Some people simply see moths as a pest that they want to keep away from their wool or as a visitor to their porch light. While most moths are not very colorful like their butterfly cousins, they are beautiful in their own way and are very interesting critters. In an effort to learn more about the moths in my yard, I invested a few bucks and created a somewhat portable moth light. Its only requirement is a power outlet and a place to hang the sheet. The idea is that the light attracts moths and other insects to a white sheet for easy viewing. Here are the materials I used:
9666 - Spodoptera frugiperda - Fall Armyworm (Female)
In case you haven't heard, I've been asked to be one of the beat writers over at 10,000 Birds! I'll be covering topics mostly around NJ and butterflies, not necessarily mutually exclusive topics. I'm humbled to be part of the great company of writers that Mike, Corey, and Charlie have assembled. Look for my first post this Thursday.
Birds weren’t all that we saw in Puerto Rico. There were many butterflies seen flitting about that I didn’t get photographs of. These included Great Southern White, Cloudless Sulphur, and Florida Purplewing. I did get one decent butterfly photo of a Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak.
Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
We found two funky-looking moths. The first flew into the restaurant during dinner in Maricao. It’s about the size of a monarch.
The second was found at Casa Cubuy in El Yunque. This one was about 3” long.
Lizards are plentiful in Puerto Rico. The most common are of the Anolis genus like the one below.
We also saw this interesting lizard in a tree. Maybe someone out there knows the ID. It’s probably another anole! (Update - might be Puerto Rican Crested Anole)
This concludes all of the Puerto Rico posts I had planned. It was a fantastic trip!
Here is the complete list of species seen. Asterisk denotes an endemic.
We spent the night at Casa Cubuy eco-lodge. It’s a really nice spot overlooking the rainforest. There’s a river and waterfalls nearby. It’s very open, but covered from the rain. There are lots of comfy seats, a little fridge with beer and wine for purchase, and lots of hammocks. It could benefit from some bird feeders. The rooms are nicely decorated, although ours had quirky 4-poster beds which didn’t really match the eco-lodge theme. The rooms were clean and comfortable. Like many tropical sites, they had the “no flushing toilet paper” rule.
It rained all night and into the morning. We spent 45 minutes or so on the deck, but didn’t see many birds. It was pretty foggy. We did have great views of Greater Antillean Oriole. I’ve heard the breakfasts at Casa Cubuy are great, but we didn’t stay.
We packed up for our journey toward the airport. We stopped for breakfast at the Fajardo Inn. Not only is this a nice resort with good breakfast, the grounds are a great place to see two sought-after hummingbirds: Green-throated Carib and Antillean Crested Hummingbird. We were not disappointed. Both hummingbirds were right there in the parking lot! We also saw Nutmeg Mannikins and another Greater Antillean Oriole.
Green-throated Carib
Greater Antillean Oriole
We made a few stops in El Yunque in hopes of seeing Puerto Rican Parrots, but we didn’t find any. We did see some nice waterfalls and a Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Thus ended our trip in Puerto Rico. I had a blast. I highly recommend Wildside Nature Tours. My experience was great with very competent, flexible, and personable leaders. Others who have done trips with them have said similar things. Thanks again to 10,000 Birds and Wildside Nature Tours for sponsoring the contest that got me there!
We started around 6:00AM and headed back to Guanica State Forest to try once more for the Puerto Rican Nightjar. We drove to the forest, headed up the road at a closed gate, and stood waiting in the darkness. Actually, it was a bright moon, so it wasn’t really that dark. In any event, it wasn’t long before we heard a “Whirr!” of a nightjar. It was quite close, but deep enough in the dense woods that we couldn’t see it. We heard 1 or 2 others, but never did see one. It was cool knowing that we were hearing a bird that only exists in this small area of Puerto Rico and nowhere else on the planet. We also heard a Puerto Rican Screech Owl.
With one target species down, we grabbed breakfast and then hit the road. This was mostly a travel day to El Yunque, basically across the southern part of PR from west to east, but we did have a few more birding stops to pick up some other birds we hadn’t seen yet. Our first stop was back to the feeder area where we had less-than-desirable views of the Yellow-shouldered Blackbird the day before. This time there were several of them on trees near the feeding station. They were joined by some Shiny Cowbirds, a known nuisance to the blackbird’s population, and also a ton of Eurasian Collared-Doves.
Yellow-shouldered Blackbird
We then went back to Guanica State Forest for some daytime birding. It was quite windy and the forest was very quiet. We were standing around and listening when I saw something move in my peripheral vision. It was a Mangrove Cuckoo!
We also had great looks at two Puerto Rican Todies. It’s hard to pick a favorite PR bird, but this one is certainly high on the list. Tody pictures below.
Our next stop was back to Laguna Cartajena NWR to look for West Indian Whistling-Ducks. While looking for them, we found a couple Least Grebes, a bird I hadn’t seen since 2005 in South Texas. I like their beady little eyes. We had terrific views of one West Indian Whistling-Duck flying by, but it landed out of view. The sky was filled with Cave Swallows and I was able to pick out an oddball in the group, which turned out to be a Caribbean Martin. We had a long ride ahead of us and one more birding spot.
Caribbean Coot – Notice how high the white face shield goes up its head.
After a bit of a drive, a nap, and a stop at Sizzler (they still have those?), we stopped at a school baseball field in a tiny town. Oddly, this is the best spot in PR to see Plain Pigeon* (what a name!), a rare Caribbean specialty. Sure enough, we quickly found one high in a tree on a hill side. It’s not as plain-looking as its name suggests.
After the pigeon site, we were on the road heading to El Yunque and the Casa Cubuy eco-lodge. We arrived at the lodge after dark. After dinner, we listened for screech owls. We heard one, but the wind and rain were not conducive to finding the bird. This was our last night in PR. Stay tuned for some cool hummingbirds and thoughts on Casa Cubuy in the next installment.
*I think the worst West Indian bird name goes to the Sad Flycatcher.
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