Hummingbird Rescue

Posted on August 8, 2015 by marta

Momma hummingbird feeding her two new little ones

Harbour Club Villas and Marina have a new little guest……..a Bahamas Woodstar hummingbird has built a nest in one of our Bridal Bouquet plants. The nest has been battered by the strong winds and the lower leaf supporting the nest is slowly starting to die.

Perching on her nest to feed the babies that were just hatched a day ago.

The yellow beak of one of the two little hummingbird in the nest lined with soft hairs and fibres.

Bridal bouquet showing how off kilter the nest is.

The yellowing leaf is supporting most of the nest but it’s not going to hold for sure until the birds are ready to fly.

The two little hatchling hummingbirds are at the mother’s tail and she will have to add more to her nest to shore it up so that the babies don’t fall out.

Another hummingbird nest at Harbour Club Villas…..what a work of art!

Looking down into the nest to see the little hummingbirds.

Here are the two little hummingbirds sleeping in their soft nursery.

A photo showing the sloping angle of the nest

Our little grandson peaks into the nest to see the new hatchlings

I was really worried about the little birds falling out of the nest as it seemed to be leaning really far on the one side. The nest was only woven around one leaf that was dying. I asked our gardener to try and tie up the nest so that it would last for about three more weeks.

Sturdy twigs on either side of the nest adding support and safety for the hatchlings.

I came back to find two sturdy branches tied around and supporting the nest…perfect! Mama hummingbird is now sitting upright on the nest and the little ones are safe and secure in the newly shored-up nest.

She seems to be enjoying her newly supported nest.

Collecting nectar for the babies

Minute cottonball puffs have been added to the nest

Here’s a close up of the baby hummers

Mama flies in to feed the little ones

Taking a break, the little hummingbird perches on a branch.

Here are the babies a week later and growing so fast

Two open little beaks just waiting to be fed

Mama bird’s favourite perch on a flowering ixora bush.

Flying in for a landing on her perch to see if all’s clear……….she knows I’m there

More repairs as we have to pull the bridal bouquet branch up under the eaves

More repairs …….. the leaning bridal bouquet branch was catching the full on sunshine and I could see that the baby hummingbirds were suffering the heat onslaught. We had to tie it up using the villa louvers to pull the branch back into the shade up under the eaves.

Feeding her hungry crew.

The mother hummingbird drinks nectar and catches bugs which she regurgitates into a slurry substance the baby hummingbirds can digest. This mixture is fed to the baby hummingbirds approximately every twenty minutes. She insert her beak all the way down into the mouths of the baby hummingbirds.

Peaking out of the nest with beak wide open.

When a mother hummingbird comes to feed the baby hummingbirds, the baby hummingbirds feel the wind and vibrations from the wings of their mother and lift their little heads up and open their mouths.

Close up of the nestlings as they wait for mama.

With two repairs to her nest, we are hoping all will hold together until the baby hummingbirds are ready to fly.

The mama hummingbird and one of her favourite perches in a bougainvillea that’s near the nest.

At six days old they have the startings of feathers and hungry all the time.

The little hummingbirds are grow fast and feeding is approximately every 20 minutes or so.

Hummingbirds lap up the nectar with their long slender tongues.

Two weeks old and they have fluffy feathers.

Yes, they projectile poop lifting their bums out of the nest so as not to dirty it.

See how long her tongue is?

There’s a greenish tinge to their feathers and they are looking more like hummingbirds.

One of the little guys perches at the edge of the nest.

Enjoying a little scratch as she perches on the bougainvillea branch.

Three weeks old and almost ready to fly.

The babies grip the nest with their claws so that they don’t fall out.

Now you can see the iridescent green on their feathers

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Evening Stroll at Harbour Club Villas

Posted on March 25, 2015 by marta

Zenaida Dove perches on the back stone wall by the pool area at Harbour Club Villas

A beautiful, still and calm evening for a stroll around Harbour Club’s grounds and down to the Marina. An over abundance of opportunities as I wander around taking photos of the flowering plants, animals and sunset views. Here’s a selection and I hope you enjoy seeing them.

The pool at Harbour Club Villas in the late afternoon. Look at the flowering desert rose.

A perfect bridal bouquet of orange island honeysuckle favoured by the hummingbirds.

Pesky woodpecker that’s drilling holes in our coconut palms…….he’s a yellow bellied sapsucker.

Cankyberry, a species of nightshade found on our islands with its sharp prickles.

This little anole lizard was perched high on my frangipani licking I don’t know what off the budding flowers.

A bright yellow spiny orb weaver. Quite pretty really even though I don’t really like spiders.

Neighbours out for an evening sail coming in to the Marina at dusk.

This little anole was curious and posed for the camera.

