Tag Archives: frog

Flora and Fauna at Harbour Club Villas

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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.

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

 

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Pretty amazing to see how far they can jump!

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

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Here he is pecking holes in our coconut palms.

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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

Tree Frogs in Our Cisterns

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Croaking frogs caught in our cisterns........noisy especially when trying to sleep!!

Croaking frogs caught in our cisterns........noisy especially when trying to sleep!!

We’ve been hearing frogs croaking at night and yes, two of them managed to get into the cistern under our house. Yesterday, we caught another one that had taken up residence in the cistern under Harbour Club’s gazebo at the pool.

We sent Mike down into the cistern today to capture the little frog........I'm hoping there isn't a mass of froglets down there!!!

Last night, we opened the trap door to the cistern while watching TV. We had read that frogs are attracted to light and we hoped the two frogs would emerge into the living room……umm, I wasn’t too keen on this idea with visions in my head of chasing a fast hopping frog around our living room. Well, Mike peeked around the recliner to find one of the frogs sitting on the trap door ledge which he quickly caught in our pool net.

Here's this mornings tree frog caught in the pool net.

Here's this mornings tree frog caught in the pool net.

We sent Mike down into our cistern this morning to catch the last remaining frog. He was well hidden up in the pipes but Mike managed to catch him.

Mike frees the small tree frog and we let him go into the bushes and shrubs by one of the villas.

Mike frees the small tree frog and we let him go into the bushes and shrubs by one of the villas.

Such pretty camouflage colorations on this little tree frog.

Such pretty camouflage colorations on this little tree frog.

Note the suction type pads which enable these frogs to glom onto cistern walls ?? etc

Note the suction type pads which enable these frogs to glom onto cistern walls ?? etc

I’m hoping there weren’t too many tadpoles down in the cistern waters…….we did add bleach this morning.

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

Frogs and Lizards

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

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

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

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

Mike tries to capture and release the little frog

This little frog was really fast and a great jumper

This little frog was really fast and a great jumper

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

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

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 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!!

Ready to hop away from this nerve racking experience!!

 Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

 

 

 

Tree Frog at Harbour Club

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I found this cute little fella in one of our planters this evening.

I found this cute little fella in one of our planters this evening.

I was walking down behind the villas on my way to turn the outside lights on and happen to glance at something that was on one of the planters. I took a second look and saw that it was a frog. We didn’t think we had any frogs on the property but now we know we do.

This tree frog was a beautiful green colour with some black markings.

This tree frog was a beautiful green colour with some black markings.

I yelled for Barry and he came running thinking something was wrong. He managed to catch the small tree frog just so I could take some photos of it.

Note the suction cup like feet that allows them to climb trees or the walls of our tiki hut.

Note the suction cup like feet that allows them to climb trees or the walls of our tiki hut.

The tree frog I found had large discs at the end of its toes which were like sticky pads and he had a very strong grip said Barry. These discs help the frogs grip while climbing and allow them to climb vertically on virtually anything. When we let him go, he climbed up the wall and pillar to under the eaves of the gazebo.

This little tree frog clamped down on Barry's arm with his suction cup toes.

This little tree frog clamped down on Barry's arm with his suction cup toes.

 

Good shot of the suction cup like toes gripping the wall of the tiki hut.

Good shot of the suction cup like toes gripping the wall of the tiki hut.

 

He was soooooo cute!!!

 

Marta

 

 

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com