Butterflies of Cuba
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    • Species List >
      • Papilionidae : Papilioninae >
        • Battus devilliers - De Villiers' Swallowtail
        • Battus polydamas - Polydamas Swallowtail
        • Protographium celadon - Cuban Kite Swallowtail
        • Heraclides andraemon - Bahaman Swallowtail
        • Heraclides androgeus - Androgeus Swallowtail
        • Heraclides aristodemus - Dusky Swallowtail
        • Heraclides caiguanabus - Poey's Swallowtail
        • Heraclides oviedo - Oviedo's Swallowtail
        • Heraclides oxynius - Cuban Black Swallowtail
        • Heraclides pelaus - Pelaus Swallowtail
        • Papilio demoleus - Lime Swallowtail
        • Papilio polyxenes - Black Swallowtail
        • Parides gundlachianus - Gundlach's Swallowtail
        • Pterourus palamedes - Palamedes Swallowtail
        • Pterourus troilus - Spicebush Swallowtail
      • Pieridae : Colladinae >
        • Abaeis nicippe - Sleepy Orange
        • Anteos clorinde - White-angled Sulphur
        • Anteos maerula - Yellow-angled Sulphur
        • Colias eurytheme - Orange Sulphur
        • Eurema amelia - Cuban Yellow
        • Eurema boisduvaliana - Boisduval's Yellow
        • Eurema daira - Barred Yellow
        • Eurema elathea - Banded Yellow
        • Eurema lucina - Smudged Yellow
        • Kricogonia cabrerai - Cuban Sulphur
        • Kricogonia lyside - Lyside Sulphur
        • Nathalis iole - Dainty Sulphur
        • Phoebis agarithe - Large Orange Sulphur
        • Phoebis argante - Apricot Sulphur
        • Phoebis avellaneda - Orange-washed Sulphur
        • Phoebis neleis - Neleis Sulphur
        • Phoebis orbis - Orbis Sulphur
        • Phoebis philea - Orange-barred Sulphur
        • Phoebis sennae - Cloudless Sulphur
        • Phoebis statira - Statira Sulphur
        • Pyrisitia chamberlaini - Chamberlain's Yellow
        • Pyrisitia dina - Bush Sulphur
        • Pyrisitia larae - Confusing Yellow
        • Pyrisitia lisa - Little Yellow
        • Pyrisitia messalina - Whitish Yellow
        • Pyrisitia nise - Mimosa Yellow
        • Pyrisitia proterpia - Tailed Orange
        • Pyrisitia venusta - Pale Yellow
        • Zerene cesonia - Southern Dogface
      • Pieridae : Dismorphiinae >
        • Dismorphia cubana - Cuban Mimic-White
      • Pieridae : Pierinae >
        • Ascia monuste - Great Southern White
        • Ganyra menciae - Cuban White
        • Glutophrissa drusilla - Florida White
        • Melete salacia - Black-striped White
        • Pontia protodice - Checkered White
      • Riodinidae >
        • Dianesia carteri - Caribbean Metalmark
      • Lycaenidae : Theclinae >
        • Allosmaitia coelebs - Cuban Hairstreak
        • Chlorostrymon maesites - Amethyst Hairstreak
        • Chlorostrymon simaethis - Silver-banded Hairstreak
        • Electrostrymon angelia - Fulvous Hairstreak
        • Eumaeus atala - Atala Hairstreak
        • Ministrymon azia - Grey Ministreak
        • Nesiostrymon celida - Caribbean Hairstreak
        • Strymon acis - Bartram's Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon bazochii - Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon istapa - Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon limenia - Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon martialis - Martial Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon toussainti - Toussaint's Scrub-Hairstreak
      • Lycaenidae : Polyommatinae >
        • Brephidium exilis - Pygmy Blue
        • Cupido comyntas - Eastern Tailed-Blue
        • Cyclargus ammon - Nickerbean Blue
        • Cyclargus thomasi - Miami Blue
        • Hemiargus ceraunus - Ceraunus Blue
        • Leptotes cassius - Cassius Blue
        • Leptotes hedgesi - Hedges' Blue
        • Pseudochrysops bornoi - Antillean Blue
      • Nymphalidae : Apaturinae >
        • Asterocampa idyja - Dusky Emperor
        • Doxocopa laure - Silver Emperor
      • Nymphalidae : Biblidinae >
        • Dynamine serina - Caribbean Sailor
        • Dynamine postverta - Mexican Sailor
        • Eunica heraclitus - Cuban Purplewing
        • Eunica monima - Dingy Purplewing
        • Eunica tatila - Florida Purplewing
        • Hamadryas februa - Gray Cracker
        • Hamadryas amphinome - Red Cracker
        • Hamadryas feronia - Variable Cracker
        • Lucinia sida - Caribbean Banner
        • Marpesia chiron - Many-banded Daggerwing
        • Marpesia eleuchea - Caribbean Daggerwing
      • Nymphalidae : Charaxinae >
        • Anaea cubana - Cuban Leafwing
        • Archaeoprepona demophoon - Two-spotted Prepona
        • Cymatogramma echemus - Chestnut Leafwing
        • Hypna clytemnestra - Silver-studded Leafwing
        • Siderone galanthis - Red-striped Leafwing
      • Nymphalidae : Danainae >
        • Anetia briarea - Many-spotted King
        • Anetia cubana - Cuban King
        • Anetia pantherata - Great King
        • Danaus eresimus - Soldier
        • Danaus gilippus - Queen
        • Danaus plexippus - Monarch
        • Greta cubana - Cuban Clearwing
        • Lycorea halia - Tiger Mimic Queen
      • Nymphalidae : Heliconiinae >
        • Agraulis vanillae - Gulf Fritillary
        • Dryas iulia - Flambeau
        • Eueides isabella - Isabella's Heliconian
        • Euptoieta claudia - Variegated Fritillary
        • Euptoieta hegesia - Mexican Fritillary
        • Heliconius charithonia - Zebra Heliconian
      • Nymphalidae : Libytheinae >
        • Libytheana carinenta - American Snout
        • Libytheana motya - Cuban Snout