The sunset glow of golden colours is so amazing looking towards Five Cays from Harbour Club Villas and Marina

Aqua TCI divers boat gently rides out the evening in the Marina, ready and waiting for another great dive day in the waters of Provo.

All this in a casual evening stroll around Harbour Club Villas and Marina. Love the peaceful quiet as the sun sets over our islands.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

South West Harbour Bluff

Posted on January 27, 2015 by marta

Glorious wild sea island cotton along one stretch of the road to South West Bluff and Osprey Rock

A hot sunny day and a trip out to South West Harbour Bluff with visiting friends and some guests staying at Harbour Club Villas. On the road out, we came across some sea island cotton growing wild alongside the road. The cotton had popped and was waving in the wind. We spotted some flowers too…………yellow and delicate.

A beautiful cotton flower amongst all the white cotton pods

On top of the bluff looking towards Bonefish Point

Some of us waded through the water to the cave and climbed up the ladder and out onto the bluff. What a view. Others stayed on the beach enjoying a cold beer.

Perfect day for a cold beer and looking out over the ocean.

Inscriptions from shipwrecked sailors are found on top of the bluff.

Osprey nest with two young is perched on top of Osprey Rock

Chitons attached to the rocks are impossible to pry off

View after climbing up the ladder at Pirates Cave and out on top of the bluff.

Sweet little hummingbird nestlings overlooking the beach.

The mama bird kept buzzing us and we found this nest in the overhanging bush.

Lovely day, wonderful company and so many sights to see. One of the most beautiful parts of Provo that is great for taking photos and walking along the beach out to Bonefish Point.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Flora and Fauna at Harbour Club Villas

Posted on November 14, 2014 by marta

An anole lizard wards off visitors on Harbour Club Villas’ office deck.

Another week of photographing some of the critters wandering through the gardens at Harbour Club Villas along with our beautiful wild orchids that have just started to bloom. I came home the other day to this anole lizard guarding our deck. He wasn’t too pleased to see me but did pose long enough for me to snap a photo or two.

Cute anole and he had the most gorgeous colours on top of his little head.

A pretty shell house for this little hermit crab……..he didn’t want to go to the pool!

We often find hermit crabs also know locally as soldier crabs ambling on through. Sometimes we even help them by giving them a choice of a new home. There’s also been some strange houses such as PVC pipe, an old film canister and basically they’ll use whatever they can find in the moment. This one had a very pretty shell.

We often find hermit crabs and I’m sure I’ve photographed many of them.

Here’s a gorgeous Encyclia Altissima wild orchid.

The wild orchids are blooming all over Providenciales. Found our first Encyclia Altissima orchid today just starting to bloom and what a beautiful scent they have.

A cluster of wild orchids in the bush by Harbour Club Villas

A Cuban tree frog ……….. look at those suction pads.

This little Cuban tree frog is not native to the Turks and Caicos Islands but they are spreading rapidly throughout.

Pretty amazing to see how far they can jump!

A yellow bellied sap sucker………this is a new bird for me and really exciting to see.

Here he is pecking holes in our coconut palms.

A row of old holes and then the new ones.

It was thrilling to catch sight of and photograph the yellow bellied sap sucker. Definitely not easy to do as they are very shy birds and hard to get a photo of them.

Hoping we can show you some of the local critters around Harbour Club Villas…lots of birds, lizards, geckos and some beautiful flowering plants and shrubs.

Marta

Bananaquits Bath Time

Posted on August 15, 2014 by marta

Bananaquit enjoying the water droplets.

Harbour Club Villas has quite a few birds now and this is an never ending source of photos for me. Another hot, sunny day on island and so I sprayed down our pepper and tomato plants. Within minutes all kinds of birds showed up to enjoy fluttering about in the droplets on the small palms and Washingtonians. They would fluff up their feathers to expose bare skin and rapidly flick their wings in the droplets collected on the fronds. Tough to try and get photos that are in focus because they were moving so fast. Here’s a selection of bananaquit photos.

A Washingtonian palm frond makes a perfect bird bath.

A lot of hopping about from frond to frond

Two little bananaquits enjoying a bath on a hot Provo day

Love this photo of a bananaquit on a palm frond

Fluttering wings picking up water droplets

A natural bird bath

Providenciales has numerous birds and the bananaquit is perhaps one of the more colourful small birds. I love to watch them especially around Harbour Club Villas pool area where many of our guests and bird watching guests can sit, enjoy and capture them in their photographs.

Call us for more information.

Marta

Birds at Harbour Club Villas

Posted on March 11, 2014 by marta

A beautiful Bahama Woodstar hummingbirds flies to the Dwarf Poinciana flowers for nectar.

