After a lovely evening at Calmos celebrating my birthday, I managed to get up well before dawn to go meet up with the SXM Trails hiking club for a trek around my favorite local spot, Bell Point. The hike was lovely, of course, and there were a couple stretches through areas I had never walked through. It’s also the first time I’ve been serenaded with the happy birthday song on a hike! Next Sunday we are headed to La Belle Creole.
Hairstreak Alley is actually the dirt track continuing from Route du Millrum in Grand Case, but I figured I would call it that because that’s where I found the new hairstreak butterfly the other day. I was back today to do some research on it and the plants where it feeds because preliminary analysis by a stateside entomologist seems to indicate that this would be the most northerly sighting of this butterfly, and it also may in fact be a new subspecies.
At any rate, since I spent a long time in essentially the same spot today I saw many new things. One was a very interesting green cricket with a red and white back, and several were spiders I had never seen before, including one that has similarities in body and web to the Argiope orb weavers that are so common here. Plus, of course, there were plenty of old friends. I also realized while doing captions for the photos below that the easiest way to look up the proper names is doing so in my own book, which is kind of cool.
I recently found out about a hiking group (SXM Trails on Facebook) that has been doing walks at different spots around the island for about ten years. This morning was my first trip with them. They start early (5:45am), which meant I started even earlier to walk to the meeting point in Colombier. I left at 4:45 and headed the back way through Friars’ Bay, which was a bit eerie, and quite dark because the moon wasn’t out. I ran into a large pig rummaging around the Friars’ Bay Beach Cafe.
It was actually still quite dark at the meeting time, but by the time everyone arrived and found parking the sun was coming up behind the mountains. Our route led from Colombier down Rue Loterie to Loterie Farm where we took trails up to the top of Pic Paradis. The beginning of the trail was especially nice because it led alongside a small stream. Some remains of the Sucrerie Loterie, including a couple large cauldrons and a well, were beside the trail partway up.
For the first hour or so, it was still dark enough and cool enough in the forested areas that there weren’t a lot of animals out and about. I did manage to find a couple caterpillars I’d never seen before and a bunch of familiar creatures. I was fortunate to get a ride home from Jesus, who recently came two votes from winning a council seat in the Dutch side elections. It was his first try, so I think that’s a pretty good start. Next week the walk will be from Hope Estate through Grand Case, around Bell Point and into Anse Marcel. Quite handy, since I won’t have to hike to get to the hike.
I’ve been out and about a bit lately, and it turns out there are still plenty of things I haven’t seen before on the island.
On a recent trip down the airport road I ran into some mangrove buckeye caterpillars, feeding on mangroves, of course. I also went up a small stream that runs down from the Hope Estate area. Due to the mining there, the stream bed is covered in mud from the runoff.
I’ve also been scouting out nearby Mont O’Reilly. I don’t know of any trails that lead up there, so I’ve been testing some ravines as possible paths to the top. One of the first places I tried was on the side facing Grand Case, off Rue Millrum. There were a couple ravines, but they weren’t exactly easy going. I did find a lovely spot on the road where loads of butterflies congregate in the evening to feed and sun. One of them was an unfamiliar hairstreak. When trying to look it up, it didn’t seem to match any of the Caribbean species. A mystery!
Next, I made a couple more attempts, including one starting from La Savane. Again, I made a fair amount of progress up some ravines I found, but there definitely doesn’t seem to be an easy way up there.
So, I’m actually not sure what it’s really called, but the ravine leading down the mountains through Colombier is awesome. At Cripple Gate it runs through a manmade section that is planted with reeds. I believe it is designed to clean the water, at least some of which is probably waste water from Colombier. At any rate, I stopped by the stream yesterday and found quite a few interesting things, including crayfish, really big guppies, what seemed to be a blenny and a variety of beautiful freshwater snails.
Of course, questions remain. Does it continue to run during the dry season? How darn hard is it to take a photo of a water strider? Is it clean enough to snorkel?
Sunday is a great day to go places where you normally might not be allowed, because no one works on Sunday. Yesterday I explored the fields in what will eventually be a new development across from the Grand Case airport. There were quite a few cool things, like a fly eating a tiny leafhopper. I am also ready to admit, that although they aren’t as diverse as insects, spiders are pretty fascinating. I also took a couple photos of an antlion larva, which is something I’d been meaning to do for a while.
It’s been almost a whole year since we first move to Grand Case, so I’ve finally had a chance to see the full cycle of the seasons. Of course, the seasons aren’t too pronounced at this latitude. Right now, the rainiest part of the year is just over, so the hills are mostly green, particularly the trees and shrubs near the tops. The tall grass is starting to yellow and much of it will dry out in the coming months.
It was the perfect time to head back out to Bell Point, but isn’t it always? A few days ago I took my old-school route, hopping the fence across from Grand Case Beach Club and headed up to the peak just out from Goat Mountain. One interesting find was a honeybee that was caught in a spider’s web, wrapped in silk. You can see the hole where the spider was sipping the liquified insides.
A couple days later, I headed out to the end of the point along the coast line. There were loads of great southern white caterpillars on the shrubs. This species lays eggs in groups, almost always on the newest leaves. The young caterpillars are often found in clusters on single leaves. In a small, man-made water hole, probably built for use by goats, I am pretty sure I saw guppies. It was nowhere near any other source of water, so I have no idea how they got there. I also think it probably dries out during the driest months, making their presence even more improbable.
Although turtles are still nesting for a little bit, the sea turtle tracking season has come to an end. Below are some photos from my last two survey trips to the beaches at the northeast corner of the island. On October 27th, I found some hawksbill tracks and what looked like an unfinished nest. On November 3rd, I didn’t see any tracks.
On the 27th, I didn’t take a lot of photos, but I did get a few of a gigantic robber fly that was about an inch long.
On the 3rd, I couldn’t resist taking a few photos of pelicans at Baie de Petites Cayes. I also saw a painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui) for the first time since I’ve been here. This species is highly migratory, so the sighting doesn’t necessarily mean they breed here.
I recently went back to Bell Valley, which is one of my favorite spots because it is both close and interesting. A cow tried to eat my backpack, but I was able to chase it away at the last minute. There were many beautiful things to see, like a lynx spider eating a honeybee, some small yellow wasps with bodybuilder legs, some wrinkly caterpillars and a swarm of cottonstainers.
After returning to St. Martin, I had to drop some documents off in Marigot for translation and took the opportunity to walk back to Grand Case via Pointe Arago and Friars’ Bay. Although it doesn’t seem too popular, it’s quite a nice walk.
Things started off well when I spotted an American kestrel at the small dump near Galisbay. Like the pelican, this is a bird I can rarely resist photographing. Having had a fair amount of rain, the grass and scrub was quite green and lively with small creatures of all sorts. One highlight was a sugar cane skipper laying eggs on blades of grass. I think I may have seen here before, but I hadn’t gotten a photo.
Back at Friars’ Bay, many of the small wading birds that had spent the summer where the salt pond meets the beach were gone. I would soon notice that the laughing gulls had left for the season as well.
