Stygian Owl © Tim Norriss
Bare-legged Screech-owl © Tim Norriss
Zapata is the richest single area for birds in Cuba. It contains a wide range of habitats from swamp, mangroves, shallow saline lagoons and coastal thickets to semi-deciduous forest and dry evergreen forest and some rice paddies thrown in for good measure. It is therefore also good for butterflies though I must say the majority of our time was spent birding.
We had the use of a local bird guide who on the first day managed to show us Stygian Owl, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bare-legged Screech-owl, Cuban Pygmy-owl, Cuban Lizard-cuckoo, Grey-headed Quail-dove and lots of the more usual things as well.
We had the use of a local bird guide who on the first day managed to show us Stygian Owl, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bare-legged Screech-owl, Cuban Pygmy-owl, Cuban Lizard-cuckoo, Grey-headed Quail-dove and lots of the more usual things as well.
Bee Hummingbird female Zapata © Tim Norriss
Bee Hummingbird garden Zapata © Tim Norriss
One morning we drove out to the tidal flats lined with mangroves at La Salina on the south shore of Zapata. It was a very long bumpy drive (and back) but the photo opportunities in the poor light were not great though we did see quite a lot of birds including Cuban Black-hawk. An early morning visit to the forest produced Key West Quail-dove and Zenaida Dove along with Ovenbird but not a great deal else though we later saw Cuban Parakeet too.
Gulf Fritillary Agraulis vanillae Zapata © Tim Norriss
One of the real highlights here at Zapata was being taken by our guide to a garden adjacent to the forest where both Cuban Emerald and Bee Hummingbird (the smallest bird in the world) were regularly seen nectaring on the flowers on this tree, and we were not disappointed. The lady who lived there was going to chop the tree down as it took so much light and was in the way in her tiny garden but she agreed not to when it was learnt that Bee Hummingbirds regularly used it. In return she is paid a commission by the guides that take their clients there. This, along with the Cuban Tody, were the two main birds that drew me to Cuba in the first place. We spent a magical hour in this kind lady's garden with both males and females sometimes only a few feet away.
Cuban Pygmy-Owl © Tim Norriss
Key West Quail-dove Zapata © Tim Norriss
We also started to recognise the commoner species of butterfly at a glance including White Peacock, Gulf Fritillary, Tropical Checkered Skipper and the Malachite.
Zenaida Dove Zapata © Tim Norriss
Tropical Checkered Skipper Pyrgus oileus Zapata © Tim Norriss
Cuban Parakeets Zapata © Tim Norriss
We saw a few new butterflies in the area and a new moth very similar to the Crimson Speckled that we get here in Europe but with pink instead of white hindwings. It is called Utetheisa ornatrix.
Cuban Crescent Anthanassa frisia Zapata © Tim Norriss
Utetheisa ornatrix Zapata © Tim Norriss
Bahaman Swallowtail Heraclides andraemon in cop Zapata © Tim Norriss
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