TCSPCA Dog Show Part 2

Posted on July 3, 2011 by marta

Oh Motley............you handsome old dog you! He has the sweetest face and was one of the finalists in the "Best Veteran Dog"

Oh MottLee............you handsome old dog you! He has the sweetest face and was one of the finalists in the "Best Veteran Dog." Kathi tells me his full name is MottLee Cruise and he is a Royal Turks & Caicos Miniature Wolfhound and has the rarest colour for the breed - Russet.

The TCSPCA Dog Show is held every year and seems to get bigger and better with a wonderful variety of dogs entered into the competition. This is a major fundraiser for the many programs run by the TCSPCA which is a non profit organization relying on donations. Be sure to contact them if you’d like to help out.

Here's LD ......... look at the great markings and a face just made for lots of kisses

Luna won the "Most Original Potcake" category

Face painting for the kids and this little boy was so cute.

Daisy, Daisy you're driving all the guys crazy with your sad eyes and sweet ways

Dog obedience performance by Donna's Pampered Paws group participants. These dogs were amazing especially since they were infront of a room filled with other dogs, two legged friends and lots of distractions.

I don't know why they didn't have a "best smile" category???

Faith wowed the crowds as Sally puts her through her tricks

Hoping to see everyone come out next year with tails a waggin’.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

2011 TCSPCA Dog Show

Posted on July 2, 2011 by marta

Ripley smiles for the camera......Dogs, Dogs everywhere...all sizes large, small and medium made for a wonderful afternoon of fun.

The long awaited and anticipated premier event of the dog world took place in Turtle Cove today. The annual Turks and Caicos Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals dog show had all kinds of dogs entered for the various events. Best Trick, Most “Original” Potcake, Dog with the Waggiest Tail to name a few. A “woofing” good time was enjoyed by everyone!

Jasmine and Lil'Bug dressed in pink with cute bows....she came in third for the best lookin' female

"Doggie" face painting was a big hit with the kids.

The judges including Donna from Pampered Paws had a real tough job on their hands with the large turn out of competitors

I love this photo of judge Peggy with her daisy adorned hat

Adorable Cookie stole the show..............how cute is this???

Dexter was chosen as the best looking Male in the show

Brindy tries to have a sip of champagne..........it's thirsty work when you are this good looking!

And here she is....TOP DOG in the show.........PEACHES

I can’t tell you how much fun we all had at this annual event and congratulations to the hard working volunteers and organizors. The TCSPCA is the oldest and most established animal welfare organization in the Turks & Caicos Islands. It was established in 1998 and is entirely dependant on donations. So PLEASE do what you can to help this worthy cause.

Keep those tails a waggin’ !

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Baby Hummingbird

Posted on June 29, 2011 by marta

Peaked in the nest today and surprise, surprise, there it was, a tiny little hummingbird has hatched.

The other egg is still waiting to hatch and the mother hummingbird still sits on the nest most of the time .

Here's the little one with his beak wide open hoping for some food.

The mother hummingbird tending to her young.

Bahama Woodstar hatchling.

Tiny newborn hummingbird.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Frogs and Lizards

Posted on June 14, 2011 by marta

An anole lizard takes a closer look at Barry's forehead

Hanging laundry out back can be hazardous as Barry found out the other day………..an anole lizard took a flying leap and landed on his forehead. Not quite sure what the little fella was looking for!! Of course he came looking for me to get some photos. I mean how often does something like this happen?

More exploration of Barry's head

And for our entertainment today at Harbour Club Villas……….well, there’s a bit of a story here. We’ve been getting lots of rain and hearing frogs. So Barry decided to become a frog whisperer and call or croak to them. The frogs have been croaking back!!! The other night we heard a frog right outside our bedroom window somewhere in the bush. It was quiet for about 45 mins and Barry asked me if I wanted him to call the frog. Of course I said yes, he did and, THE FROG ANSWERED HIM BACK. I haven’t laughed so much in a while as we went through this excercise quite a few times and each time the frog answered. Soooooo, this morning, Barry is in the shower when he calls me to bring the camera.