        • Libytheana terena - Antillean Snout
      • Nymphalidae Limenitinae >
        • Adelpha iphicleola - Iphicleola Sister
        • Limenitis archippus - Viceroy
      • Nymphalidae : Nymphalinae >
        • Anartia chrysopelea - Cuban Peacock
        • Anartia jatrophae - White Peacock
        • Anthanassa frisia - Cuban Crescent
        • Antillea pelops - Antillean Crescent
        • Atlantea perezi - Cuban Checkerspot
        • Colobura dirce - Mosaic
        • Historis acheronta - Tailed Cecropian
        • Historis odius - Stinky Leafwing
        • Hypanartia paullus - Antillean Mapwing
        • Hypolimnas misippus - The Mimic
        • Junonia coenia - Common Buckeye
        • Junonia neildi - Mangrove Buckeye
        • Junonia zonalis - Tropical Buckeye
        • Phyciodes phaon - Phaon Crescent
        • Polygonia interrogationis - Question Mark
        • Siproeta stelenes - Malachite
        • Vanessa atalanta - Red Admiral
        • Vanessa cardui - Painted Lady
        • Vanessa virginiensis - American Lady
      • Nymphalidae : Satyrinae >
        • Calisto aquilum - Cuban Dark Calisto
        • Calisto bradleyi - Bradley's Calisto
        • Calisto brochei - Broche's Calisto
        • Calisto bruneri - Bruner's Calisto
        • Calisto disjunctus - Western Cuban Calisto
        • Calisto dissimulatum - Mimic Calisto
        • Calisto gundlachi - Gandlach's Calisto
        • Calisto herophile - Cuban Common Calisto
        • Calisto israeli - Israel's Calisto
        • Calisto lastrai - Lastra's Calisto
        • Calisto muripetens - Guamuahaya Calisto
        • Calisto occulta - Hidden Calisto
        • Calisto sharkeyae - Sharkey's Calisto
        • Calisto siguanensis - Sand Calisto
        • Calisto smintheus - Cuban Rusty Calisto
        • Calisto torrei - Torre's Calisto
      • Hesperiidae : Hesperiinae >
        • Asbolis capucinus - Monk Skipper
        • Atalopedes mesogramma - Mesogramma Skipper
        • Calpodes ethlius - Canna Skipper
        • Carystoides mexicana - Mexican Ruby-eye
        • Choranthus radians - Radians Skipper
        • Cymaenes tripunctus - Three-spotted Skipper
        • Euphyes cornelius - Cornelius Skipper
        • Euphyes singularis - Singularis Skipper
        • Holguinia holguin - Holguin Skipper
        • Hylephila phyleus - Fiery Skipper
        • Lerodea eufala - Eufala Skipper
        • Nyctelius nyctelius - Violet-banded Skipper
        • Oarisma bruneri - Bruner's Skipperling
        • Oarisma nanus - Nanus Skipperling
        • Panoquina corrupta - Corrupt Skipper
        • Panoquina lucas - Purple-washed Skipper
        • Panoquina ocola - Ocola Skipper
        • Panoquina panoquinoides - Obscure Skipper
        • Parachoranthus magdalia - Magdalia Skipper
        • Perichares philetes - Caribbean Ruby-eye
        • Polites baracoa - Baracoa Skipper
        • Pyrrhocalles antiqua - Caribbean Skipper
        • Rhinthon cubana - Cuban Rhinthon
        • Saliana esperi - Perching Saliana
        • Synapte malitiosa - Caribbean Faceted Skipper
        • Wallengrenia otho - Southern Broken Dash
      • Hesperiidae : Eudaminae >
        • Aguna asander - Gold-spotted Aguna
        • Aguna claxon - Emerald Aguna
        • Telegonus anaphus - Caribbean Yellow-tipped Flasher
        • Telegonus cassander - Cuban Flasher
        • Telegonus habana - Frosty Flasher
        • Telegonus talus - Green Flasher
        • Telegonus xagua - Antillean Flasher
        • Telegonus cellus - Golden-banded Skipper
        • Autochton potrillo - Potrillo Skipper
        • Chioides marmorosa - Cuban Longtail
        • Epargyreus zestos - Zestos Skipper
        • Phocides pigmalion - Mangrove Skipper
        • Polygonus leo - Hammock Skipper
        • Proteides maysi - May's Skipper
        • Proteides mercurius - Cuban Mercurial Skipper
        • Cecropterus dorantes - Dorantes Longtial
        • Urbanus proteus - Common Long-tailed Skipper
      • Hesperiidae : Pyrginae >
        • Anastrus sempiternus - Common Anastrus
        • Burca braco - Braco Skipper
        • Burca concolor - Concolorous Skipper
        • Burca cubensis - Cuban Skipper
        • Burnsius crisia - Antillean Checkered Skipper
        • Burnsius oileus - Tropical Checkered Skipper
        • Chiomara gundlachi - Gundlach's Duskywing
        • Eantis munroei - Munroe's Sicklewing
        • Eantis papinianus - Cuban Sicklewing
        • Ephyriades brunnea - Florida Duskywing
        • Ephyriades zephodes - Zephodes Duskywing
        • Erynnis zarucco - Zarucco Skipper
        • Gesta gesta - Impostor Duskywing
        • Ouleus fridericus - Fridericus Spreadwing
    • Download Species List
    • Thumbnails >
      • Papilionidae - Swallowtails
      • Pieridae - Whites & Yellows
      • Riodinidae / Lycaenidae - Metalmarks, Hairstreaks & Blues
      • Nymphalidae - Nymphalids
      • Hesperiidae - Skippers
    • Hostplants >
      • Picramnia pentrandra
      • Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
    • Other Wildlife >
      • Mammals
      • Reptiles
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Odonata
      • Moths >
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        • Gelechioidea
        • Alucitoidea
        • Choreutoidea
        • Tortricoidea
        • Sesioidea
        • Zygaenoidea
        • Pyraloidea
        • Lasiocampoidea
        • Bombicoidea
        • Geometroidea
        • Hedyloidea
        • Noctuoidea
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Day 15 - 23 June 2019 - Checkered Puffer

