If you are on the lookout for new species of animal on St. Martin, Loterie Farm is a pretty good place to go. Nestled on the forested slope of Pic Paradis, it is a gateway to a wide variety of forest-loving creatures that one might never see down at the seaside. As expected, there were a variety of interesting animals to see on my last visit. Various aphids and scale insects were feeding on leaves, crickets were hiding under rocks, and tiny flies of many kinds were catching some sun at the edge of the forest. Some favorites you can see below include a green, gem-like jumping spider and tiny, but intricate lace bug.

The St. Louis Ravine runs down from the the north side of Pic Paradis and into Étang Guichard near Friars Bay. I intercepted the ravine in Rambaud, where the slopes are filled with banana trees. Amongst the banana trees I found thousands of moth flies (also known as shower flies, drain flies or filter flies). These small flies have furry bodies, fluffy antennae and hairy wings that give them a moth-like appearance. Although I’ve seen one or two in various places in the past, it was quite amazing to see so many in one spot.

With the recent rain, the bottom of the ravine was a decent-sized stream, not unlike the one that flows through the Colombier area to the sea at Anse des Peres. Upstream, the area is a mix of banana farm and forest, eventually opening out into the pastures that surround much of Étang Guichard. Along the stream, I was able to photograph some water striders, an aquatic insect larva and some flies that were sampling something from the mud. It was actually quite a nice walk, and I guess the next logical step is to head the other direction and explore the ravine further upstream.

Note: the last couple photos of birds were taken at Étang de Grand Case on my way back home.

Here are some photos from walks along the St. Martin coastline in Cul-de-Sac, Back Bay and Baie Lucas. The first set takes us from the beach at Baie de Grandes Cayes to the Pinel ferry dock. This walk requires quite a bit of walking in shallow water after you round the corner to Cul-de-Sac. There are plenty of things to see as you pass by coastal scrub areas to mangrove wetlands.

The walk from Pointe Blanche to the natural swimming pool at Back Bay is primarily grassland that seems to be maintained by goats. Cliffs and other striking rock formations make up most of the coastline including, of course, the natural swimming pool. There were also a few interesting insects, including a bright orange hemipteran that I don’t think I had seen before.

The last set of photos is takes us from Baie Lucas through Coralita and around Babit Point before returning via the small pond across from Coralita. Sightings included a pair of American oystercatchers, plenty of green iguanas, a gorgeous crab and a gray kingbird that was happy to pose for photos. The walk itself is a great mix between beach and rocky shoreline, and Babit Point is a miracle of somewhat undisturbed coastal scrub in an otherwise developed area.

Recently, I’ve been spending a lot of time working on identifying the flies in my photos. It’s a challenging task. Diptera, the insect order that includes flies, gnats, mosquitoes and a few other similar critters, is thought to contain over 200,000 species. I would estimate that St. Martin is home to at least 300 species, and I have photos of close to 100.

Identifying flies is hard for many reasons. Some are very small, many look very similar to each other, and some may be impossible to identify without dissecting them under a microscope. It’s also hard to know, out of hundreds of thousands of species, which ones are even likely to be in St. Martin. And, of course, while you can look up an image of many flies online, there are just as many or more for which there are no photos online.

It’s also very interesting to learn more about different flies, both how to identify them physically as well as by their habits and preferred habitats. I’m also quickly becoming deeply indebted to diptera.info, a terrific site with a very active forum where experts and enthusiasts are very helpful with identifications. It’s a superb site, and I wish there was something like it for every insect order.

Tintamarre is the largest satellite island of St. Martin, covering a little less than one square mile. It is also known as Flat Island, and has a fascinating history, including a King of Tintamarre and a now-abandoned landing strip that served as home base for the airline Compagnie Aérienne Antillaise. I was lucky enough to get the chance to visit earlier this month and spend a little bit of time on the island.

The island is primarily covered in scrub, with beaches and cliffs at the edges. It’s the best place in St. Martin to see tropicbirds, which nest in the cliffs. It is also home to a different subspecies of ground lizard (Ameiva plei) than St. Martin. While the subspecies analifera is found on mainland St. Martin, the lizards on Tintamarre are the same subspecies found on Anguilla and St. Barths. The differences are subtle, but noticeable.

I think it would be very exciting to do a wildlife survey of Tintamarre to get a better understanding of what animals are there and how they do or don’t differ from those on St. Martin.

On a recent walk from Grand Case to Marigot, I spent some time exploring La Batterie, an area between Friar’s Bay and Bienvenue/Pointe Arago. The area is mostly wooded, although the trees are generally small. Unlike many similar lowland areas, the ground cover is fairly sparse, and a maze of cow trails make it quite easy to navigate. One highlight is the stream that runs into the sea at Anse des Peres. Another was the gorgeous cockroach I found living under the bark of a dead tree branch, which was also home to large numbers of terrestrial isopods and a few house geckos.

It’s definitely an area worth exploring, in many ways similar to the hiking/mountain biking area of Bellevue. While attention is often focused on the highland forests, and many lowland areas are an impassable sea of thorny vines, these two lowland areas are well worth a visit.

On Sunday, SXM Trails had their annual Anguilla hike, and it was a blast. The day was mostly overcast, so I stuck with shooting insects and other small animals with my macro lens. Highlights included a gorgeous tiger beetle and a bright, metallic-green tortoise beetle that I’ve never seen on St. Martin. I guess it’s time to do a wildlife guide for Anguilla!

It’s been a while since I headed out with a flashlight to see what was crawling around at night, so I headed out for a couple hours to see. There were Anolis gingivinus in various states, from sleeping to hunting and the Clonistria walking sticks that I can now reliably find. Perhaps the most interesting thing was a katydid with a strange, gelatinous mass coming out of its posterior. I’m not sure what was going on with that, perhaps it was injured, since the mass didn’t look anything like katydid eggs to me. A mass of aquatic insect larvae in a tree hollow (the last photo), were both beautiful and somewhat disgusting.

Of all the animals on the island, I probably have the most photos of iguanas and pelicans. I guess they’re both big, easy-to-find and interesting-looking. So, here are a few more iguana photos, including my best attempt so far at getting a good photo of one jumping into a pond.

ARKive is a web site that promotes conservation by presenting images of wildlife. Right now, it is focused on collecting images of animals on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which is about 17,000 species. I’m excited to announce that I have contributed a set of images of St. Martin’s endemic Anolis pogus to the site and you can see them by clicking the image below. This lizard is only found on St. Martin. Although it is common here, it is classified as vulnerable because its range is restricted to a single island.

I’m also particularly glad that the entry for this lizard shows it in a variety of colors. Although this lizard can change its coloration dramatically, most of the literature and photos I have encountered refer to a single coloration (tan with blue around the eye). It’s much better to showcase the full range of striking looks.

There is also a video I submitted that will be added in the future, showing two males fighting for territory. This will add another dimension to the entry, showing behavior, and can also be seen here.