Category Archives: Flora and Fauna

A Beautiful Leeward Afternoon

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Ripples on the rocks, ripples in the sand, gentle waves and calm, turquoise waters.

An afternoon spent on the beach at Leeward brought many interesting sights and things to photograph. This island is rich in natural beauty and you don’t even have to look for it. Here are some of the photos taken in just a few hours.

A group of Black-Necked Stilts dropped by for a visit.

Elegant, long pink legs and quite noisy as they circled and dive-bombed .... not sure if there was a nest nearby??

 

Stilts are a common breeding resident of our islands.

 

Leeward rocks with patterns created by the clear waters

 

A small crab scuttles along the rocks and disappears quickly from the camera's view.

 

A grinning potcake with no collar was happily taking a cooling swim.

 

 

A beautiful starfish and look at that water....spectacular!

 

Ten or so starfish but why were quite a few floating? I'm hoping it wasn't that they were dying. Anyone know?

Washed up on the shore.

 

Brown Pelican sits on his favourite perch at Leeward

 

Constant entertainment watching the pelicans as they dive into the water for fish.

So that’s it, a lovely afternoon at Leeward and many photos later.

 

Marta

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Iguanas and Little Water Cay

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Little Water Cay and the iguanas are only accessible with a boat ride from Leeward.

The nature preserve of Little Water Cay is locally known as ‘Iguana Island’. This small island, or cay, is home to the few remaining Rock Iguanas that used to live on most of the islands in the Turks and Caicos. The Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana or Cyclura Carinata is now classified as endangered. At one time they lived on all the islands but the introduction of cats and dogs by humans led to their rapid decline and extinction on the other islands.

A boardwalk leads visitors on a nature walk to spot the iguanas

An iguana waits on the walkway.

 

The rock iguana lives in rocky areas and sandy habitats as sand is required for nesting

Little Water Cay is approximately 116 acres and has two small interior ponds that are surrounded by many native plants. This little cay is home to between 2,000 and 3,000 Rock Iguanas. In 2002, hundreds of iguanas were moved from islands that had larger populations to four uninhabited cays where they could be safe and multiply. Pine Cay is a good example of how fast populations can decline. In the 1970’s a population of some 15,000 iguanas was completely destroyed within five years by a mere handful of dogs and cats brought in by hotel workers.

Little Water Cay and its' beautiful beach.

 

Some iguanas will come out and greet you while others hide in shallow burrows dug in the sand or under rocks.

Coloured glass beads are used for identification by scientists.

You will notice that the iguanas on Little Water Cay have been tagged with coloured beads by scientists and researchers who use this harmless procedure to get information on the iguanas’ life span, survival and  reproductive rate as well as eating, mating habits and individual growth rates. These coloured glass beads correspond to different numbers. Rock Iguanas are basically herbivorous and eat leaves, flowers, and fruits from many different plant species including Sea Grapes and Seven-year Apple to name a couple of favourites.

Iguanas love to sun themselves on the rocks

The boardwalk winds its way through the vegetation.

Please remember that the boardwalk was built in order to protect the iguanas. All visitors are not allowed to step off the walkway and can view the Rock Iguanas, the fine-powder beaches, red mangroves, small lakes, and scenery. A small entry fee goes toward preservation efforts currently in progress.

The Rock iguana's basic colour can range from green to brownish grey, usually patterned by darker markings.

Looking for something good to eat.

 

Up close and personal with a Rock Iguana

Time for a little swim break before heading back

 

 

Make sure you put a visit to Little Water Cay and the Rock Iguanas on your list of things to do. The kids will love it!

 

Marta

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

Turks Head Cactus Pods

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Half eaten, rosy pink seed pod from the Turks Head cactus.

Many of the Turks Head Cacti here at Harbour Club Villas are flowering and throwing off seed pods like crazy right now. They are providing a feast for our local population of anoles and curly tailed lizards. I haven’t managed to snap a photo of them actually eating one but I keep trying.

This fairly young cactus does not have a pronounced cap as yet but it is producing so many seed pods.

 

An anole lizard has no problem with the cactus spines as he makes for the seed pods.

 

The seed pods are shaped more like a fushia coloured pepper elongated at the one end where it grows in the white part of the cap.

 

Close up of the indentation in the cap left by the seed pod with a curly tailed lizard.

No seed pod but still a fair sized Curly Tailed Lizard and we do have some pretty large ones at the villas.

The seed pods of the Turks Head Cactus provides food for many birds and lizards who injest, fertilize, eliminate the tiny black seed to propagate more cacti.

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

Lignum Vitae Tree of Life

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A profusion of purple-blue flowers..........the Lignum Vitae trees are in bloom.

All of a sudden after the heavy rains recently, my Lignum Vitae tree has burst into bloom. I then started seeing these beautiful trees in the bush on a recent trip to the grocery store.

Flowers have five purple-blue petals and are a favourite of insects and nectar drinking birds.

The Lignum Vitae is also known as the “tree of life” and ironwood because the wood is incredibly hard and is so dense that it does not float. It is found throughout the Bahamas and in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Lignum vitae wood is exceptionally heavy and was used around the Caribbean for ballast in ships.