Activity around the pool at Harbour Club Villas has been amazing. I sit there often trying to capture all our birds coming in to feed from the variety of flowering plants. Our villa guests too are taking photos of the Hummingbirds and Bananaquits that are always there twittering and flying from perch to perch. Our resident Green Heron often comes for drinks and preens himself by the pool. He’ll squawk at you if he doesn’t like you enjoying “his” private pool!! We have Mourning Doves that peck at the gravel under the neem trees at the top of the driveway. They must be finding food there and also seen this week was the Northern Mockingbird.

Pretty little bananaquit sitting in our Tamarind tree…see the fruit…….found in my favourite Worcestershire Sauce.

We see Mourning Doves every day pecking at something underneath the neem trees.

The Northern Mockingbird is locally called “Preacher Bird”

Our resident Green Heron preening and grooming by what he thinks is his own private swimming pool!

The Island Honeysuckle attracts many birds to our pool area at Harbour Club Villas.

My first sighting of a Cuban Crow in one of our Palm trees……uncommon to see on Provo and has a bizarre gobbling cackle which is how I tracked him down at the villas.

A baby Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher just learning to fly……….so cute!

The Gray Kingbird comes to the Turks and Caicos to breed in the summertime.

The American Kestrel known as Sparrowhawk is commonly seen here year round.

The Yellow Warbler male has reddish brown streaks and lives and breeds in the Turks and Caicos year round.

And just because I love them so much, another photo of the Bahama Woodstar hummingbird that guests can watch daily by the pool at Harbour Club Villas.

Birdwatchers have so many birds they can see when on holiday and staying at Harbour Club Villas. The surrounding area has other water birds as well so have those cameras ready!

Harbour Club Villas and Marina

Posted on January 12, 2014 by marta

Our little piece of paradise overlooking Flamingo Lake and our Marina at Cooper Jack.

Harbour Club Villas and Marina……a gem of a place on the South Side of Provo with Flamingo Lake on one side and our Marina leading out to beautiful Cooper Jack Bay on the other. It’s a new year and past time to tell you a little about our piece of paradise, our location, surrounding area and all the beautiful out of the way spots and things you will find when staying with us.

A kite cam view of our six rental villas. Thank you to our neighbors Polly and Byron for this sensational photo.

Fifteen years ago, we built six , one bedroom villas overlooking the lake on 2.2 acres in an area that is called Turtle Tail. It is a unique place to call home while visiting Providenciales. A place where you can look out sometimes and see bonefish tailing, watch the hummingbirds, doves, bananaquits and a green heron or two that drops by the pool daily for a drink and squawks at you if you intrude on his space. A walk down into the marina and you are greeted by our neighbour’s two potcakes, Effie and Gemma who love coming by for threats from our guests. Can you believe that our guests actually bring treats, and premium cuts of meat with them to feed these two dogs?

A perfectly still, calm day….we call it a French Cay day.

Take out our complimentary kayaks and spend a few hours paddling close to the shore in a foot or two of water exploring the hidden coves, Delou’s beaches and even some of the small cays to see the iguanas and snorkel.

A bird’s eye view of the lake, villas, marina and channel out to Cooper Jack Bight

Delou’s beaches across the channel and accessible by our complimentary kayaks

Many of our guests take out the kayaks and explore the shoreline…..beautiful little coves and tidal beaches, some coral heads to snorkel and some of the little cays have green iguanas. A delightful way to spend an afternoon on a beach just made for two.

Out kayaking making for one of the cays.

Visit one of the little cays with the kayaks and see our local iguanas.

One of the tiny tidal coves along the shore line

Kayak on Delou’s beach and Cooper Jack Bight

We have scuba dive boats just waiting to take you out to West Caicos or French Cay

Walk down to the Marina in the evenings and here’s where you will find all the dive operators….Flamingo Divers, Ocean Vibes, Caicos Adventures, Provo Turtle Divers and Jodi, the Snuba lady too. Our marina is the shortest distance to the amazing dive sites at West Caicos and French Cay. We’ll help you book some scuba diving, snorkeling or snuba so just let us know what you’d like to see and do.

Here’s Snuba TCI heading off for a wonderful day of snuba and snorkeling.

I’ve spent many hours on this small beach.

We have gorgeous sunsets which you can enjoy from the Marina

Flamingo Lake and one of our guests bonefishing

Bonefishermen love staying at our villas. All they have to do is walk out their villa door and be bonefishing in the lake within minutes. Sometimes you can even see the bonefish tailing from the villas. There are several areas where you can wade the flats too.

Bonefish churning up the lake waters at sunset.

Reflections on Flamingo Lake right by our villas.

Sunset and a flamingo on Flamingo Lake with Harbour Club Villas in the background.

A beautiful early morning calmness on the lake.

A Reddish Eagret looking for fish in Flamingo Lake.

