Green Heron 11 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
The most unusual image of the day that I managed was this adult Green Heron. Although it was facing away from me I managed a few shots as it wing-stretched. There was a pair nesting in a small clump of mangrove not far from the shore of the lagoon so we did see them quite often throughout our stay.
Our plan for the day was to walk right around the lagoon. Near the start of the path a Cuban Blue Anole Anolis allisoni was hunting insects among the mangrove branches.
Our plan for the day was to walk right around the lagoon. Near the start of the path a Cuban Blue Anole Anolis allisoni was hunting insects among the mangrove branches.
Anolis allisoni 11 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
But the most numerous of the butterflies during the walk were Pygmy Blue Brephidium exilis which was flying in hundreds. We have seen them in small numbers in several places before but never like this. I managed to photograph an egg which this female laid, but failed as usual to find any larvae despite spending some time searching. I suspect they must be nocturnal feeders that hide down at the bottom of the plant during the day.
Pygmy Blue Brephidium exilis female 11 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
We did see an Obscure Skipper Panoquina panaquinoides as we walked along the path and there were quite a few more Lyside Sulphur Kricogonia lyside as well as Cassius Blue Leptotes cassius, Florida Duskywing Ephyriades brunnea and Miami Blue Cyclargus thomasi. And it was nice to watch the courtship of a pair of Cuban White Ganyra menciae as they did their dancing flight with the male and female each jumping over the other to the front in turns - fabulous to watch. I was expecting to see Mangrove Buckeye Junonia nieldi but all we saw were Tropical Buckeye Junonia zonalis.
There is so much to learn about moths in Cuba and it would have been great to have been able to breed this micro larva through to find out what it was. I suspect it was a Depressariidae of some sort but I'm not sure.
And we knew that this dragonfly the Seaside Dragonlet Erythrodiplax berenice occurred here but had never seen it before. This I think is a female.
Seaside Dragonlet Erythrodiplax berenice 11 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
And a Clapper Rail crossing the path a long way off ahead of us was another first for Cuba for us. I did get a few pictures but nothing to write home about so here are is one from our friend Karlos Ross that he took recently in Holguin province. Thank you Karlos.
Clapper Rail March 2020 Holguin © Karlos Ross
When we neared the eastern end of the lagoon the path got narrower and petered out completely with just a thicket of scrub and a steep bank ahead of us. We knew this was the road as we could hear the occasional taxi go past so we decided to persevere rather than head back the way we had come in the baking sun. It took a while to fight our way through the scrub and onto the road. The hotel at this end of the lagoon is called the Pullman Cayo Coco and they wouldn't let us through to walk back along the beach so we took a taxi back in order not to miss out on lunch.
Hotel Melia Cayo Coco
Red-legged Thrush 11 Jun 2019 Cayo Coco © Tim Norriss
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