17/4/2020

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Our final morning and just time to head over to the salt water creek to see if the tide was in, and it was. I wanted to see if I could get some better pictures of the fish in the creek to see if I could identify them. Now everything's relative and the photos are actually pretty rubbish but without getting in the water with an underwater camera which I don't have these were the best that I was going to manage. And surprisingly I've even managed to identify some of them. This I recognised at the time as a puffer fish and its actually a Chequered Puffer Sphoeroides testudineus.
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Chequered Puffer Sphoeroides testudineus 23 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
And I've even managed to identify these two as well. And the ones on the right with the vertical black bands, probably the commonest species there, are Atlantic Sargeant Abudefduf saxatilis.
Beaugregory Damselfish Stegastes leucostictus 23 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Foureye butterfyfish Chaetodon capistratus 23 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
I haven't been so successful with the crabs yet but I'm working on it.
23 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
23 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
23 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
So that's it till we get back there again - these are difficult times not just here but around the world, and our thoughts go out to all our friends and others in Cuba where Trump's entirely vindictive and solely self-serving extra sanctions were already hurting before Covid came along. Fifty years of sanctions have not broken Cuba and they won't now. They won't hurt the leadership but only the people. I will continue to add blog posts with wildlife photos taken by our friends in Cuba though they like us are currently somewhat restricted. But looking through old photos is reliving the moment and the memories.
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Day 14 - 22 June 2019 - Yellow-billed Cuckoo

