Galapagos Birds: Wildlife Photographs from Ecuador's Galapagos Archipelago, the Encantadas or Enchanted Isles, with words of Herman Melville, Charles Darwin, and HMS Beagle Captain Robert FitzRoy

by Lynn Michelsohn

Overview

Exotic Galapagos Islands Birds!

Glimpse the unique world of Galapagos Island birdlife through the camera of nature photographer, Moses Michelsohn, and brief selections from the writings of world-famous early visitors Charles Darwin, Herman Melville, and HMS Beagle Captain Robert FitzRoy.

Nearly 200 years ago, British naturalist Charles Darwin, American novelist Herman Melville, and HMS Beagle Captain Robert FitzRoy of the Royal Navy all traveled to Ecuador’s famous archipelago, the Galapagos Islands.

All three visitors marveled at the unique birdlife they found during their Galapagos Islands travel, from the "man-of-war hawk . . . strong bandit birds, with long bills cruel as daggers" to "penguins . . . erect as men"

Now, nature photographer Moses Michelsohn captures this exotic Galapagos Island birdlife in 25 striking color photographs and author Lynn Michelsohn discusses the unique connection of each early visitor to the Enchanted Isles.

Galapagos Birds includes:

~ Darwin’s discussions of finches, mockingbirds, and other Galapagos Islands birds from Voyage of the Beagle.

~ Melville's "Sketch Third. Rock Rodondo," from The Encantadas or The Enchanted Isles featuring descriptions of birdlife in this unique world.

~ Captain FitzRoy’s musings on the cause of the Galapagos Island birdlife diversity that he saw during HMS Beagle’s round-the-world survey voyage

~ Moses Michelsohn's wildlife photographs of common Galapagos Island birds beloved by today’s visitors.

~ Lynn Michelsohn's insightful introductions to the Galapagos Island writings of Darwin, Melville, and FitzRoy.

Enjoy your visit to the Galapagos Islands!

Galapagos’ Famous Early Visitors:

Charles Darwin, a young British gentleman naturalist on his way to becoming a rural parson, won the post of naturalist on the round-the-world survey voyage of HMS Beagle that sailed from Plymouth, England in December 1831. It wasn’t until 1859 that he published his theory of Evolution by Natural Selection inspired by the diversity of plants and animals he saw on the voyage of the Beagle, especially on the various Galapagos Islands.

Herman Melville first glimpsed the Galapagos Islands as a young seaman on the whaler Acushnet out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Years later, after the failure of his novel Moby-Dick, he tried to regain his lost popularity by writing a series ten of magazine sketches, later published as The Encantadas or The Enchanted Isles, recalling this visit to the Galapagos Islands.

Captain Robert FitzRoy, a career officer in the Royal Navy, selected young Charles Darwin both because of his desire to broaden the scientific scope of his primary mission to map the coast of South America and because of his desire for appropriate companionship during the five year voyage. FitzRoy remained a committed Creationist throughout his life, strongly opposed to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

Enrich your visit to the Galapagos Islands with these glimpses of its famous birdlife.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940046568110
Publisher:	Lynn Michelsohn
Publication date:	02/06/2015
Series:	Galapagos Islands Nature
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	745,418
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Travel, history, and folklore often come together in Lynn Michelsohn's books. Ghost stories associated with particular historical locations especially interest her, as do fascinating characters and quirky facts about places she loves--the South Carolina Lowcountry, the American Southwest, and the Galapagos Islands.

A Message from the Author:

I write for three reasons. First of all, it's fun. Secondly, it keeps my brain alive and functioning as I learn new things. Finally, and probably most importantly, it keeps me out of my sons' hair (I just know I could run their lives, if only they would let me!).

Several years ago, I closed my long-time New Mexico practice in clinical and forensic psychology to devote more time to writing--and beachcombing. My husband, a former attorney, and I now divide our time between Santa Fe and Hutchinson Island, Florida, where our two adult sons visit us regularly (but not often enough).

Wow! This writing (and beachcombing) is really great! I recommend it to all of you who have ever thought about starting that memoir or article or novel. Kindle makes publishing incredibly easy, and who knows, you might even sell a few hundred thousand copies (I haven't yet)!

After years of living in Roswell with its sometimes offbeat attractions and history--the Roswell Incident, for example--writing "Roswell, Your Travel Guide to the UFO Capital of the World!" gave me the chance to share these interests with visitors to the Land of Enchantment.

Next I wrote a book about a distinctly different region, one I have loved since my childhood spent knee-deep in the marshes and saltwater creeks of the South Carolina coast. "Tales from Brookgreen: Folklore, Ghost Stories, and Gullah Folktales in the South Carolina Lowcountry" recounts stories from Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina's popular tourist attraction near Myrtle Beach. I am happy to see that the three shorter collections of tales from this longer work are quite popular on Kindle: "Lowcountry Ghosts," "Gullah Ghosts," and "Crab Boy's Ghost." Recently I released two new short collections, "Lowcountry Hurricanes" and "Lowcountry Confederates" in a new series called "More Tales from Brookgreen." I hope to add more lowcountry ghost stories and folktales to the series soon.

Did you know that Herman Melville, of "Moby-Dick" fame, wrote a series of articles describing the Galapagos Islands? Neither did I until recently. I've had fun putting Melville's articles together with wonderful photographs taken by my son Moses in the Galapagos Islands, and writing introductory material to create a book for the modern visitor to the place Melville referred to as "The Encantadas." We call the book "In the Galapagos Islands with Herman Melville" and hope this glimpse into the "Enchanted Isles," written over 150 years ago, will enrich the visits of today's travelers. I've also put two shorter ebooks from it on Kindle that feature even more of Moses' great photos: "Galapagos Islands Birds" and "Galapagos Islands Landscapes."

Recently I've gotten interested in researching the famous New Mexico outlaw Billy the Kid, especially the time he spent in Santa Fe. Did you know that more movies have been made about him over the years than about ANY OTHER individual? I have already completed one short book, "Billy the Kid's Jail," and one longer book, "Billy the Kid in Santa Fe, Book One: Young Billy." It is the first in a non-fiction trilogy exploring Santa Fe of the 1870s and 1880s and the time Billy spent there. I'm currently working on "Book Two: Outlaw Billy," describing his stay in the Santa Fe jail during the winter of 1880-1881. It's hard to avoid detouring into writing more about Santa Fe itself as I often get lost in reading local newspapers from that era. So many fascinating details!