I was in Marigot to drop some copies of the wildlife guide at Maison de la Press, so on my way back I took a little detour through Concordia to see what wildlife I could find there. It turned out to be a pretty good mini-expedition with some interesting new finds. The most interesting one was an owlfly, which looks a lot like an antlion and is also related to lacewings in the order Neuroptera. Also seen were my favorite jumping spider, the red and green cricket nymph that I have yet to identify and a large cicada that was caught by a silver argiope spider.

Yesterday afternoon I went on a quick expedition to the lagoon area off the north beach of Pinel with Pauline from the Réserve Naturelle. Our goal was to check the elkhorn corals to see if there were broken pieces suitable for transplanting. Elkhorn corals are both prone to breakage and often do well when transplanted.

At the large elkhorn we located we found a very interesting scene. The main colony was large and healthy. There were a couple pieces I had wedged into the dead coral substrate on an earlier visit as well as a number of other pieces on the sea floor. While a few of these were loose, many of them had managed to affix themselves and were growing in the areas down-current from the main colony. Most surprising was one particularly large branch that had affixed itself upside-down with the broken part at the top.

It was encouraging to see how well the coral was colonizing naturally with the broken pieces, but we also planned to visit the site regularly. Even though many pieces had successfully reattached, it is unclear what the percentage of successful reattachment is. It is possible that the dozen successes are just a small subset of the total number of broken pieces. A bit more ominous was the presence of a fair amount of algae in the lagoon, perhaps indicating an excess of nutrients that could be problematic for corals. More news to come!

Last month I posted about a large fire that burned much of the hillside in Cul-de-Sac near the dump. Other obligations kept me from visiting the area as much as I would have liked after the fire, but I have been able to make a few visits to take photos of how the area has progressed after the fire.

The first set of photos is from late March, nineteen days after the fire. Very little regrowth had happened so far, although a few grasses had begun to sprout, probably from roots that survived the fire.

Forty-three days after the fire, in the lower areas of the hills, grasses were growing more and some of the shrubs that were not killed by the fire, like the apple of Sodom in the photos below, were growing new leaves and flowers.

The next day, I took a little more time to explore, taking advantage of the burned area to head towards the top of the peak just to the south of Red Rock. Higher on the slope, there was knee-high grass in abundance, although the walk was still much easier than it will be in a month when the grass is much higher. Most of the grasses were clearly growing from roots that survived the fire, with burned stalks amidst the new growth. Forested pockets remained in some ravine areas, particularly where boulders formed a barrier to the fire. Presumably these pockets make it much easier for animals to recolonize the burned areas. At the very top of the hill, the burned area ends, presumably stopped again by the large boulders.

I’m admittedly quite a bit behind in my posting after spending so much time on the Love the Lagoon fundraising event, but I did want to post the article from SXMFaxInfo about our mangrove marine life survey:

On Sunday, Les Fruits de Mer made what I believe is our first official scientific expedition, to conduct a survey of fish, invertebrates and vegetation in the mangroves of Grand Ilet in the Simpson Bay Lagoon. The mangroves we surveyed were actually planted by EPIC (Environmental Protection in the Caribbean) and volunteers several years ago. Today, they are growing well and we did the survey on behalf of EPIC to begin measuring the impact of the mangroves on the local wildlife.

Aboard kayaks generously loaned by Tri-Sport, we headed out to the islet, a trip that was both fun and definitely very good exercise for infrequent kayakers. Once at the site, we stopped briefly at the beach between our two primary survey areas. A knife fight amongst the drunken, pirate-like folks hanging out on the beach convinced us to proceed immediately to our first survey transects.

After using line to demarcate our transects, we attempted the first fish survey on snorkel. The maximum depth in the transect area was approximately ten centimeters, which made it very difficult, even for the world’s first Extreme Shallow Snorkeling team. The only way to see underwater was to tilt one’s head sideways so one eye would be underwater. Changing plans slightly, we did the surveying primarily on foot, while snorkeling the slightly deeper (but still quite shallow) areas around the transects.

Although there were few fish inside the transect areas due to the shallowness, there were several species in the area, including juvenile jacks, barracuda, checkered pufferfish, small bait fish and other juvenile tropical fish. The most common invertebrates were mostly echinoderms: sea cucumbers, sea stars and urchins. We did see one large shrimp, a couple blue crabs, two types of sponge and one small patch of coral as well.

Overall, the survey was quite successful and very fun. We returned safely by kayak with data in hand and the team enjoyed a lovely supper together.

As volunteers participating in the sea turtle nesting survey for the Reserve Naturelle, we were invited to a dinner with the Reserve and the other volunteers at Enold’s in Grand Case (try the chicken colombo). Afterwards, we headed to Baie aux Prunes and Baie Longue to see if we could find any nesting leatherback turtles, since their nesting season had just begun. We were not lucky enough to see any, but it was a beautiful night on the beach and the clear visibility gave us a great view of Saba at night. I took a bunch of long-exposure photos of the survey.

If you see sea turtles nesting, don’t bug them! You can also call the Nature Foundations turtle hotline to report your sighting: 9229.