17/4/2020

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On the way to breakfast this Red-legged Thrush was busy collecting food for its chicks.
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Red-legged Thrush 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
A final catch-up with the Zapata Sparrows was the plan for today so Joel picked us up at 08.00 to go over to the cave disco. No sign of them or the Quail Doves but there were two Black Witch Moths Ascalapha odorata taking moisture on an old log and slowly flapping about before returning. That was quite a treat as they are normally very flighty. It is not considered an agricultural pest as its large brownish caterpillars feed on woody legumes such as Acacia, Cassia and Senna.
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Black Witch Moth Ascalapha odorata 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
We explored along the road again looking mainly for butterflies and saw a Caribbean Sailor Dynamine serina female as well as Caribbean Banner Lucinia sida and Cuban White Ganyra menciae.
Black Witch Moth Ascalapha odorata 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Caribbean Sailor Dynamine serina female 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
As before it was not until back at the car-park that we saw the Zapata Sparrows
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Zapata Sparrow 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Zapata Sparrow 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Zapata Sparrow 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Close to where we saw the adult Cuban Iguana a few days ago we stopped and spotted a juvenile out on the road. It was only about 400mm long and the first time we had seen a young one. I also saw what I'm pretty certain was a Dusky Swallowtail Heraclides aristodemus fly past but it didn't stop. Although pretty rare it is the commonest of the swallowtails that I haven't yet managed to get reasonable pictures of.
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Cuban Iguana juvenile Cyclura nubila 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
We continued exploring the area until, for the third day running, we heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, this time calling in a tree not far away. I moved forward very slowly until I picked it up in the thick scrub. And at last decent views even though it was against the light.
Back on 6 November 1976 I'd had a call from a friend of mine (no mobiles in those days) saying that he had found a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that morning at Pennington Marsh on the Hampshire coast of the UK. It wasn't seen again and ever since I had wanted to see one well. Not just brief flight views but to be able to study it. And this was the moment..
I didn't know anything about their ecology so had to look it up. Only sometimes do they lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, they don’t do this nearly as often as the Common Cuckoo of Eurasia, which made the behavior famous. When outbreaks of cicadas, tent caterpillars, gypsy moths, and other prey create an abundant food supply, Yellow-billed Cuckoos then sometimes do lay their eggs in the nests of other cuckoos as well as in those of American Robins, Gray Catbirds, and Wood Thrushes. And that explains the calling - it must have had a nest nearby.
They also have one of the shortest nesting cycles of any bird species. From the start of incubation to fledging can take as little as 17 days! Although born naked, the young birds develop quickly; within a week of hatching the chicks are fully feathered and ready to leave the nest.
And if you live outside the UK and are not familiar with the Cuckoo that we get here in summer in alarmingly diminishing numbers you can read a rather salutary piece written here by wildlife champion and writer, and wonderful  photographer Paul Sterry.
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Yellow-billed Cuckoo 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Dragonflies in the genus Tramea have a habit of perching quite high on dead branches which can make photography a challenge. They are known as Saddlebags from the shape of the brown marks at the base of the hindwings. There are six species that have been recorded from Cuba and I'm pretty sure this is Antillean Saddlebags Tramea insularis.
Tramea insularis 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Tramea insularis 22 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
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Day 13 - 21 June 2019 -  Lomas de Cunagua (3)

