Ayr Branch BCSS

January 2006 Meeting &

Plant of the Month Competition

Ralph Tomlinson gave us a talk on the Galapelus Islands

He started by showing us a map of his trip. These islands are in the pacific ocean 700 miles from the mainland. When he got off the plane he spotted opuntias at the airport. This was a good start he thought. The islands are all different with all types of lava flows. The birds on the islands were different from any where else. There was Galapulus penquins pelicans, Darwin finches and about 12 kinds of albatross which breed there. Then we were shown blue footed booby sea lions and swallow tail gulls. It is their main breeding colony. Then we saw the woodpecker finch with a spine in it's beak. There weere also bromeliads growing in the trees.

It was a very good talk and Ray shared with us a place a lot of us will never get to.

Plant of the Month Pictures - Matucana Group

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