We went a short way along the coast to the east this morning to a beach at Juragua and explored the coast and scrub. On the way there a pair of Limpkin were having a fight on the side of the road. We stopped and I got a few rapid shots of one before it disappeared from view. They are long-legged water birds that are widespread in swamps and marshes where they feed mainly on snails and other invertebrates.
Limpkin 27 Jun 2016 Juragua © Tim Norriss
There were quite a few families partying on the beach but the scrub behind produced some nice things including several Concolorous Skipper Burca concolor and Banded Yellow Eurema elathea.
Doug then proceeded to find a whole host of eggs and larvae that I'm sure I would have missed. A male Queen Danaus gilippus was nectaring on flowers and there were a few eggs on the Calotropis procera plants. We spent some time searching the succulent Sesuvium near the tide-line for Pygmy Blue Brephidium exilis larvae but all we found was eggs. There were also larvae of Gulf Fritillary Agraulis vanillae, Mexican Fritillary Euptoieta hegesia, Zarucco Skipper Erynnis zarucco and Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippe.
We made further stops on our way back to Holguin and at one in a small clearing near the road we saw Antillean Flasher Astraptes xagua nectaring on Stachytarpheta and an Arctiidae moth called Cydosia nobilitella that we had not come across before.
Tropical Buckeye Junonia zonalis 27 Jun 2016 Juragua © Tim Norriss
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