On Friday I had the great pleasure of tagging along on a hike with the sixth grade class from Learning Unlimited. Our guide for the hike was none other than Riet Sint, author of the book Island Walks, a guide to the hiking trails of Saint Martin. We did the Bellevue hike, starting from Cole Bay across from Grand Marche and heading up the hill for some terrific views of the lagoon and the Marigot area. The area used to be a plantation, and Riet told us quite a bit about the history of the area. We were also able to find quite a few critters along the way, including grasshoppers, crickets, termites, ants, both species of Anolis lizard and many of the invasive checkered swallowtails which were laying eggs on citrus shrubs that were growing alongside the trail.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to join a Eric Francius, a botanist from Guadeloupe, as he conducted a cactus survey with help from Marie and the interns from the Reserve Naturelle. Friday’s survey was at Babit Point in Oyster Pond, an area that the Reserve Naturelle is trying to establish as part of the reserve.

En route, I walked from Quartier d’Orléans, passing Étang aux Poissons, Baie de l’Embouchure and Coralita Beach. It was a lovely walk just after a rainstorm.

The cactus survey focused on one of three species of cactus in the area, Melocactus intortus, often referred to as turk’s head or pope’s head cactus. When healthy, these cacti have a single cephalium (the red part that sticks up) and produce small, pink fruits. Under stress, if they are kicked over by a donkey, for example, they create many small cactus buds. The survey counted the number of adults and immature cacti and recorded the number of cephalia on each cactus. Multiple areas were surveyed, including flat areas with other vegetation and the preferred habitat of steep, rocky hillside.

Eric taught me quite a few things about cacti. One thing I didn’t know was that cacti are all native to the Americas. He also explained that there is an Argentinian pyralid moth that feeds on cactus, particularly opuntia. This moth was used to control invasive cacti in Australia, South Africa and St. Kitts, but now is spreading around the Caribbean, threatening native cacti. The large, orange and black caterpillar is found inside the cactus pad.

The survey location was also a convenient vantage point to watch the sailboats participating in the Heineken Regatta.

While there, I stumbled upon a fly that was busily engaged in something on an unopened candlestick cactus flower bud. It was extending its abdomen and rubbing it against the flower bud, strongly suggesting that it was trying to lay eggs inside it. Although it briefly left a couple times, it was doing this for at least fifteen minutes. Close examination of the bud revealed some sort of liquid left on the surface, but it was unclear what this was. Photos will be sent to a specialist.

A couple weeks ago, a large hillside area over Sucker Garden in the Dutch side burned. Apparently a fire to burn brush or trash had gotten out of control. Luckily, there were no serious injuries or houses burned. Although it was perhaps the largest fire in recent memory, the fire department was able to get it under control, and in some places slave walls (stone walls from colonial times) stopped the spread.

I was in the area on Friday, and took a few minutes to walk the area. I was particularly interested to see if any animal remains would be there, particularly the Leeward Island racer, a snake which is effectively extinct on the island. As it turned out, aside from thousands of burnt and crumbling snail shells, there wasn’t much to see. It was quite odd, though, to walk through the burned area. As you can see in the photos, without grass and brush, it’s very clear how little soil there is in much of the island.

If you’re like me, you often need to identify Caribbean animals, and it’s not always easy to find resources on the web, so I figured I’d post links to some of my favorites.

The Catalog of the Lepidoptera of the French Antilles is a site in both French and English that features most of the butterflies and moths of this area. A few groups are missing (Hespirids, Pyralids, etc.) but the families that are present are well represented with photos and descriptions. The focus is primarily on Guadeloupe and Martinique, but distribution in St. Martin and St. Barths is also noted.

The Museum of Comparative Zoology Caribbean Insect Database is sometimes down, but when it’s accessible it’s a great place to find thousands of specimen photos.

Father Sanchez’s Web Site of West Indian Natural History is a terrific overview of West Indian fauna with tons of photos. It includes the full range of vertebrates and invertebrates, plus information about many plants and fungi.

The Action Nature St. Martin Guide is in French and has quite a few of the species on Saint Martin.

Mark de Silva’s page at the Moth Photographers Group is primarily focused on the Grenadines, but many of the species are found throughout the Caribbean.

The Caribbean Spiders Photo Gallery by Jo-Anne Sewlal is a great place to see photos of various spiders from different families.

Tom Murray’s Florida Butterfly Database features many species also found in the Caribbean.

BatHead has a Caribbean Bat Guide that is really terrific, plus information about which species are on each island.

Caribherp will help you identify your West Indian reptiles and amphibians. The site is very comprehensive and includes photos.

The Virgin Islands Arthropod Database is a handy resource for checking to see what species might be nearby, although you will have to go elsewhere to get photos.

And, of course, no list would be complete without The Incomplete Guide to the Wildlife of Saint Martin. With information and photos of about 300 species, it is far from comprehensive, but it is a good place to start understanding the wildlife of Saint Martin and the northern Lesser Antilles as well.

UPDATE: Barbara reminded me of the Biological Inventory of Sint Maarten, which offers an excellent overview about the flora and fauna of the island and a very valuable list of references for digging deeper.