Here’s a small collection of very small flowers that were living on the exposed northeastern coast of the island. The tip of my index finger is in most of the photos to provide scale. The nature trail that traverses that area is quite enjoyable and highly recommended. According to the documentation, the area is the last remaining littoral forest on the island. The other forested areas are apparently regrown after being cleared for agriculture and firewood during colonial times.

When I collected my first monarch chrysalis parasitic wasps emerged instead of a butterfly. Our second chrysalis was from a checkered swallowtail that had been damaged by a six-year-old throwing it on the ground. Third time was indeed the charm, however, and a lovely monarch emerged from my latest chrysalis. We let him or her hang out in the apartment for the evening and then released it the next day.

Here are a few photos of a moth from Happy Bay that is similar to one I found in La Savane, but has significantly different wing coloration. Perhaps the species is highly variable, either between different areas or different sexes, or perhaps it’s a closely-related species. Since this particular specimen was quite flighty, I tried taking a few mid-flight photos. These aren’t great quality photos, but it actually turned out to be a good way to see parts of the wing that aren’t visible when it is resting.

Here are a few more creature photos, including the most common local anole (Anolis gingivinus), a true bug and an unidentified moth.

One night as we went out for dinner we were treated to an odd sight: a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) standing in a tiny dinghy. Seeing a bird roost on a boat is not uncommon, but this is the first time we’ve seen a bird so big on a boat so small. Great blue herons are apparently not very common around here, and it was funny to watch him keep his balance on the boat as it rocked back and forth.

I need to do some research into the history of the abandoned Happy Bay condominium project, but in the meantime, here are a few more photos of the abandoned buildings.

In addition to finding what seem to be three species of gecko on Pinel Islet, I also encountered some wingless cockroaches and a strange and hostile-looking creature that I believe may be some species of vinegaroon, which are apparently harmless. There was also a large brown spider. All three creatures were found in the leaf litter of the small forested part of the island.

When we stopped by the airport to pick up Paul we spent a little time at the Sunset Beach Bar, which is on the beach at the end of the runway of Princess Juliana Airport. It’s a popular place to hang out and watch the jets come in (and the little prop planes, too).

After a leisurely lunch at Yellow Beach, I set out to explore Pinel Islet to determine what species of iguana lives there. Although I did not find any iguanas, I did find at least two varieties of dwarf gecko in the leaf litter of a small wooded patch on the eastern side of the island.

The lighter-colored gecko seems to clearly be Sphaerodactylus sputator, a known resident of the island and is seen in four of the photos below. It was the largest of the geckos I encountered, although you can see from the photo in the plastic cup, it is quite small indeed.

There was at least one variety of darker gecko, although it is not clear to me that it is the other species known to reside on St. Martin (Sphaerodactylus macrolepis). Additionally, closer scrutiny of my photos has lead me to believe that the darker geckos may be of multiple varieties. The blurred shot of the gecko running most resembles the photos I have seen of S. macrolepis, but the body markings and general coloring are not very similar to the dark gecko in the last photo. Likewise, the photo where only the back of the head is visible may be the same species as the blurry photo, but looks clearly different from the lizard in the last photo.

At this point I might venture to guess that the blurry photo and the head photo are a local version of S. macrolepis, while the dark gecko with the broken light bands must be a different species or local race that may not be previously known to the island. Very exciting!

Earlier this week I made a couple trips to the valley that is ringed on one side by Bell Hill, Goat Mountain, Pea Tree Hill and Pigeon-Pea Hill and on the other by Anse Marcel. The area doesn’t have a specific name as far as I can tell. During my first jaunt there in late afternoon, the calls of cattle were surprisingly loud and echoing off the hillsides, creating an ominous feel. The area is more or less undeveloped, although there are dirt roads leading to different parcels of land that are used as goat or cow pasture.

On my way out the second time, I found a large number of brightly-colored sphinx moth caterpillars on a tree with pretty yellow flowers (Plumeria, commonly known as frangipani). Subsequent research identified them as tetrio sphinx (Pseudosphinx tetrio), the adult being unfortunately much less colorful than the caterpillar. I also got a decent photo of one of the scurrying, ground-dwelling lizards and a caterpillar pooping.

I lucked into a couple interesting spider sightings: one of the large spiders with a freshly caught butterfly and a small green, yellow and red spider that was lying in wait on small blossoms ready to capture any insects that came by for nectar. I also found a very small anole with turquoise eye shadow and some bright orange fungi.

At the top of an unnamed hill I also found the same tree that is at the top of Goat Mountain and the peak near Molly Smith Point. There were two of them at the peak of the hill and one had interesting two-pronged seed pods in various stages of growth. Rounding out the set are various butterflies, caterpillars and a few shots of the local terrain.