Jim Hill Nature Walk

Posted on January 29, 2016 by marta

Jim Hill view towards Five Cays…….such calm turquoise waters today.

What an awesome day it was today. One look at that turquoise, flat calm water and a quick trip up Jim Hill ended up being a good two hours. There was an abundance of glorious wild flowers in full bloom after the rains of last week. The Turks and Caicos Islands are blessed with so much natural beauty.

The wispy, dried and twig like Broom Brush has undergone a transformation and now has white delicate flowers.

Most of the year, the Broom Brush goes un noticed as it looks withered and dry most of the time. The rains of last week created the greening of the branches and an abundance of delicate white flowers. The Broom Brush is endemic to the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas.

Jacquemontia Havanensis is a twining vine and the flowers on this one had pretty pink highlights.

Many of the shrubs were covered with this little vine with star shaped flowers. Many were white but there are variations with pink and light blue colours.

I love the scent of the Bahama Strong Back which is similar to jasmine.

This shrub provides food for birds and insects and the fragrant flowers are a source of nectar for butterflies and the Bahama Woodstar Hummingbirds found in the Turks and Caicos. And when you boil the twigs and leaves making it into a tea, it relieves back pain and has medicinal properties. I’ve heard it is good for tummy problems too.

This Old Man Cactus is about to burst out with a beautiful flower……..it generally blooms at night.

Blooms are extraordinary…….satin like and with a cloying scent.

The Old Man Cactus flower is attractive to insects and butterflies and its bright red fruit is loved by our local birds.

The Wild Senna has beautiful bright yellow flowers.

The Candlewood when not flowering looks like a miniature holly bush.

The Candlewood has bright spikey orange flowers with four longer stems that look like candles, thus the name.

Encyclia Altissima, our beautiful wild orchid

I don’t know what this is but it was a pretty little daisy like weed.

Just love this one with its delicate seeds and turquoise sea background.

Sea Sage has to be one of my favourites with its multi pink and yellow cluster flowers.

Heading down Jim Hill towards the marina and Harbour Club Villas.

How I love the Wild Passionflower vine and this one was in full bloom….. check out the little caterpillar.

A little snail on the Sea Grape bush.

Pretty butterfly hovers above the passion vine.

The lovely Melochia with its’ pinkish purple flowers

A beautiful day, a wonderful photographic excursion to enjoy our local wildflowers.

Look around you as you enjoy our beautiful by nature islands.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Old Man Cactus Flower

Posted on April 27, 2014 by marta

Old Man Cactus with flower bud ready to blossom.

Caught sight of this the other day and made a point of returning at night to try and catch some photos of the flower. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried over the years and this is only the second time I’ve seen the cactus flower. The Old Man Cactus (local name) is also named the Bahama Dildo. It only flowers at night and has fragrant satiny white flowers. Here’s a selection of photos taken on the hill at Harbour Club Villas and Marina.

What a gorgeous looking flower with satin like petals.

The flower attracts butterflies and other insects and there’s one in this photo….a weevil of some kind

Tufts of white hairy material that looks like an old man’s beard hence the name.

Fragrant and a favorite source of nectar for butterflies and insects.

The wool is often gathered by birds as it makes an ideal nesting material.

The Dildo Cactus (Cephalocereus millspaughii) is the most common cactus found in the Turks & Caicos.

A type of weevil feeding on the cactus flower.

I loved seeing this spectacular flower but I must say it was tricky to photograph in the dark. I’m hoping you too will get a chance to see one in bloom. Well worth it though.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Turks Head Cactus Pods

Posted on July 8, 2013 by marta

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

Old Man Cactus

Posted on July 29, 2012 by marta

The most common cactus found in the Turks and Caicos Islands is the Dildo Cactus more locally known as Old Man Cactus

Take a look around you in our local bush and frequently you will see this spectacular cactus. The Dildo Cactus with its rather suggestive name is locally called the Old Man Cactus and is probably the most commonly found cactus in the islands.

The tips of the branches are sporting tufts of a white hairy substance resembling an old man's beard

The Bahama Dildo cactus has long tubular branches ribbed with from eight to 12 sections bordered by sharp spines. Often the tips are covered with a fine white wool resembling an old man’s beard hence the local name…Old Man Cactus. This white wool is a favourite for nesting material and was used by my recent humming bird when building her nest.

Flower bud forming on the cactus

Bahama Dildo flower bud just about to open

An exotic, white flower and I think it only blooms at night.

The white flowers of the Bahama Dildo Cactus attracts butterflies as well as insects searching for nectar. The bright red fruit is sweet and juicy and is eaten by our local birds which they end up depositing complete with seeds and fertilizer to begin the cycle again.

The lushious, red fruit of the cactus is a favourite snack of our birds.

The Bahama Dildo cactus bearing fruit.

