Naturalist Notes: Update/Correction - Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar

In my last post I thought I had a Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar on my Tomato plant. However, after doing some more research I discovered in fact that it is actually a Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar. They are very similar in appearances. One of the major differences between the two Caterpillars are along their bodies; the Tobacco Hornworm has 7 diagonal lines, while the Tomato Hornworm has 8 lateral “V” formations. In addition, the “horn-like tail” is pink in the Tobacco and black in the Tomato Caterpillar. Both plants, Tobacco and Tomato belong to the Solanaceae family.

Last week I was searching for the Caterpillar and I just couldn’t find it. Apparently, as they mature they drop off the plants and burrow into the soil to pupate (no wonder why it was invisible!). They emerge about 2 weeks later, and out comes an adult Sphinx, Hawk or Hummingbird Moth. I'll keep you posted if I am so lucky to see one!

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist Notes: Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar

Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar © Denise Etienne

Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar © Denise Etienne

A couple days ago I was outside admiring my lovely tomato plants, which has quite a few fruits on it, you can imaging I felt like a proud mother!

To my surprise, I discovered a creature who also thought highly of my plants! It is called a Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar. It is approx 3 ½ inches long, with a distinctive " horn" (hence the name) on it’s rear end and several diagonal stripes along the body. He was happily consuming the leaves and stems.

Today I went searching of him and it’s like he has totally just vanished! I must have spent over ½ hour looking to no avail. It’s either one of two things, i) he must have pupated or ii) he was lunch for the neighboring birds. Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted...

© Denise Etienne

PS:  Thanks for your comments Timothy, I've tried countless times to reply to you but for whatever reason this page isn’t allowing me to respond anymore, its really weird? 
Take care,

Red-tailed Squirrel 

It has been quite a while since I last saw a Red-tailed Squirrel. Today we visited the Botanical Gardens and saw over seven different individuals.  They all seemed to be having a ball, jumping, sprinting and chasing. These small rodents mainly feed on fruits, twigs, flowers and insects.

© Denise Etienne

Pentas 

Pentas are these beautiful star-shaped flowers which attracts butterflies and occasionally hummingbirds. The come in a variety of colors including red, purple, pink and even white. They usually grow in clusters, and relish in sunlight.

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist Notes: Rain...

Mystically falling

Countless drops

Crystal clear

Cleansing washing

Making new

© Denise Etienne

Caribbean Flamingo   © Denise Etienne

You may remember that I recently took a trip to the Emperor Valley zoo. They have a beautiful exhibit of the Caribbean Flamingos, if you haven’t seen it as yet you should go check it out!

These birds are quite striking with their long legs and necks, with a height of approximately 3.5 to 4.5 feet tall. Occasionally because of their unique bright pink plumage, they are easily confused with the Scarlet Ibis, but as you can see they are much bigger birds.

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist Notes: Blooming Immortelles

Immortelles blooming   © Denise Etienne

Presently  in the northern range there are countless amounts of Immortelle trees in full bloom. Their bright orange flowers attract numerous species of birds including: hummingbirds, honeycreepers, orioles, one can even observe Parrots and Oropendolas feeding. This tree was especially grown to shade Cocoa and Coffee.

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist Notes: Ocelot

Ocelot at the Emperor Valley Zoo

Today we took a trip to the Zoo. It was my little nephew's first visit and his favorite animal was the baby Red Howler Monkey. For me, I always love seeing the Ocelots. I think they have a mysterious aura about them. They seem so quiet and reserved. This is also the only native wild cat found on the island.

© Denise Etienne

Season Greetings!

Naturalist Notes:New Adventure

This morning the manager and I took a short walk to explore the environment of our new work place, Amanecer~Retreat and Spa. This is a new hotel situated in the 

Lopinot Valley, surrounded by lush rainforest. Originally it was a cocoa and coffee plantation, to date there are numerous other fruit trees.

As we ventured up the quiet road looking at the flora, I decided to imitate the call of the Ferruginous Pygmy Owl to see who or what we would attract. Suddenly the forest became alive with sounds, we heard the Violaceous Euphonia (which is locally called Semp) Rufous-breasted Wren, Golden-headed Manakin and Orange-winged Parrots were squawking as they flew overhead. A family of Golden-fronted Greenlets was peeping at us, luckily we were able to see them. In the distance ahead we caught a glimpse of the Long-billed Gnatwren as he hurriedly disappeared into the bamboo. We also saw quite a few species of butterflies, including the Red Rim, Red Anartia and Blue Transparent, which is really cool because you can literally see though his wings! Amongst all that we saw on our short stroll today, for me the pinnacle was the view of a peaceful, trickling stream of crystal clear water. I hope to keep you posted of more discoveries as time goes along.

Denise Etienne

The Bird Whisperer