It was rather a frustrating morning photography-wise as none of the pictures were coming out as sharp as I thought they should be and I couldn't figure out why. We went out with Carlos, and Joel with his black taxi, to visit one or two places he knew for birds. The first was to try and find Greater Antillean Nightjar that was often to be found in a field with a few cattle. These didn't seem to be aggressive so walked around the field but drew a blank but. As always we found some other nice things including Queen Danaus gilippus and Gray Cracker Hamadryas februa.
Cuban Grassquit 8 Oct 2016 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
The endemic Cuban Grassquit is much rarer than Yellow-faced Grassquit probably due to the bird trade and the fact that many people like to keep these beautiful birds in tiny cages in their homes - very sad. We then went on to explore around Playa Pesquero a few miles to the west. There are several hotels here and we decided that the surrounding habitat wasn't as diverse as at the Luna y Mares hotel. There were quite a few mangroves and pools inland from the beach and we saw lots of Mangrove Buckeye Junonia neildi and also a Mangrove Cuckoo, Black Duck and Great Blue Heron. On the way back we stopped at a field where a Short-eared Owl had been feeding for the last few weeks.
Back in the Luna y Mares hotel grounds after lunch I again had brief glimpses of two Desmarest's Jutía Capromys pilorides but they were very wary so I went back to the small clearing behind the Gaviota building at the front of the hotel. It's funny how one small area can have few butterflies one day and be teeming the next. Today there were nine species including seven Lycaenidae nectaring on four or five small Croton origanifolius bushes that were flowering. It must have been the combination of the rain a couple of days ago and the Croton coming into flower. The list was:
1 Antillean Crescent Antillea pelops
1 Tropical Checkered Skipper Burnsius oileus
4 Miami Blue Cyclargus thomasi
4 Nickerbean Blue Cyclargus ammon
2 Ceraunus Blue Hemiargus ceraunus
10 Cassius Blue Leptotes cassius
2 Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon istapa
1 Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon limenia and best of all
1 Martial Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon martialis
Having only seen this last only a couple of times before, and both only briefly, it was nice to watch one at leisure and at close quarters.
1 Antillean Crescent Antillea pelops
1 Tropical Checkered Skipper Burnsius oileus
4 Miami Blue Cyclargus thomasi
4 Nickerbean Blue Cyclargus ammon
2 Ceraunus Blue Hemiargus ceraunus
10 Cassius Blue Leptotes cassius
2 Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon istapa
1 Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon limenia and best of all
1 Martial Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon martialis
Having only seen this last only a couple of times before, and both only briefly, it was nice to watch one at leisure and at close quarters.
Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon istapa 8 Oct 2016 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
Martial Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon martialis 8 Oct 2016 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
And of course while they look great from the side it is only from the rear that they show the amazing adaptation of what at times looks like ferocious red eyes and at other times a pair of equally ferocious pincers depending on the angle of view. Isn't evolution amazing!
The day wasn't quite over as on the way back from the restaurant at supper we found this Eastern Giant Toad Peltophryne peltocephala by the path.
Eastern Giant Toad Peltophryne peltocephala 8 Oct 2016 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
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