Today is the start of a one week trip to Pinares and the east. Jose picked us up early and we then went to Holguin to collect Doug before setting off towards Mayari and then on to Pinares through the Parque Nacional la Mensura. We made various stops and picked up some nice things on the way including Barred Yellow Eurema daira, Baracoa Skipper Polites baracoa, Whitish Yellow Pyrisitia messalina, Limenia Hairstreak Strymon limenia and larvae of Lime Swallowtail Papilio demoleus and Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae.
Driving on south from Mayari we stopped at the restaurant above the waterfall for a nice soup and chicken lunch. There was a tame Louisiana Waterthrush feeding around the tables. This is the species that feeds near upland streams rather than Northern Waterthrush that prefers mangroves near the coast. We then spent a while looking for larvae around the restaurant garden with some success Three-spotted Skipper Cymaenes tripunctus, Caribbean Faceted Skipper Synapte malitiosa, Caribbean Skipper Pyrrhocalles antiqua and Caribbean Ruby-eye Perichares philetes.
We then took a nice walk down through the forest with our guide Carlos who showed us some beautiful orchids near the waterfall itself. Both are endemic and found only at this eastern end of Cuba. Bletia antillana is the more showy with bright pink flowers but the most interesting for me was the tiny Lepanthes fulva growing on a small rock which appeared to just covered with small leaves. Only when we looked closer did we see the orchid's tiny flowers only about 2mm across! The orchid has a raceme of flowers originating at the base of the leaf and sometimes has two or three flowers in bloom at once but here there is only one.
As we were getting in the car to leave I heard swifts calling and a quick dash to get a better view gave me a gave me a clear but all too brief sighting of a small party of White-collared Swifts as they flew down the valley. They are only found in the mountain forests where they are said to breed on cliffs near waterfalls and in hollow royal palms. We have seen them a couple of times before but this was the best view to date.
We arrived at Hotel Pinares de Mayari in time for Lynn to have a swim in the nice pool and for me to set up the moth trap.
We arrived at Hotel Pinares de Mayari in time for Lynn to have a swim in the nice pool and for me to set up the moth trap.
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