16/4/2020

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We enjoyed it so much yesterday that we decided to come back here again and we picked up our guide on the way to save him having to walk all the way there. As we walked up the hill there were two young Red-tailed Hawks calling incessantly. I've noticed that newly fledged Buzzards here at home do the same and I'm presuming that they are just letting their parents know that they are hungry.
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Red-tailed Hawk 21 Jun 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
And again we saw Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Northern Flicker and several other of the common endemics - what a lovely piece of woodland this is.
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juv Cuban Peewee 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
And the butterflies didn't disappoint either with Zebra Heliconian Heliconius charithonia, Cuban Snout Libytheana motya, Many-lined Daggerwing Marpesia chiron and even a beautiful Red-striped Leafwing Siderone galanthis that glided around before settling in front of us. We also found a small Cecropia tree with the distinctive feeding damage of Mosaic Colobura dirce larvae but they were long gone.
Zebra Heliconian Heliconius charithonia 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Cuban Snout Libytheana motya 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Many-lined Daggerwing Marpesia chiron 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Red-striped Leafwing Siderone galanthis 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
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view from half way up the hill
Back down in the horse field next to the road we added another skipper that we hadn't seen yesterday - a Eufala Skipper Lerodea eufala and we saw again many of the species that we had noted then. And again it was nice to get up close and personal with Cuban Mercurial Skipper Proteides mercurius.
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Cuban Mercurial Skipper Proteides mercurius 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
And this dragonfly has me a little puzzled. It has been suggested that it is Seaside Dragonlet Erythrodiplax berenice again but the makings on the sides seem significantly different to those we've seen previously. But I can't think what else it is.
Bush Sulphur Pyrisitia dina female 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
unid odonata 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
unid odonata 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
I managed slightly better pictures than yesterday of the Tricolored Munias, though not much better.
Tricolored Munia 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Tricolored Munia 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Tricolored Munia 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
And this is just so, so sad. No animal or bird should be subjected to this. It is frankly an utter disgrace that a globally endangered bird should be kept like this. And for what - just the mindless pleasure of an unthinking human. And I'm not singling out Cuba in this regard though it is a big industry in Cuba as it is in many other countries around the world. Here in the UK it is much less of a problem I think though we certainly have more than our share of stupid unthinking humans - I could name quite a few in our current government.
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Cuban Parrot - globally threatened near-endemic - in a tiny cage - 21 June 2019 Lomas de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
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Day 12 - 20 June 2019 - Loma de Cunagua (2)

15/4/2020

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We were a bit later leaving today than we had intended as Jo the taxi driver we had arranged didn't turn up, but as there was another taxi outside the entrance we used him instead for another trip to Loma de Cunagua on the mainland. Once there we met our guide Neolbert who took us for a walk up the hill through the forest. Lots of birds including Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ani, Tody, Trogon, Western Spindalis, Key West Quail-Dove calling, 2 Northern Flicker and several other woodpeckers including a Fernandina's Flicker which we really hadn't expected to see here. There were several reptiles including Anolis lucius and Anolis equestris - another great find. We added a couple more butterflies to our growing list  - White-angled Sulphur Anteos clorinde and a Stinky Leafwing Historis odius which was flying around this tall Cecropia peltata tree which is its foodplant.
Anolis equestris 20 Jun 2019 Moron © Tim Norriss
Cecropia peltata 20 Jun 2019 Moron © Tim Norriss
We also added Singularis Skipper Euphyes singularis which was the only one of the trip and Bush Sulphur Pyrisitia dina and a pair of Julia Dryas iulia in cop. I'm trying to identify two larvae that we found. One is a Sphinx or Hawk-moth larva and I'm sure someone will know it but the other is a geometer and will I expect be rather more difficult. Thank you to Carlos de Soto Molinari from DR for the id's added below.
Julia Dryas iulia 20 Jun 2019 Moron © Tim Norriss
Bush Sulphur Pyrisitia dina female 20 Jun 2019 Moron © Tim Norriss
Agrius cingulata larva 20 Jun 2019 Moron © Tim Norriss
Melanchroia sp larva (Geometridae) 20 Jun 2019 Moron © Tim Norriss
There was a deluge of rain during supper in the evening that brought out the frogs. This Eleutherodactylus planirostris was outside our room and another one that we hadn't come across before.
Eleutherodactylus planirostris 20 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Eleutherodactylus planirostris 20 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
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Day 11 - 19 June 2019 - Mangrove Skipper