The Lignum Vitae had medicinal value and was considered the penicillin of the time. The bark was used as a cathartic, the fruit as a vegetable and the flowers as a laxative. In the Turks and Caicos Islands, the resin (locally called rosin) was collected for boiling in water to make a tea to treat muscle and back strains, particularly for men with lower back problems. Another use was to collect branches several inches in diameter which were honed down into heavy, smooth batons called “conch bruisers”. These were used to tenderise conch before cooking.

Teas prepared from all parts of the lignum tree were used for everything...to treat boils and swollen glands, fevers, aches and pains.

The ‘wood of life’ apparently derives from the tree’s medicinal qualities rather than any physical prowess.

A canopy of blue-purple flowers....beautiful.

Beautiful by nature, the lignum vitae has an honoured place in these islands. Take a look as you travel our roads and you will see a blue-purple haze on certain trees. The tree of life, Guaiacum sanctum or Lignum Vitae is spectacular when it is in bloom.

 

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

More Birds at Harbour Club Villas

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Sweet little fledgling just learning to fly.

All kinds of twittering going on today and I left my computer to go and investigate. There were two baby Blue-grey Gnatcatchers learning to fly while the mama flew around from one to the other. They are fairly common breeding residents on all islands of the Turks and Caicos.

 

He was pretty tiny as he peeped and called for mama to feed him.

 

Cuban crows are not often seen on Providenciales.

 

 

He flew from Coconut tree to coconut tree as the mocking birds attacked him.

This was a first for me and these Cuban Crows are more often seen on North and Middle Caicos. Now I have to catch photos of that pesky Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that is leaving holes throughout our coconut palms!! He’s really fast though and hard to capture in a photo.

Happy birdwatching.

Marta

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birds at Harbour Club Villas

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Bananaquits are usually just too fast to photograph but this one posed prettily in our tamarind tree.

All of a sudden there seems to be lots of singing, chirping, cooing and squawking going on around Harbour Club Villas. I’ve managed to photograph quite a few birds in the last week that seem to like this area……….Bananaquits, Doves, a Green Heron that tries to catch fish and drinks from the pool, the Northern Mockingbird locally called “Preacher Bird” and many Bahama Woodstar Hummingbirds.

This little Mourning Dove doesn't seem to be afraid of me as it pecks away at something in the gravel under the neem trees.

There are several doves here in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Every morning quite early, we hear the Zenaida Dove cooing. The Mourning Dove has more of a melancholy voice and has a long tail that fans out on take off and landing. We also have the Common Ground Dove and the White-winged Dove.

The Northern Mockingbird is a songbird, sometimes called the Nightingale or more locally 'Preacher Bird' because of their talkativeness and singing.

Every day the Green Heron visits the pool for a cooling drink. He'll squawk at guests to let them know this is his private drinking pool.

The Green Heron likes to fish and stays low to the water craning his neck out as he searches for food. Often, we can hear him in the trees grumbling to himself and making ‘skuk skuk’ noises. Heaven forbid if you disturb him as he will fly up complaining loudly and this has given it the local name of the ‘Kow Kow’.

Stalking a lizard on a Coconut frond.

A Mockingbird perched high on a branch and singing away.

A little Bahama Woodstar Hummingbird let me get really close one night as it perched on a branch.

Bananaquit with beautiful yellow breast preens on a branch of the Tamarind tree.

I managed to get a photo of this dove as it sat on a barrel.

 

I caught this Great Egret walking down the road from Rickie's or Flamingo Bar.

 

He was not about to let go of his lunch...a curly tailed lizard.

I’m glad that I have my camera with me most days. It was pure luck to sight this Great Egret just walking down the road. He must not have liked what was on the menu at Flamingo’s. Enjoy these photos and we hope all you bird lovers , birders and birdwatchers will visit our islands soon.

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

Bananaquit Rescue

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Tiny little bananaquit nestling found safe in its nest on the ground.

This afternoon, we found a nest lying on the ground and it had a little nestling inside. I saw a bananaquit perched in the Neem tree and we figure the nest had dislodged from the tree and fallen to the ground. Barry went to get a ladder while I snapped off a bunch of photos. He brought some twine which he threaded through the nest and secured it to the tree right above where he found the nest.

Bananaquits build their own globe-shaped nests with a side entrance.

Bananaquits build their nests using leaves, grasses, and plant fibers. The distinctive nests have a side entrance hole and are lined with bits of smaller matter such as thread, paper, feathers,
spider webbing, etc.

Hungry little one..........no idea how long the nest had been lying on the ground.

Pretty scrawny looking!

 

Barry ties the nest up in a branch hoping the Mama bird will return.

All secure with baby bird safe inside.

 

Bananaquits have a black back, down-curved bill, white eyebrow stripe, white wing spot, and yellow breast, belly and rump.

We’re definitely hoping this little bird will survive …… we’ve done the best we can.

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

Reddish Egret

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This beautiful Reddish Egret struck a beautiful pose for me.

The Reddish Egret is probably the most typical heron in the Turks and Caicos Islands. This one was seen in Flamingo Lake perched on a tree branch in the water. These birds have a pinkish base to their beaks, a a beautifully reddish neck.

Something must have caught his eye.

 

They wade in search of small fish in the shallows of the lake