After noticing a rising moon between the peaks of Goat Mountain, I have learned that I can take pretty good photographs of the moon.

This morning I headed up Goat Mountain (its vastly inferior actual name being First Stick Hill) and walked along the ridge to Bell Hill, continuing out to Bell Point. I returned on the hillside near the sea then climbed what I now call The Valley of Stones to return to Grand Case.

For much of my walk it was cloudy and rainy, so the going was rather difficult. I was also forced to hop several fences en route and traverse a considerable amount of steep, densely forested land. The area seemed very much like jungle, but probably this was mostly because of the rain. Near Bell Point I finally reached an area of grassy scrubland which was much easier to travel and the sun came out. Towards the end of my walk, there was an odd area with many hanging vines at the foot of the Valley of Stones. The Valley was quite odd as well, being comprised of many large boulders on a steep slope.

During the course of my walk I saw many things, some of which I will now list:

• A colorful fly on a piece of lizard poop.
• Many white larvae of some sort that seemed to be tended by ants.
• A mating pair of Great Southern Whites (Ascia monuste). Incidentally, I have found online a great resource for the Lepidoptera of the French Antilles by which I can identify most of the species I have seen.
• A strange plant with bright orange thorns.
• A wide variety of spiders of many shapes and colors.
• Two goats with their heads stuck in the fence. Their horns seem to make it difficult for them to pull their head back between the wire grid. The first was terrified by my approach, but I was able to grab its horns and guide its head back through the fence, at which point it bounded away as fast as it could. The second I had planned to free on my return, but I did not end up returning by in the same direction. Shortly past the second, I found a pile of goat bones right at the fence. I would guess that in most cases the goats are eventually able to free themselves, otherwise there would be very few living goats. Perhaps I can go back tomorrow and see if he is still stuck. I feel some remorse over leaving him.
• An arboreal plant that was quite common in the forested ridge, living on many different species of tree.
• A Mimic (Hypolimnas misippus), of which I did not get particularly good photographs. According to the French Antilles Lepidoptera site, “This species comes from the Old World, where females are mimics of the African Monarch, Danaus chrysippus (Linnaeus). It may have been introduced via the slave trade, H. misippus is probably not a permanent resident in all islands where it has been observed.”
• What seemed to be a very small, blue dragonfly about 1/2″ long. I was not able to get a good photo.
• A very cute pair of goat kids sheltering in some rocks at the top of Bell Hill.
• A great number of a caterpillar that I had not previously seen, and a pupa that had been parasitized by wasps.
• A brown cricket hiding in a dried leaf that may have been used to conceal a chrysalis.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable excursion, although I returned home exceedingly thirsty, having drained my water bottle some time earlier. Photos below.

Over the past few days, I’ve photographed a few new insects. Two are moths, one is a smallish (wingspan about 2″) sphinx moth and the other is the Spotted Oleander Caterpillar Moth (Empyreama affinis), which is the adult of the fuzzy orange caterpillars I found earlier. Interestingly, the pattern of white spots is shared by caterpillar and moth. The last is a very small insect with white tufts coming out of its rear. I’m not sure what it is, but they are quite small. The actual body is probably only about 1mm long.

Here’s where I post close-ups of some Butterfly Farm residents.

A couple days ago I visited The Butterfly Farm, which is a nice attraction and definitely worth a visit. The farm features a variety of tropical butterflies, including many Asian species. They give tours where they teach the life cycle and habits of butterflies.

The staff was very nice, and very helpful. Earlier I had emailed asking names of some of the local species and Karin was kind enough to email me back with them. While visiting, they also identified a colorful moth I had seen on Goat Mountain, the hieroglyphic moth. Unfortunately, there are few indigenous species remaining on St. Martin due to habitat destruction and mosquito spraying. According to Karin, there are more remaining on Saba, particularly at the higher elevations.

Visiting on a cloudy morning was ideal for taking photos because the butterflies were relatively sedate and easily approached.

Yesterday I headed to The Butterfly Farm (which I will post about separately), but my travels actually took me quite a bit beyond there to the town of Oyster Pond at the French/Dutch border. My route was down the airport road, past Cul de Sac and Orient Bay to The Butterfly Farm, then around the seaward side of the Étang aux Poissons and then around the coastline to Oyster Pond. On the way back, I returned along the coastline, then on the inside of Étang aux Poissons to French Quarter, where I took a bus back to Grand Case.

En route I saw many interesting things. Since the morning was cloudy, I was able to get a couple close shots of the local anole lizards, including one that shows the orange neck-flap, although it is not fully extended. I was also able to get my first decent shot of the large sulfur butterfly. In the marsh across from The Butterfly Farm I was lucky enough to witness the large white butterfly laying its yellow eggs. There was also an egret/heron type bird that was at least twice as big as the other ones I’ve seen around here.

After traversing the seaward side of the fish pond, I found a shallow bay where the mangroves extend to the ocean. Perhaps this is the best (or only) place to snorkel the mangroves in uncontaminated water. Not wanting to head back the way I came, I was forced to ford the inlet through chest-high water with my shoes and camera gear hoisted above my head. Perhaps not the smartest thing I have done with my camera, but at least I did have the presence of mind to test my route without my camera first.

The area past this bay was quite lovely, a scrub-land that reminded me a bit of the American southwest. Returning past the mangroves, I found a couple jellyfish that seemed to be trapped and an interesting duck.

Some people have told me that they enjoy these posts about diving and snorkeling, but they are wondering if Madam J has found any interesting moths on our veranda. In fact, she has, and here it is!

Madam J hosted a lovely birthday party for me at our apartment last night and all the folks from the dive shop came by. This morning the very small ants on our veranda were escorting an uninvited termite guest off the premises.

Our street (Rue de Petite Plage) doesn’t seem to have one, and one of my favorites (Passage des Escargots) is in disrepair.