Today was a travel day to Soroa so other than one or two short stops on our way out of Guanahacabibes most of the day was spent on the road. We did however see if we could relocate the Obscure Skipper on the beach (without success). We said our goodbyes at the Park office and gladly agreed to take one of the rangers to the next town; they don’t have their own transport and public transport is intermittent to say the least. I managed a quick photo of a male Phoebis sennae Cloudless Sulphur on the flowers outside. These Phoebis are not easy to identify for certain in the field so a good close view or a good photo is essential unless you use a net. The photos show patches of pale green on the underside that are hard to see in the field. We made several short stops along the road to check on small groups of butterflies mud-puddling on damp patches and cattle dung. Groups of Ascia monuste Great Southern White kept separate from those of Glutophrissa drusilla Florida White though Pyrisitia dina Bush Sulphur weren't so fussy.
We stopped again at the same spot where we saw the Gundlach's Duskywing Chiomara gundlachi yesterday and found a third individual, this time rather worn as well as a fresh Eantis papinianus Cuban Sicklewing which is a scarce but widespread species on Cuba.

On this trip I’ve started to get much more interested in the many reptiles that we are seeing and spending a bit more time trying to get reasonable photos of them. I think I have the identifications correct but resources on the internet are not great so if anyone knows better then please get in touch.

To quote from Lonely Planet “Soroa, a gorgeous natural area and tiny settlement 95km southwest of Havana, is the closest mountain resort to the capital. Located 8km north of Candelaria in the Sierra del Rosario, the easternmost and highest section of the Cordillera de Guaniguanico, the region's heavy rainfall (more than 1300mm annually) promotes the growth of tall trees and orchids. The area gets its name from Jean-Pierre Soroa, a Frenchman who owned a 19th-century coffee plantation in these hills. One of his descendants, Ignacio Soroa, created the park as a personal retreat in the 1920s, and only since the Revolution has this luxuriant region been developed for tourism.”
We were heading for the Hotel Villa Soroa which is set in fabulous surroundings and has a lovely swimming pool and great wildlife with lots of tracks to explore. We had stayed here on our first visit and recognised that it had great potential for butterflies - indeed we had previously been told by a friend that there were many good things to see not least Saliana esperi soroa so named because the type specimen of the Cuban subspecies was collected here as recently as 1992. It has subsequently been found at a small number of other widely scattered sites in Cuba.
We went out for a quick walk on arrival and soon found Burnsius crisia Antillean Checkered Skipper which we were pleased to see as the only one we saw here last year was rather battered. Rayner was even more pleased to see it as this was a first for him. We also found another larva of Heraclides oviedo Oviedo Swallowtail on Piper peltatum with the endemic Cuban Trogon calling incessantly overhead. This is Cuba's national bird and although we heard these almost every day we didn't often see them, though only because we didn't go looking for them.

Today our plan was to explore back along the road to the north as we had seen quite large numbers of butterflies, mainly whites and yellows, as we drove down this road on Monday. We hadn’t got far when a group of mud-puddling whites attracted our attention. These proved to be mainly male Glutophrissa Drusilla Florida White with one or two females amongst them along with a few Marpesia eleuchea Caribbean Daggerwing, Ascia monuste Great Southern White and Pyrisitia dina Bush Sulphur which seemed to prefer the dampness of a small log.

Then sharp-eyed Rayner spotted a dark skipper flying around on the edge of the road and occasionally settling on the mud. It was a Gundlach's Duskywing Chiomara gundlachi (previously mithrax). This was a major find and a first even for Rayner! It took fifteen minutes but we both eventually managed to get decent photos of this male and even found another dead by the road that had presumably been hit by a car.

There is little development in this area so apart from one or two small villages the forest comes right up to the road but one exception seemed to be a NP authority’s dwelling with a small clearing next to it that had some more mud-puddling Pierids including two Anteos clorinde White-angled Sulphurs and a male Phoebis sennae Cloudless Sulphur. It was here that the sky darkened considerably and a close clap of thunder made us look up to check how long we had got before the rain started. We then noticed another mass migration of Eunica tatila Florida Purplewing but this time it was not at low level but occurring at well above tree top height up to several hundred feet above us. Again thousands of butterflies were heading this time NNW ahead of the rapidly approaching rainstorm.

