I have a large backlog of photos to post, starting with a trio of explorations in the lowlands area of the island. The first part is a series of photos taken from inside Le Trou de David (David’s Hole). The bird in the last three photos is a yellow-crowned night heron.

The next stop of the day was La Belle Creole, an abandoned resort that Andres and I visited during intermittent showers. I was mostly taking photos of spiders, but Andres got quite a few nice juxtapositions of the crumbling infrastructure and encroaching vegetation.

Our last stop for the day was La Grotte du Puits de Terres Basses, the larger of two bat caves on the island. During this visit I mostly focused on getting shots of the bats, rather than the caves.

Yesterday I went to Bell Valley for the first time since April. On a mission to get more photographs for my guide to Saint Martin wildlife, I was happy to get photographs of several new birds and a mongoose. I also discovered that there are pigs there. The first photo in the set below was actually taken on our balcony, as the first of the chrysalides had hatched into a cloudless sulfur, the remainder hatched last night or early this morning.

I started early, in an attempt to avoid the worst heat of the day, and set out on the road behind Hope Estate. The road itself was gruelling – sunny and steep, but it took only about an hour to get from Hope Estate to the beginning of the ravine that runs up Mont France. Where the ravine meets the road, there is an interesting stone structure, roughly in the shape of a circle. Heading up the ravine it was much cooler in the dense forest. It must be the season of the black witch, because these large moths seemed to emerge from their hiding places every dozen yards or so. There were also many adorable little snails with round (rather than conical) shells. The only ominous omen was a gunshot I heard as I began to head up the ravine.

Towards the top of the mountain, more light was breaking through the trees and patches of meadow appeared. The ravine gradually disappeared and I followed the trail markings. At some point, I’m not sure when, I must have reached the northeast crest trail, because eventually I came out onto a road. A few yards down was a marking for Petit Fond, which was another trail that runs a circle from Colombier to Pic Paradis. There I made the mistake of entering an abandoned information kiosk where I was promptly stung in the sideburn by a wasp. A few hundred yards from there was the top of Pic Paradis, where I took a few photos, saw what appeared to be a polydamas swallowtail, and headed back home via the road.

Below are a few photos of some idle machinery that sits near Hope Estate. It may be part of the mining operation that has ravaged the mountainside behind the shopping area there.

After our time in the bat cave, we were united in our desire to have a swim, so we headed to Le Trou de David, which was nearby. It was late afternoon by then, and the iguanas had congregated on the cliff to warm themselves under the setting sun. We headed into the water, exploring the varied canyons and cave entrances near Le Trou de David. A couple small turtles were spotted, or perhaps the same one was spotted by separate groups. Large schools of small, silvery fish filled the basin of the hole, and there were schools of glassy sweepers in many of the caves and crevices. After a last look around the cliffs, we headed back to Grand Case to celebrate our expedition.

Yesterday we (Madam J, Yann, Marie, Robin and myself) undertook a rather exciting expedition. Our first mission was to find La Grotte du Puits des Terres Basses, the largest known bat cave on the island. I had previously searched for it a bit, but had not found it, but we were determined.

First we drove to the general location in the lowland area of the French side of the island and consulted our map. Using coordinates I obtained from a scientific paper, we plotted the point as best we could. I counted paces between the two nearest landmarks, an intersection and the beginning of the nearest salt pond (750 paces) while the team determined the relative distance between the two. Once we located the best starting point from the road, we headed into the forest in search of the cave.

Yann, Marie and I were exploring the hillside when I heard a cry from Yann a hundred feet away. He had found the cave. Although the opening to the cave was quite large, it was difficult to see for more than a short distance due to the contours of the hill and the dense vegetation. In fact, Yann had actually heard the bats before he saw the cave.

The cave itself was as described in the scientific paper, an opening about seven meters wide at the base of a fifteen meter tall limestone outcrop, with visible evidence of past mining. There were two main chambers, and the air was ringing with squeaking bat noises. The stench was bearable, but unpleasant.

Inside the cave there were hundreds of bats. In the left chamber there were large groups near the tallest point of the ceiling in groups several feet wide of solid bat. In the many circular recesses in the ceiling, presumably from mining activity, there were clusters of dozens of bats. Others clung to the ceiling alone or in small groups and there were quite a few flying about the cave. The entire floor was covered in some sort of seeds. I would guess they were the pits of some type of fruit that the bats ate.

The right chamber had a smaller entrance and a couple large holes at the far end of the ceiling that let in light. Some long vines dropped from the holes to the bottom of the cave, and there was a large bird’s nest in a recess near the ceiling. The ceiling in that chamber was also full of bats. On the floor, there were large patches full of cockroaches, very Indiana Jones-style.

As we explored and took photos we noticed the bats reacting to our camera flash. The high-pitched buzz of the bats would turn into an even higher-pitched squeal just after the flash went off. It was surprising and a bit unnerving to hear hundreds of bats complaining about the flash. We were a bit worried about temporarily blinding them with the light, but then remembered that they use echolocation and weren’t as worried.