15/4/2020

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We sat watching the juvenile Green Heron at breakfast in what is called the VIP restaurant overlooking the lagoon. The heron had grown quite a bit in the last few days and was quite alert and watching for its parents bringing in food. After a good stretch it started clambering about in the mangrove bush and fending off the unwanted attention of the Grackles if they came too close.
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Green Heron juv 19 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
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Green Heron juv 19 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
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Green Heron juv 19 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
On the edge of the lagoon a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron was already independent and looking for its own food.
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Yellow-crowned Night Heron juv 19 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Later we walked to the Zestos Skipper site in the forest but there was no sign of them today though there were a few other things including another Cornelius Skipper Euphyes cornelius and two Mangrove Skipper Phocides pigmalion.
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Mangrove Skipper Phocides pigmalion 19 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Mangrove Skipper Phocides pigmalion 19 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Mangrove Skipper Phocides pigmalion 19 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
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Day 10 - 18 June 2019 - Loma de Cunagua

13/4/2020

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We had planned a trip across to the mainland with Paulino the bird guide, and were so glad we did. He picked us up at 06.30 and we set off across the causeway stopping occasionally to see birds. Apart from the stilts were a few other waders, flamingos, lots of herons and egrets, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork.
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Black-necked Stilt 18 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
We drove south to the town of Moron and then turned east towards Bolivia. Along the way we stopped - and saw a Limpkin - until we came to the Loma de Cunagua on the north side of the road. This is a reserve but there was no guide here today so we had a look for butterflies around the buildings and saw Many-banded Daggerwing Marpesia chiron, Gray Cracker Hamadryas februa, Impostor Duskywing Gesta gesta and both De Villiers and Polydamas Swallowtail Battus polydamas. There was also Tawny-shouldered Blackbird and Shiny Cowbird here.
Polydamas Swallowtail Battus polydamas 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Gray Cracker Hamadryas februa 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
As we got back to the main road Paulino pulled over as he had briefly seen a Tricolored Munia. It took a while searching but we did eventually find it. It was then that we noticed lots of butterflies in the small horse paddock by the road so stopped to watch for a while, before going round to the house on the opposite side to get permission to enter, which they were happy for us to do. And here we found a small flock of about 20 Tricolored Munias. They were quite wary which I can only put down to the fact that they don't like being caught and put in cages, which happens a lot with many small birds in Cuba!
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Tricolored Munias 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippe fem 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippe m 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
The field had lots of Blue Porterweed Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (horses don't like it apparently) on which were nectaring many butterflies. There were several Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippe and other Pieridae and the occasional polydamas, but it was the variety of skippers Hesperiidae that amazed us, 16 species in all in about an hour, nine of which were new for the trip. We have never seen anything like this number of skippers in one field at one time before. We have only once before seen both May's Skipper Proteides maysi and Mercurial Skipper Proteides mercurius at the same time. Caribbean Faceted Skipper Synapte malitiosa and Southern Broken Dash Wallengrenia otho are superficially similar but the white line above and behind the eye is always more striking on S. malitiosa and the antennae tips are black ans white rather than black and orange.
May's Skipper Proteides maysi 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Mercurial Skipper Proteides mercurius 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Caribbean Faceted Skipper Synapte malitiosa male 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Caribbean Faceted Skipper Synapte malitiosa female 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
There were several Purple-washed Skipper Panoquina lucas and whilst photographing these I remember noticing another that looked good for Ocola Skipper Panoquina ocola so spent a while ensuring that I had good enough pictures. Luis Hernandez (2004) reported that this was very rare but widespread in Cuba and sometimes flies with P. lucas. We have certainly never come across it before and to be honest it had slipped my mind until now to check on the pictures. I would have liked to have seen the upperside to check the white dots but unfortunately didn't get a chance, but the paler colour and lack of the row of white spots on the underside hindwing do clinch it I believe. They are quite variable but normally only have two white spots on the forewing and this has three but because of its rarity the only picture of it previously taken in Cuba that I know of is on the species page. We'll see what the experts say.
Purple-washed Skipper Panoquina lucas 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Ocola Skipper Panoquina ocola 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
I think Paulino would rather have been birding but hey, we were paying and having a great time.
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And at last another dragonfly other than Seaside Dragonlet. I think these are both Oriental Scarlet Crocothemis servilia but I'm a bit surprised that the second one doesn't appear to have any reddish shading at the base of the hindwings.
Oriental Scarlet Crocothemis servilia male 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
Oriental Scarlet Crocothemis servilia male 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
And to finish up with is a picture of a newly fledged Northern Mockingbird that was sitting on a small pile of logs waiting for its parents to come and feed it.
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Northern Mockingbird 18 Jun 2019 Loma de Cunagua © Tim Norriss
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Day 9 - 17 June 2019 - Zapata Sparrow