We had attempted one excursion down a track into the forest from a small village and this produced our first positive sightings of Heraclides ponceana Dusky Swallowtail. We had seen ‘possibles’ the day before but this time we got our eye in and although we never saw one settle we had close flybys that clinched the id and I managed a rather poor flight shot as a pair flew past my feet on a narrow path in dense forest. We did also see them in the open but it was odd to see them fly straight into dense forest cover through narrow gaps in the vegetation without any reduction in flight speed! They resemble H. oviedo Oviedo’s Swallowtail but look rather washed out as the dark colouration is replaced by light brown. This was the only place of the whole trip where the sheer numbers of mosquitoes was so unpleasant that we beat a hasty retreat back out into the sun where they were little trouble.

Later, near the beach, Rayner saw a Panoquina panaquinoides Obscure Skipper but it didn’t hang about and despite searching we couldn’t relocate it. This species is typically found in saline habitats usually on beachside plants and adjacent scrub. It is rare in Cuba though easily overlooked and may be more common than realised. We also saw a species of ant lion here on the beach and a pair of Wilson's Plover were there too with a half grown chick – this was a new bird for me.

Mangrove Skipper usually uses Red Mangove Rhizophora mangle as the larval foodplant but here we found the remains of a parasitised larva on a different species of mangrove – still to be identified – there is still so much to learn about Cuban butterflies! Back in the hotel garden I saw another large, and again very wary, Cuban Iguana.

Our replacement vehicle and driver Volo duly arrived yesterday afternoon and Duviel was taken back to Habana with a breakdown truck. We wished him well as he had been good company and an excellent driver. So we set off this morning to the NP centre to pick up our guide as entry into the National Park is not permitted without one. So we paid our 10cuc each entry fee and drove off down the western arm of the peninsular towards the Faro Roncali lighthouse at the very western tip of the island some 60km away by road.

We hadn’t gone far when two Common Black Hawks got up off the road in front of us. They had been feeding on land crabs that had been run over by vehicles and one continued feeding above us as we watched.

We passed an area of dead forest that our guide explained was caused by the hurricane that struck this area in 2009. The ensuing storm surge caused seawater to inundate the forest which became more saline by evaporation causing the trees to die.

We stopped at an open area to see what butterflies were present and spotted a Heraclides caiguanabus Poey's Swallowtail nectaring. They have a similar pattern of yellow spots to H. polydamas Polydamas Swallowtail but have tails unlike that species. And a male Bee Hummingbird was seen in the distance. It was singing from the top of the dead branches of a bush which made photography something of a challenge. This is the smallest bird in the world and is endemic to Cuba. It is scarcely bigger than a bee and the bright iridescent red colour on the head only shows when the sun catches it at the right angle but otherwise appears black. Small parties of White-crowned Pigeons were often seen during the day and as we drove along Common Ground Doves would get up from the side of the road. They were more abundant in this area than anywhere we have been in Cuba.

We stopped at various points along the route and at one place a male Silver Emperor Doxocopa laure came down onto the ground but it flew as I approached. That will have to wait for another time - can't win them all. I saw a lizard that I haven't yet been able to identify. I now have pictures of quite a few reptiles and amphibians so I think I'll add a page for these on this website. Most I have been able to identify using the Caribherp website but this only has one small thumbnail for each species and some species can be very variable. If butterflies are anything to go by there must be a good chance of turning up new species here... We started seeing Mexican Fritillary Euptoieta hegesia in some numbers including a female laying on what I think is a species of Turnera and a few Caribbean Daggerwing Marpesia eleuchea as well as a female Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippe. There were also lots of Urania boisduvalii larvae on the bushes. This is a large day-flying moth which we saw flying most days. Click here to see a photo of the adult at the bottom of the E. celadon page.

The first of several Cuban Kite Swallowtail Eurytides celadon flew by without stopping. They have a very rapid purposeful flight and although we saw them on every day except one of this trip we never once saw one settle and only twice saw them nectaring.
There are quite a lot of snake species in Cuba and we normally see at least a couple of snakes on each trip though apart from the Giant Trope otherwise known as Dusky Dwarf Boa Tropidophis melanurus that we saw on 17 June all the snakes that we have seen have been the Cuban Racer Cubophis cantherigerus which seems to be by far the commonest and most widespread species. The one we saw today was the biggest we had seen by a long way and must have been at least 5ft long. It was very docile and sluggish and as I got closer for pictures I could see why - it was about to shed its skin as its eyes looked rather milky and opaque. No wonder it let me get so close!
As we drove further west the habitat changed from forest to rather open scrubby limestone. We were told this was a good area for the endemic Cuban Iguana Cyclura nubila and we managed to locate three though they seemed distinctly wary (they are still hunted for food in some areas) and despite their size could move remarkably quickly. They are vegetarian and we watched as this one took bites out of the adjacent leaves.

