Cuba's Lizards

I encountered several species of lizard whilst in Cuba. I have to admit, though, that I don't know any IDs. Some are certainly Anoles with their flamboyant throat displays!

Here is a selection of photographs taken mainly around our hotel pool in Varadero (don't forget to click on them to see then large...);

The next two photos were taken during a typical Caribbean sunset as this chap peaked round a tree and the sun light shone only on his head...

 

Still a few more post to come from Cuba - I'm draggin them out!

Daniel

Tody-Tastic!

In August I spent 15 days on the wonderful island of Cuba!

This wasn't a wildlife trip but I made the most of things by getting up early most mornings whilst in Varadero and wandering around the mangroves near out hotel. I also spent two days in Zapata. In total I saw around 100 species of bird with 90 of them being new. Most of the new birds were exciting but one bird in particular stole the show, the Cuban Tody!

This beautiful endemic is supposedly common across Cuba but I struggled to locate one outside of Zapata. Other carrbean islands boast a Tody of their own, including the Jamaican Tody and Puerto Rican Tody! The majority of which are also endemic to their islands of residence!

I only saw 2 birds and both were in Zapata, the male I photographed was a superstar! The top photo is probably my favourite form the trip because they bounce about so fast in gloomy conditions and waving a 500mm lense around is tiring work! I shot at 800 ISO with the aperature wide open and still only got a shutter of 1/80 so was amazed this top one came out sharp, especially as I was shaking with excitement, sweating from the heat/humidity and being eaten alive by mosquitos!

 

 

 

 

Apologies for Tody-overload! I'll try and be a little more selective with the rest of my Cuban posts...