8/4/2020

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Zapata Sparrow 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Although we had seen Zapata Sparrow at Zapata on one of our early trips to Cuba we hadn't seen it since. There are just three small populations of this highly endangered endemic and oddly they are found in three completely different habitats. At Zapata they are found in extensive sawgrass that is flooded during the summer, at Baitiquirí near Guantanamo in the east it is found in very dry thorn and cactus scrub, and at Cayo Coco in the north it occurs in dry forest and thickets (Garrido & Kirkconnell, 2000). And nowhere else on the planet! We got a taxi this morning back to the Wild Boar Cave disco and no luck for quite a while so we went off for a walk along the road only to find when we returned that one had been looking in the taxi wing mirrors and feeding in the car park. We saw three here and they were very tame and gave fantastic views.
Zapata Sparrow 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Zapata Sparrow 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
We also saw Cuban Bullfinch, Cuban Emerald, Black-whiskered Vireo, Zenaida Dove and a Cuban Green Woodpecker was nesting in a tree in the car park.
Cuban Green Woodpecker 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Zenaida Dove 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
There were quite a few butterflies along the roadside (about 25 species) including Caribbean Banner Lucinia sida, Cornelius Skipper Euphyes cornelius, Florida White Glutophrissa drusilla, Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon istapa and Florida Duskywing Ephyriades brunnea.
Cornelius Skipper Euphyes cornelius 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
Florida White Glutophrissa drusilla 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
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Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon istapa 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
We stopped at Playa Prohibida for a cold drink at the snack bar there before heading back for lunch and walking out later to the trail where we had seen the Zestos Skipper Epargyreus zestos. I saw another rather worn individual in the same place and our first Mangrove Buckeye Junonia neildi of the trip. I also had brief views of a small day-flying Hawk-moth (Sphinx) in the genus Aellopos with a white band across the abdomen. There are five species recorded from Cuba though one doesn't have the white band so it's narrowed down to four and that's as far as I can get without pictures - one that got away.
Jo and taxi
Mangrove Buckeye Junonia neildi 17 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
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Day 8 - 16 Jun 2019 - Cuban Iguana

7/4/2020

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Cuban Iguana Cyclura nubila 16 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
The Cuban Iguana (Cyclura nubila) is a very handsome beast which can grow up to 1.6m although this one was a bit smaller I think at around 1.2m at least. They have declined about 10% in the last 10 years which is thought to be mainly due to predation by rats, cats and dogs, and by destruction of their habitat - mainly construction of resorts on the beaches where they breed. It is also said that they are rarely used as food by Cubans but the people that we speak to about this tell us that they are hunted and they taste good.
They are 95% herbivorous feeding on leaves, flowers and fruits with the remaining 5% being made up of scavenged corpses of birds, fish and crabs. Females deposit their eggs in the same nesting sites each year and often several nests are found close together. It is always a good day when we see one so today was definitely a good day!
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Cuban Iguana Cyclura nubila 16 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
We had booked Paulino the local bird guide for a half day to show us some of the specialities. He arrived at 06.30 in his 1955 Chevrolet (he was its second owner) and off we went to the Wild Boar Cave which doubles as a night-club but is also a good area for birds - but not this morning. No sign of the Zapata Sparrows or Key West Quail-Dove though we did hear the latter with its very deep call. And we did see an obliging Oriente Warbler.
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Oriente Warbler 16 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
We heard Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Lynn probably saw another Caribbean Metalmark. But we pushed on to find Bahaman Mockingbird on Cayo Guillermo. We stopped opposite the Hotel Playa Pilar where we had seen lots of white butterflies as we came past on the bus a few days before. They were still there and it turned out there were a small number of Cuban White Ganyra menciae but were largely Great Southern White Ascia monuste (at least 150 of them) all flying around a couple of bushes on which they were clearly breeding as we watched them laying and found larvae and pupal exuviae. It was quite a spectacle.
Great Southern White Ascia monuste in cop 16 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
Great Southern White Ascia monuste larva preparing to pupate 16 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
Great Southern White Ascia monuste 16 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
It took a while but Paulino did find us the Bahama Mockingbird. They are a plainer grayer version of the very common Northern Mockingbird but these are very scarce and restricted on Cuba to the Cayos in this area. The wings lack the white wing patches of Northern Mockingbird and we had good views through the scope but it was a bit too far for decent pictures with just a 200mm lens. We did later get some nice views of Bahaman Swallowtail Heraclides andraemon.
Bahaman Swallowtail Heraclides andraemon 16 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
Bahaman Swallowtail Heraclides andraemon 16 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
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Day 7 - 15 June 2019 - American Flamingos

