yelapa.  My windlass failed, so I had to lift the anchor by hand and its a real pain in the back.  Hopefully it will be fixed soon.  I have it in the repair shop.

After Yelapa, we went up to Isla Isabel, and found some cool birds up there.  The Frigate Birds seem to be always nesting.  

Another Frigate, a young one.

And the blue-footed Boobies were getting started.  They were doing a lot of dancing and trying to find mates, and we saw one actual mating.

A view of frigates circling over an updraft.

Here's a baby frigate eating out of a parent's crop.  The baby was screaming louder and louder and finally, like all exasperated parents, the adult tried to find a way to silence the kid and food was the answer.  At least temporarily.  

A view of the brown booby, which has yellow feet.  

And more blue footed boobies.

Sunset from atop the island

And sunrise from low down, looking at Aquila

There was some swell in the water as we were there, and one of the days the northwest waves were very big.  I would love to find a surfing wave there for the NW swell, but I can't.  This wave was not really possible, it just finished on rocks

The main shelter on the island has a bunch of iguanas, but people were camping in the shelter for some of the time, so they were hidden.  But then they left and the iguanas came out to play.  And sun themselves 

Every evening we would go up to the top of a hill where the blue footed boobies were nesting and watch them for a few hours until sunset.  They do a beautiful dance...

And the light really brings out the beauty in their plumage

Also they look so cute whenever they do anything.

There was a guy I saw, named Damien, who I had met years ago and saw quite a few times over my times going to Isabel and San Blas.  He runs a tour company that brings people out from San Blas to Islabel in a Panga and then they camp on the island and spend 3-4 days doing scuba and whale watching and bird viewing.  I would like to get him to Alaska one of these years.  

The sunsets were always amazing

I like the cloud layers and the sense of an orange savannah

And the frigates just glide on by...

So on the way back, we raced against another boat, an Amel, which was called Aramis.  We couldn't find Porthos or Athos, but we felt a bit Dartanian-ish when we put up our spinnaker.  When I took this picture I was sailing at 11 kts, hitting 13 at times.  

Shortly after that photo the wind came up even more strongly and took the spinnaker down by force.  So now I don't have an A2 again.  

There was a race the next day I wanted to compete in, so I did a few days of racing around La Cruz and Punta Mita.  I got a few shots of some nice spinnakers as folks were leaving punta Mita

So thats the story.  I don't know what I'll do for christmas just yet, but the whales are all over now and I have a few charters and then I sail over to La Paz in January to work on the Uncruise boat over there.