Glorious Provo sunset with an Old Man Cactus towering up to the blazing orange skies

Dildo cactus with a turquoise ocean backdrop

Tip of a cactus branch with tufts of white silky hair

Look to the hills on Provo's south shore paradise and you'll find many Old Man Cacti.

Our landscape is dotted by these spectacular looking cacti. I must say, I’ve found it difficult to capture the Old Man Cactus in flower but I keep trying. Most of my photos are taken at Harbour Club Villas and the south shores and I’m constantly adding to my photo library.

Marta

http://www.harbourbourclubvillas.com

Turks Head Cactus

Posted on June 23, 2011 by marta

Turks Head Cactus has a seed pod that is just like a mini rosy red apple.

The recent rains have revived all the plants, bushes and everything is blooming like crazy including my Turks Head cacti.

This one is flowering and fruiting at the same time.

A close up of the pretty delicate looking flower of the Turks Head Cactus

The cap of the Turks Head cactus with budding flowers just starting to pop up.

Looks like one of the numerous lizards at Harbour Club has eated part of the seed pod.

This particular young Turks Head is producing flowers and seed pods like crazy.

This is my mature Turks Head cactus....I'm thinking it has to be at least 25 years old.

I love these cacti……….hope you enjoy the selection of photos.

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

Starfish Flower

Posted on October 12, 2010 by marta

This has to be one of the most unique and strange looking flowers I've ever seen.

I’m not sure where I got a cutting for this cactus like plant and was amazed one day to see a spectacular flower appear. It is called Stapelia Gigantea or Starfish Flower.

The starfish-shaped flower of the Stapelia Gigantea is a subdued yellow covered by miniature purple hairs.

The flowers can be 10 to 16 inches across and are fleshy and shaped like five pointed stars. The interesting thing about this plant is the way pollination occurs.

The center of the flower is fleshy and exudes a horrid smell!!

The flowers are known for their foul smell which resembles the odour of rotting meat. The fine hairs, colouration and surface mimic decaying animal matter and attract mostly flies, which act as pollinators. Before I knew the name of this plant, I called it the “shit” plant but it is also known as Carrion or Toad plant.

Stapelia Gigantea blooming at Harbour Club Villas

This Starfish Flower grows well in direct sunlight and has an interesting bud shape which opens to show a beautiful star like flower with tapering ends.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Opuntia Cactus

Posted on May 14, 2010 by marta

Beautiful yellow blooms on an Opuntia Cactus at Harbour Club Villas

All this dry weather and no rain has been ideal for our large Opuntia Cactus also known as Prickly Pear Cactus. It is blooming to beat the band with large bright yellow flowers.

A dried Almond leaf reveals two lizard or anole eggs.

A dried almond leaf was caught up in the spikes by the flower I wanted to take a picture of. I gently pulled it out of the way and discovered two eggs hidden inside the curled up leaf. I can’t tell whether they are anole eggs or those of the curly tailed lizard.

Close up of the centre of the Opuntia Cactus flower

Take time out during your day to see some of the natural beauty around you!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Turks Head Cactus

Posted on September 8, 2009 by marta

My small Turks Head Cactus is blooming and throwing off seed pods like crazy!

I can’t believe all the seed pods on my Turks Head Cactus……all shaped like peppers but in a rosy pink colour. This little Anole lizard was looking to eat a few. I believe they do eat them along with the birds. Actually, I ate one and they are quite tasty.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

North West Point Walk

Posted on June 24, 2009 by marta

The road was washed out in two spots……………quite deep too but we pushed on through to explore and find this new beach.

Yesterday we set off to explore a beach along the North West Point coast line that we’ve never been to but had heard about from some of our recent Harbour Club Villas guests. We had turned around the day before as it was getting dark and we didn’t know how deep the washed out part of the road was.

Wow! A spectacular rocky shoreline with powdery sand beaches

This stretch of beach is between the North West Point and Malcolm Roads beach and we basically walked the beach in both directions. There are some great dive sites off this beach and two of them are named Shark Hotel and Black Coral Forest.

Typical vegetation of the area including this beautiful Cactus Tree just starting to bloom.

Typical vegetation of the area including this beautiful Cactus Tree, Consolea nashii, ( locally called horse pear) just starting to bloom.

We watched a pelican being harrassed by sea gulls as it skimmed and dove into the water catching fish. The gulls would literally sit on top of the pelican in hopes of stealing a tasty morsel of fish.

I’m not sure how well you can make this out but the seagull was dancing on the pelicans head

I’ll post more tomorrow as we had such a great time seeing this part of Provo. It was our first trip out here and I’m sure we’ll return many more times.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

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Turks and Caicos Vacation, Travel, Fishing, and Diving

Category Archives: Cactus

Jim Hill Nature Walk

Old Man Cactus Flower

Turks Head Cactus Pods

Old Man Cactus

Turks Head Cactus

Hummingbird Update

Starfish Flower

Opuntia Cactus

Turks Head Cactus

North West Point Walk