This morning a frog dropped by while Barry was having a shower

Barry must have charmed her last night with his croaking so she decided to come through the “whirly bird” fan above the shower to find her “handsome prince” What a surprise she received and Barry too. He thought it was a crab initially and then it jumped almost landing on him. More photos of course and then Mike came up to lend a hand in the capture and release.

Mike tries to capture and release the little frog

This little frog was really fast and a great jumper

Frog whisperer Barry's photo.........great shot and angle!!

I just love the frog's legs.........suction cups for holding onto slippery wet shower stall tiles

Ready to be let go in the bush....look at the suction cup like ends on its feet!

Ready to hop away from this nerve racking experience!!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Hummingbird Update

Posted on June 12, 2011 by marta

Here she is.....nest all finished and ready to lay her eggs.

All during this last week, our little hummingbird mama has been soooo busy building her nest. It has grown quite substantially (see my earlier blog as she began building her nest). For the first several days we had consistent rain but that didn’t stop her as she flew in and out with soft bits of tree bark and glued her nest together with spider webs.

Note she has some fluff in her beak to line the nest with some softness.

Clever little bird, she camouflaged her nest well and built it into a cactus branch. This is another of Mike's super photos...look at the colours on the tail feathers!!

A closer look at those spectacular colours on her tailfeathers

Two days ago when I took a look inside the nest, the Bahama Woodstar hummingbird had laid a tiny egg. Apparently it will take 16 to 18 days to incubate but I’m thinking she will be laying another egg soon. So far though, there’s only the one.

One little egg in the nest ..... will she lay another?

She spends lots of time sitting on the egg in her nest. We walk past here so many times during the day so she must be getting used to the traffic.

Hummingbirds build an amazing, well constructed nest that is a bit more than an inch or so in diameter and probably two inches high so that the eggs are secure. It is round, open, and made of soft woolly material similar to cotton, camouflaged on the outside with tiny pieces of bark . We have some wild cotton here at Harbour Club so she has probably found some of that to line her nest with. They may choose a variety of sites from two feet to twelve feet from the ground. Two rather elongated white eggs are generally laid so we are now waiting for the second egg to appear.

You can see a closer view of the egg in the hummingbird's nest

: Nesting hummingbird hidden in the cactus tree close by our walkway to our house at Harbour Club Villas

Much excitement with watching and photographing this little hummingbird! Watch for more as hopefully the babies will hatch in a few weeks. I’m also watching a Gray Kingbird nest which today has four eggs in it. When I first saw it, there were just two but these birds lay up to five eggs….so we’ll see. But this will be for another post.

Happy birding and birdwatching!!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Whale Shark

Posted on May 27, 2011 by marta

This is an incredible shot Mickey! Gives you some perspective on sizes.

First of all, my thanks to Mickey and Jayne of Flamingo Divers for allowing me to share these amazing and spectacular photos with you.

The whale shark was spotted in shallow water as Flamingo Divers headed towards their dive site. They slipped into the water and snorkeled with this magnificent creature.

: Wow………what a sight! A whale shark in the Sandbore Channel.

Jayne tells us “I’ve seen one about 6 years ago – a fleeting glance as it passed over head. Mickey’s never seen one before. This one was great as we got to snorkel with it in shallow water, and it swam circles around and through our group! Loved it!

That's "little" Mickey swimming along to get up close to the whale shark. Thanks Paul for this great shot!

Look how tiny Mickey is as he swims along to get up close to the whale shark. Thanks Dave for this great shot!

The whale shark is the largest fish in the sea with an average length of about 26ft . It’s actually not a whale but a shark and it is quite different than most other sharks in the way that it eats. It has a very large mouth in front, a big square head and distinctive coloring. They have little eyes, big gills, six ridges along their backs and pale white dots evenly spread about the body with a white belly.

Face to face with the gentle giant of the seas.

Even though it is so huge, the whale shark does not pose significant danger to humans. They are docile fish and sometimes will allow swimmers to hitch a ride (not recommended as these are wild animals). Whale sharks are actually quite gentle, can play with divers and thus you can swim with this giant fish without risk. Keep out of the way of the shark’s large tail fin though!

Close up view of feeding time.