There were lots of butterflies around the lighthouse which is at the very western end of the island. Most exciting was Cyclargus thomasi Miami Blue because although Hernandez in his 2004 book says that it is common, Rayner assures me that this is not the case, and it is certainly the first time that we had seen it. Although similar to Nickerbean Blue Cyclargus ammon it has four dots, not three, at the base of the hindwing underside, and also has less orange on the underside marginal ocellus.

Whilst we were watching the Miami Blue our guide pointed out an anole, on the tree behind, flashing its orange and yellow dewlap. It's called Anolis quadriocellifer, the Cuban Eyespot Anole and is just one of the 132 species of reptile endemic to Cuba although this one is found only on the Guanahacabibes Peninsular. And before we started the return journey I at last managed half-decent views of a settled male Adelpha iphicleola Iphicleola Sister that was typically sitting rather high up and chased off any insect that invaded its territory.

When we dropped off our guide back at the NP centre we had a quick check around the many flowers and found this Tropical Buckeye Junonia zonalis pair in cop.

Despite having been away quite a lot recently the website is progressing well. I have now loaded all of the many photos (of various life stages) that Rayner Núñez has let me have - thank you Rayner and I have also added a few of migrant species from Paul Brock - thank you Paul.
In the last three months the number of species which are featured with photos has risen from 87 to 147 so it starting to look a lot more respectable. I still have quite a lot to add from our last trip to Cuba in June and that will happen over the next couple of weeks, though there are no further species additions amongst these. And although I have added new pages for the added species I have not yet added the texts for these or put in the previous and next page links for them - that will start to happen soon. But I have updated most of the thumbnails and put in all the links for these which will take you to the species page and to more photos.

Today we spent the day exploring near the hotel as Duviel had discovered a serious mechanical problem with the vehicle that necessitated a replacement vehicle being sent from Habana that would be arriving after lunch. Along the beach Rayner recognised the habitat as looking suitable for Brephidium exilis Pygmy Blue although it had not been recorded from the NP before.

It only took us ten minutes to find it. This is one of the smallest butterflies in the world and it flies very low over the rocks from one patch of the foodplant Sesuvium to the next. We even watched a female laying on the leaves of the succulent. So this was the second new butterfly species that we had found for the National Park in two days. There weren't many birds along the shore apart from a group of Royal Terns and a Neotropic Cormorant.

It wasn't very sunny in the morning and although a few Florida Purplewing Eunica tatila were flying NE near the beach at about 9.40am in a short sunny spell we did not see a repeat of yesterdays mass migration. The ones we saw were presumably from a previous days' immigration as one wouldn't expect an arrival at that time of the morning of what is essentially a daytime migrant. I spent some time trying to get better pictures of these from the boardwalks around the hotel with only moderate success as they were very flighty.

There were quite a few birds around the garden including, Cuban Bullfinch (all black apart from a white line on the wing), Great Lizard Cuckoo, Cuban Oriole, Cuban Vireo, Yellow-headed Warbler, West Indian Woodpecker and Cuban Green Woodpecker.

But it was for the things that I didn't manage to photograph that the day will be remembered. A Siderone galanthis Red-striped Leafwing put in several appearances near our room, and even briefly settled on a tree. Doxocopa laure Silver Emperor, Adelpha iphicleola Iphicleola Sister and Archaeoprepona demophoon Two-spotted Prepona all showed briefly. Siproeta stelenes Malachite was slightly more obliging but the real event of the day was the Anetia pantherata Great King that flew close past me along the boardwalk without stopping. There was no doubt about what it was but frustrating that the others missed it! This was the first time in about fifteen years that it has been seen on Cuba and it had been thought that the terrific destruction in this area that was caused by the hurricane in 2009 had perhaps caused its extinction. It is only known from Hispaniola and here at the very western end of Cuba. So it does still survive here but how frustrating that this was the only (all too brief) sighting of our trip. We will have to come back another time - perhaps a bit later in the year.