4/4/2020

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We took another trip on the bus today to Cayo Guillermo and the American Flamingos were rather more obliging. There was a group of four that wasn't too far away and provided some nice views as they foot-paddled and displayed in between bouts of feeding.
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American Flamingos 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
American Flamingos 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
American Flamingos 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
American Flamingos 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
American Flamingos 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
The only Odonata we have seen so far on this trip have been Seaside Dragonlet Erythrodiplax berenice and at last I've managed some pictures I'm reasonably happy with.
Seaside Dragonlet Erythrodiplax berenice female 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
Seaside Dragonlet Erythrodiplax berenice male 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
Nickerbean Blue Cyclargus ammon and White Peacock Anartia jatrophae are both common and widespread species but the Phaon Crescent Phyciodes phaon is much scarcer and we have seen it on less than half out trips to Cuba and we found a few again at exactly the same spot that we saw them three days ago. 
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Nickerbean Blue Cyclargus ammon 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
White Peacock Anartia jatrophae 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
Phaon Crescent Phyciodes phaon 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
Smooth-billed Anis are very social birds and its not unusual to see ten or more in a group. We often hear them before we see them. They are so social in fact that females lay all their eggs in a single communal nest tended by all group members though it is quite usual for only the later ones to be laid to be the ones to hatch. Juvenile Smooth-billed Anis that hatch early in the summer often stay with their family group as the birds begin a new nest, and the newly fledged birds then help feed youngsters from the second nest. They are omnivorous and eat insects, fruit and even reptiles if they can catch them.
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Smooth-billed Anis 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
One of the main reasons to come back today was to get better pictures of the rarely photographed Cuban Spiny-plant Anole Anolis pumilus which I managed to do though I would love to know more about them.
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Cuban Spiny-plant Anole Anolis pumilus
Cuban Striped Curlytail Leiocephalus stictigaster is really very common on both islands but I haven't seen one before with this reddish colouring on the hind legs - perhaps it is a male.
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Cuban Striped Curlytail Leiocephalus stictigaster 15 Jun 2019 Cayo Guillermo © Tim Norriss
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Day 6 - 14 June 2019 - Cuban Gnat-catcher

4/4/2020

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juvenile Green Heron 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
There is a small restaurant at the Hotel Melia Cayo Coco in one of the buildings built in the lagoon and we went there for breakfast this morning. Just outside the windows were two mangrove bushes and in one of them There was a Greater Antillean Grackle nest and in the other a Green Heron nest from which a youngster had recently fledged. Apparently the Grackles had taken one of the two eggs early on.
A walk around the lagoon later produced some other nice birds including Cuban Lizard Cuckoo, Cuban Today, Tricolored Heron, Cuban Martin, American Kestrel and Red-legged Thrush which is the Cuban national bird.
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Cuban Tody 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
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Red-legged Thrush 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
And while watching a Cuban Snout Libytheana motya I became aware of a small bird flitting around me giving alarm calls. It was a Cuban Gnat-catcher carrying food so it must have had a nest nearby. I took a few frames and moved out of its way so it could get to its nest.
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Cuban Gnat-catcher 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
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Cuban Gnat-catcher 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
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Cuban Gnat-catcher 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
Cuban Snout Libytheana motya 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
Cuban Snout Libytheana motya 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
Once again there were hundreds of Pygmy Blue Brephidium exilis, and also about 50 Lyside Sulphur Kricogonia lyside, Mangrove Buckeye Junonia nieldi, Florida Purplewing Eunica tatila and the Caribbean Daggerwing Marpesia eleuchea had increased from two yesterday to fifteen today. They all looked very fresh and were nectaring on the Black Mangrove Avicennia germinans. Around the climbing frame were about 50 freshly emerged Ceraunus Blue Hemiargus ceraunus.
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Ceraunus Blue Hemiargus ceraunus 14 Jun 2019 © Tim Norriss
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