On the way to breakfast this Red-legged Thrush was busy collecting food for its chicks.
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.
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.
As before it was not until back at the car-park that we saw the Zapata Sparrows
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 ponceana 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.
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.
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.
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.
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