Our wedding couple along with friends have been diving with Mickey and Jayne at Flamingo Divers for a full two weeks now. They were hoping to see a whale shark. No whale shark but huge amounts of other sharks on almost every dive. Our bride and groom did take time out for their wedding though! (see my previous post)

We hope you’ll join Mickey and Jayne and Flamingo Divers as they guide you through some spectacular dive sites and the reefs of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Grab your dive buddy and book your dive adventure today…..Call or email Flamingo Divers at Toll Free: 1 800-204-9282 or greatdiving@flamingodivers.com You can also contact me to arrange all your diving needs too.

Marta

http://www.diving.tc

A Beach of Our Own

Posted on May 8, 2011 by marta

A little beach all to ourselves on a pre Mother's Day cruise on Saturday afternoon.

A bit of a late start but we headed out of our little Marina at Harbour Club Villas to our own little piece of beach paradise shared only with the local “introduced” iguana population (I saw two) and a cruising sting ray.

We moored the boat right off the little beach on Bay Cay

We decided to celebrate Mother’s Day a day early. The water was warm as I headed down the beach through the water to explore the rocks at the far end. The reflections were great and I came up with this photo of the boat moored in some pretty shallow waters right off the beach.

Play time on our own beach as I scrambled over the rocks taking photos.

The rock iguanas were too fast for me today! You can see Five Cays on the horizon looking towards the Shipyards and Sapodilla Bay beyond.

A surprise visitor cruised by between the two guys and close to the boat.

A friendly Stingray cruised along in the shallows, came right between the guys. Luckily I was on the boat at the time and managed to get a few photos.

Shows you how close to the boat it came and really close to the boys.

Late afternoon and the sun is sinking lower in the sky creating a glistening and sparkling effect on the water.

The joy of afternoons like this one……….idyllic tropic scenery, good friends, a beer or two, or three or more, playtime on a deserted little beach, calm waters and soft sand, always hundreds of things to photograph and of course celebrating Mother’s Day.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Pelicans in formation

Posted on May 6, 2011 by marta

One of my favourite photos.............such grace and perfectly synchronized as these pelicans take to the air

Storm Clouds and Potcakes

Posted on April 17, 2011 by marta

Watching the dark clouds roll in over the south west tip of Provo on Sunday afternoon

A beautiful Sunday afternoon floating around in Taylor Bay. We watched the very dark clouds gathering and creating a spectacular sky over towards the south west point of the island but nothing to worry about as they appeared to be moving off towards West Caicos.

The water was lovely and warm and look at that backdrop.......spectacular!

Shallow Taylor Bay and the boat riding at anchor in about two feet of water.

Turtle Rock peeking out right off the boat engines. There was a clear gap right over Turtle Rock and you could see the bands of heavy rain.

This little potcake was loving playing with a bottle cap.....she's waiting to be adopted????

This little potcake was loving playing in the sand at Taylor Bay.....she's waiting to be adopted????

Please contact Jane at Potcake Place if you can help in any way. www.potcakeplace.com

They are in need of forever homes for these adorable, loyal and loving potcakes. Here’s what you can do to help: Make a donation as they rely on donations to foster the puppies. Be a courier and take a pup to their new home or adopt a pup. Remember, every little bit helps……dog food, collars, shampoo, treats, toys and flight bags to transport puppies etc. are always in need!!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Anole Cocktail Hour

Posted on March 28, 2011 by marta

A sunset drink with our friendly little Anole Lizard

We went up on the hill overlooking our Marina at Harbour Club Villas for sunset cocktails and were joined by our friendly little Anole Lizard. He’s joined us before but I only managed to get one photo. Well this time he decided to stay a while and enjoyed licking the beads of moisture off my Corona beer.

A good close up of his little tongue licking the bottle.

He wasn't the least bit afraid as he sampled the cold beads of sweat on the bottle

He was pretty thirsty but it gave me a chance to get some good photos.

It was fun just sitting watching him as the sun started to set……….a great way to end a busy day!

Cheers!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

MyTurksAndCaicosBlog.com

Turks and Caicos Vacation, Travel, Fishing, and Diving

Category Archives: Animals

TCSPCA Dog Show Part 2

2011 TCSPCA Dog Show

Baby Hummingbird

Frogs and Lizards

Hummingbird Update

Whale Shark

A Beach of Our Own

Pelicans in formation

Storm Clouds and Potcakes

Anole Cocktail Hour