Paracas, September 2011

A boat ride to Islas Ballestas and a car ride inside the mainland Paracas National Reserve.

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	Fisherman in the port of El Chaco.
	A colorfully-painted boat.
	Colorful rocks on the coastline.
	The Candelabra, a monument carved by the Paracas culture (predating the more famous Nasca culture).
	Our boats passed through thick flocks of cormorants, boobies, terns, and other birds.
	Soon we arrived at the islands.
	Look under the arch at the clifftop in the distance, and try to count the birds.
	Pelicans roost in the less-steep sections, boobies roost right on the cliff.
	Pelicans flying past boobies.
	Juvenile Inca Tern, Larosterna inca
	Same Inca Tern.
	Guanay Cormorant, Phalacrocorax bougainvillii
	I like the bright-red spot around the eye.
	Here you can see a mooring hook used by guaneros.
	Another guanay cormorant.
	Cormorant and sleeping neighbor.
	Sea lions (Otania byronia).
	Sea lions and boobies.
	Booby close-up.
	Stretching sea lion.
	Either they feel very safe on the rock, or they're very tired - the boats don't seem to disturb them at all.
	Three sea lions curled around a mooring.
	So cute!
	A youngster starting to shed its fur.
	This one seems to have an eye infection.
	Red-legged cormorants, Phalacrocorax gaimardi, on the nest.
	There's a juvenile lying down on the nest too.
	Three young sea lions fighting over a section of shoreline.
	It's a bit awkward to fight without useful legs, but those teeth are sharp.
	A big older male has better things to do.
	Sea star : class Asteroidea. Starfish with this many arms are usually called "sun stars."
	A pelican with a bill-pouch full of guano for nest-building.
	Turkey vulture, Cathartes aura.
	Turkey vulture again.
	After the islands, we drove to the mainland part of Paracas Reserve, which was rather less lively.
	Zuzana and Reich along a trail that leads to some fossils.
	Yours truly in the desert.
	Road to almost nowhere.
	Yumaque beach. Try to spot the lizard.
	Another desert scene.
	An oystercatcher. I think it's an American Oystercatcher, Haematopus palliatus.
	Coastal scene.