Birdwatchers, birders and wild life lovers will enjoy watching the many water birds that fly in to enjoy the lake. As you walk from Harbour Club Villas along the Lake and Juba Salina, you’ll see all kinds of Herons, ducks and even flamingos.

Often we see small groups of Flamingos

Taking a look at the beautiful fishing flat close to Harbour Club Villas

Bonefishing on the flats of the south side of Provo.

Juba Salina is further down Turtle Tail and often you’ll see flamingos down this way.

Marta’s little beach or Dog beach at sunset….it’s tucked away so you’ll have to ask me where it is!!

This celebrity’s mansion overlooks the waters of the south side just down the road from the villas.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these photos of the south shore line close by Harbour Club Villas. It’s a wondrous area that’s quiet and tranquil, great for fishing, bonefishing, kayaking, walking and bird watching. For those that want to scuba dive, we are available to make the arrangements for you. Come and enjoy our piece of paradise……..the south side of Provo.

Marta

www.harbourclubvillas.com

Pintails on Flamingo Lake

Posted on January 3, 2014 by marta

Sunset over Flamingo Lake and three pintails

: The sun was setting as the ducks swam in the lake.

: Beautiful White-Cheeked Pintails swimming and feeding on Flamingo Lake

: A beautiful evening for a cruise on Flamingo Lake by Harbour Club Villas

Evenings at the lake by Harbour Club Villas brings out all kinds of water birds. This evening, three pintails enjoyed their cruise on the lake.

Marta

www.harbourclubvillas.com

Tamarind Tree at Harbour Club Villas

Posted on August 21, 2013 by marta

A glorious sight.........Harbour Club's tamarind tree in full bloom.

The Tamarind tree apparently was brought to the Caribbean from Africa in the early seventeenth century. Our tree is relatively small at about 18 feet but makes for easy gathering of the fruits. It was originally given to us as a two foot tall plant and has been growing ever since. I never even knew what it was until we started giving the fruit away. I was shown how to crack the shell and OMG …….. a childhood remembrance of that taste overwhelmed me. WOW, it had to have been either in St. Vincent or Malaysia. We were little children enjoying the sweet-sour pucker your mouth taste.

Tamarind branches loaded down with tamarind fruits

Tamarinds hanging from the tree and flowers.

The tamarind has beautiful and delicate orchid like flowers.

Tamarind flowers look somewhat like orchids, are mainly yellow and elongated with orange or red streaks. The buds are pink and these pink sepals are lost when the flower blooms.

The pretty yellow and orangey-red flowers of the tamarind tree.

Mature tamarinds have brittle shells and when you apply gentle pressure, the shell will crack to expose a brownish fruit.

The tamarind is best described as sweet and sour in taste and is high in acid, sugar, B vitamins and oddly enough for a fruit, calcium. Young tamarind fruits have hard green pulp that is often too sour to eat but these fruits are often used as a component of savory dishes. As tamarinds mature, the flesh pulp turns brown to reddish-brown. The skin turns hard and forms into a brown shell that is brittle. The ripe fruit look like a beanlike pod with bulging areas and a slight curve. Inside is a soft pulp around hard seeds. A few strands of fiber extend from the stalk around the pulp covered seeds.

Crack the outer shell of the tamarind to expose the brown pulp surrounding an inner seed.

Take a ripe tamarind, crack the shell and peel back the pieces. You will see a few fibers extending from the stalk that help to hold everything together. The fruit has multiple small bulges and each bulge is a seed. Bite down just after the first seed and pull away. A taste sensation will fill your mouth as you suck and scrape the pulp off the seed with your teeth and spit the seed out. Oh so sour but with lots of sweetness too!!

The seeds of the tamarind are somewhat flattened, and a beautiful glossy brown......would be lovely for jewellery!

Tamarinds can be eaten at different stages with the mature fruit being used to make jam, juice, candies, desserts, ice-cream and it is often used in dishes as a seasoning. I have made a delicious chutney from fresh tamarinds and mangoes to go with my curry. I have tasted a delicious tamarind drink made in a similar way to lemonade; fruit/juice, sugar and water. Some recipes include cinnamon and other spices. The wood of the tamarind tree is sometimes used to make furniture and wood flooring. The seeds are used to produce pectin for use in the manufacture of jams and jellies and sometimes the leaves and fruits are used for various medical applications, dying of clothing and other processes and for cleaning silver and copper.

Flowers and fruit blossoming and fruiting all at once.

A bananaquit preens in the shade of our tamarind tree.

Well, I’m thinking it’s time for a cold drink………………maybe I’ll just pick some tamarinds and get busy making some juice!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

A Beautiful Leeward Afternoon

Posted on August 8, 2013 by marta

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.