After dinner the boat set course from Santa Cruz to Espanola which was our next destination. This was quite a long sail and it took most of the night. We arrived off Gardner Beach on Espanola around dawn and anchored in a sheltered spot in the lee of Gardner Islet. We had three target birds on Espanola and amazingly two of them flew out to the boat to greet us ! We had an Espanola Mockingbird and a pair of Large Cactus-Finches drinking fresh water from condensation puddles on the boat's deck. Later when ashore we quickly found the third target bird, the Gray Warbler-Finch.
Gardner Beach is a fantastic stretch of fine white sand liberally covered with Galapagos Sea Lions. However, the main feature of the beach are the incredibly tame Espanola Mockingbirds which literally run down the beach to meet you as you splash ashore. After a while even the keenest of photographers had had their fill of mockingbirds and could turn their attention to the other birds and Sea Lions. The beach also gave great snorkeling opportunities with close up views of Sea Lions swimming past you.
Our only disappointment was that our imposed itinerary did not include a visit to the Waved Albatross colony on Espanola. All boat itineraries are strictly controlled and monitored by the National Park Authority so you can never be certain of where you will be allowed to visit. They could not be persuaded to allow us a trip to the colony.