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

Naturalist Notes: People-watching

Earlier on this week I was sitting in one of my favorites spots in Arima people watching, as I like to do ever so often.  About fifteen feet down from me was a street vendor selling CD/DVDS, with him was a medium size music set up. He played Christmas carols, slows, rock, oldies, hip hop, reggae, quite a wide selection of songs, changing them ever so often. It was so interesting to see people from all different walks of life singing or just humming to a song as they passed.  There was an elderly lady sitting right next to me and she was singing away to Stevie Wonder’s “I just called to say I love you”. School kids, Men, Women, Africans, Indians, Douglas, Chinese, as they walked by they were enjoying one song or the other. Even though we are different in so many was, I believe music is one of the many threads that ties humanity together, can you think of others?

Denise Etienne

Naturalist Notes: Doing the right thing

I was sitting on the corner yesterday evening, enjoy the cool breezes that soothes my soul. Then I noticed a young man in school uniform walking by, I’m guessing he wasn’t more than about 13 or 14 years old. In his hand was a small empty soft drink bottle, which he attempted to dunk (as if playing basketball) into a medium sized dumpster that was at the side of a wall. Unfortunately for him, he missed his target and the bottle ended up in the drain.  I must say that I was surprised at what happened next! Even though there were several other pieces of trash on the ground.  This young man stopped, got down into the drain to retrieve his bottle and then placed it where it rightly belonged. I felt so proud of him, I smiled and said loudly, you did the right thing young man!

 There are serious consequences to littering e.g., flooding, causing harm to wildlife…

Naturalist Notes: Patience

It’s been over two weeks since I've hung my bird feeders and all that I have attracted thus far, is ants! To me this really reiterates that one needs to have a whole lot of patience when dealing with our avian friends. I’ll keep you posted, hopefully it won’t be long now.

Denise Etienne

Happy Davali!

Naturalist Notes: Hummingbird Feeders

Recently I got two hummingbirds feeders which I anxiously hung this morning. I think hummingbirds are like small jewels, here one minute and gone the next.

When placing these feeders in your yard or garden make sure to put them among flowers, this makes it easier for the birds to find. It is important that you use only white sugar, because other sugars—such as raw and brown— contain iron and other impurities that can poison hummingbirds. The mixture should be one part sugar to four parts water.

I wonder who will be the first at my feeders, I’ll keep you posted!

Naturalist Notes: Bananaquit

Bananaquit ~ © Watercolor by BeatriceBork

Boisterous
Ambitious
Notorious
Adventurous
Nosy
Acrobatic
Quick
Ubiquitous
Intriguing
Thief's

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist Notes: Golden-olive Woodpecker

Golden Olive Woodpecker 

There are 5 species of woodpeckers in Trinidad. Pictured above is the Golden-olive which is one of the smaller woodpeckers, and is found on both islands. Most male woodpeckers  have a red malar stripe (from the base of the bill to the side of the neck) while the the female lacks this trait. This species primarily feed on insects, but will occasionally take fruits.  

© Denise Etienne

Naturalist Notes: Golden Tegu Lizard

Golden Tegu Lizard

I have encountered endless of these Golden Tegu lizards in the Northern part of the island. It is locally called a Matte, in Tobago they are known as Salipainter. They normally get to about 3 feet in length, with black and gold stripes along their bodies. They eat insects, birds, mammals, fruits, fish and even bread at times. They are definitely not picky eaters!

Even though they are ground lizards, the female often climbs into an active termite nest well off the ground to deposit her eggs. Once the eggs hatch, out comes the babies with an availability of food, the termites!

© Denise Etienne