The air was thick with mosquitos and some members of the team had seen enough, so after taking some more photos we headed back down towards the car, exhilarated at our success and ready to continue on the next part of the day’s mission, but also already contemplating our next visit to this wondrous cave.

Yesterday I had a chance to walk around Anse Marcel for a bit and took a few photos of some creatures I found there. I had heard that hypoxic conditions had left dead fish floating in the marina there as well as in the lagoon, but did not see any evidence of it. I did see some burrowing crabs, some small doves that I haven’t identified yet, and plenty of anoles.

Yesterday we headed out to Pinel Island and I did some E.S.S. in a few locations that I had only recently explored: off the north beach, in the tide pools on that beach, and in the very shallow area off the south beach.

First up was the north beach, where a ring of coral forms a barrier enclosing a calm lagoon. The top of the barrier is quite wide in some places, and the top is mostly dead coral skeletons as it is probably too shallow for new growth. On the inside of the lagoon, we found a group of six reef squid and there were many schools of grunts foraging. On the outside of the barrier reef, I found large mixed schools of blue tang and surgeonfish. There were quite a few nice corals on both sides of the barrier reef.

Next, I did some super Extreme Shallow Snorkeling in a couple of the tide pools on the beach, with a maximum depth of about ten inches. The water was quite warm, and the primary inhabitants were small damselfish. Although there wasn’t much diversity, I always find tide pools charming because they are miniature sea environments, almost like an aquarium, or even a snow globe.

After lunch I headed out to the large shallow area near the south beach on the Atlantic side of the island. Due to strange weather, the prevailing currents were not as strong as usual, so it was easier to navigate. Still, the current-swept soft corals were permanently bent over by the normal current and the elkhorn corals were stunted by the shallowness of the water. I saw a very young moray eel, less than a foot long, and a decorator crab wearing a very elaborate ensemble.

Today I headed to Colombier, which is a charming town in a valley surrounded by mountains. I didn’t find either of the alleged hiking trails that begin there, but I did climb a nearby hill and descend on the other side at Loterie Farm. En route, I encountered a variety of insects, many spiders and a swarm of honeybees. The bees were clustered on the branch of a tree, and I’m guessing they had split from an existing hive and had not yet found the ideal spot for a new one.

The trip down the hill was fairly arduous. Although I don’t want to criticize the habitats of which I am a guest, but in some parts of the island there are altogether too many ants. They form colonies in the ground and on tree branches and I found that in some spots my appendages would be covered in ants if I left them in any place for more than a few moments. I also have no love for the thorny vine. On the other hand, I did meet a friendly donkey.

It’s been hot here, so I woke up early this morning and was on the road before six. My goal was to explore the smaller peak on the north part of Hope Hill, as there are large rock faces that could contain caves. On my way, I found a Killdeer and its chick in an unfinished building foundation. The adult tried to distract me, but left once I hopped in to take a couple photos of the chick. Nearby, a caterpillar was being attacked by a swarm of ants and a gecko spontaneously dropped its tail, which was twitching on the ground. A good start.

I headed up Hope Hill, trying to avoid being noticed by anyone from the mining operation, just in case I wasn’t allowed up there. Many of the usual suspects were around, like a baby Anolis gingivinus. Near the top, I was attempting to climb up a fifteen-foot cliff face when I noticed a peculiar gecko with very large eyes (even for a gecko) and peculiar skin patterns. It was on a dead tree leaning up against the rock wall, which I was trying to rotate, whilst clinging to the wall, whilst taking photos. The result was substandard, but the attempt was quite inspired.

At the top, I explored the forest for a while, finding a very unusual beetle (which I will photograph and post later) and a group of wasps with long, hanging abdomens and brilliant eyes. I also found some kind of plant that stings quite a lot when you touch it.

Instead of heading back the same way, I decided to go down the other side of the mountain, towards the Atlantic. First, an old dirt road took me to a little gazebo in the woods with a hammock and picnic table. Then I followed a stone wall that eventually met an odd patch of paved road in the middle of nowhere. Beyond that was tall grass and what was probably once a dirt road which eventually took me to an amazing dry gully filled with huge boulders and flanked by steep rock cliffs. Where I entered the gully, there was a brilliantly colored jumping spider that had white pedipalps which it was waving, to attract prey, I would guess.

The gully continued for a considerable length, although eventually I began to hear the sound of cars and people in the distance. Suddenly, I found a beautiful butterfly. It was one of those ones that closely resembles a dead leaf when it is resting, but had orange and blue on the top side of its wings. Not only had I found a new butterfly on the island, but it was a pretty one, too! Unfortunately, after reviewing the species that are found in the area and my own photos from the nearby Butterfly Farm, it seems likely that it’s a foreign species that managed to escape its confinement.