As our previous trips to Cuba had been in the winter dry season, biting insects had never been much of an issue. Even during our six days at Vinales I don’t think I had used the DEET spray more than a couple of times.  Each day however we had undergone a certain amount of psychological conditioning by Rayner preparing us for the fact that Guanahacabibes would be different! The mosquitoes there he said were ferocious. Guanahacabibes is the western peninsular of Cuba and we were going to be staying at the only hotel Maria la Gorda. We stopped for petrol on the way and found this day-flying moth Melanchroia geometroides on the bushes on the edge of the forecourt.

We pressed on and arrived on the peninsular just after lunch having seen an increasing number of butterflies, mainly Glutophrissa drusilla Florida White along the forest road. After passing the National Park Centre on the right we traveled along the beach road for the last few kilometers towards the hotel but stopped when Rayner, who was sitting in the front, noticed a huge number of butterflies passing overhead. We jumped out and found that a vast migration was underway. It consisted almost entirely of Eunica tatila Florida Purplewing with a small number of Marpesia eleuchea Caribbean Daggerwing mixed in. This is what we had come to see as Guanahacabibes is renowned for its migrations. They were flying ENE along the southern arm of the peninsular at 1.25pm. Where had they come from? We were barely 10km from the end of the peninsular and beyond that another 200km (125miles) is Cancun at the eastern end of Yucatan province, Mexico. Logic says that this must have been the origin of these butterflies. 

Numbers were impossible to estimate - some were passing at head height but most were at or just above tree-top height and the trees weren't very high as you can see. With a 200mm lens, and therefore a fairly restricted field, I took a few shots and and each has between 26 and 36 butterflies visible. The beach is just the other side of the trees on the right and the storm clouds out over the sea may have had a bearing on the migration - who knows. Either way we enjoyed the spectacle for about fifteen minutes before the ferocious mosquitoes drove us back into the van, bad move packing the DEET away in the case!
At the hotel we chose the option of the wooden cabins in the forest rather than the new concrete frame blocks that had been erected in the last year or so. A walk around the area between our rooms and the beach produced many Phyciodes phaon Phaon Crescent and a few Nathalis iole Dainty Sulphur and Pyrausta tyralis. Rayner was investigating the bushes nearby and soon found a Chlorostrymon maesites Amethyst Hairstreak. One later appeared next to our rooms but remained with its wings firmly shut in the afternoon sun. I felt that if a cloud came over it would likely open its wings so I got into a good position, took some test shots to make sure I had got the correct exposure - and waited. Patience and planning paid off and I managed three quick pictures showing the striking blue upperside before it flew. This was a new species for the National Park so a good find.

An Urbanus proteus Common Long-tailed Skipper was on the bushes near our room before we went off for dinner - and here is a picture of the hawk-moth Xylophanes chiron Leafy Sphinx that was buzzing round the restaurant last night at Vinales.

Our next exciting find was a Caribbean Banner Lucinia sida larva. This was the first time Rayner had seen one though he had often looked on the foodplant Serjania. I’m not sure of the species but it was possibly S. diversifolia. We saw the adult L. sida most days but finding a larva was a real turn-up.

We also watched as two or three female Androgeus Swallowtails Heraclides androgeus laid numerous eggs on the bushes adjacent to the road and also found a larva that had just shed its skin

Sometimes, as it did today, a storm would brew up in the late afternoon. Today it did this while we had gone for walk a short walk from the hotel but apart from threatening skies and thunder and lightning overhead there was nothing more than a few drops of rain. We added Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon istapa to the list and while Lynn went for a swim I sat on the balcony enjoying the view and trying to get shots of the Antillean Nighthawks that would appear at this time of of the evening.

The larvae of Impostor Duskywing Gesta gesta and Zarucco Duskywing Erynnis zarucco that we were rearing through were growing quickly and looked as if it wouldn't be long before they pupated.

My attempts to operate the second floor landing of the hotel as a moth trap by ensuring the lights were on and leaving the windows at each end open met with some success and each morning I would check to see what had come in. I had toyed with the idea of taking an MV bulb with me but as this was primarily a butterfly trip I decided against it.