The Antigua pics keep on coming
Oh god this is a huge pile of photos. Don't worry, after this is the snapshots, then the rest were taken when my camera was acting weird so only a few of them are any good. Enjoy a wide range of pics of Antigua!
There are several kinds of dove and pigeon in Antigua, this one is the white-crowned pigeon Patagioenas leucocephala. These birds are suffering from the disappearance of their breeding habitat, mangrove swamps.
While walking up the hill to the tree on Sunday I noticed water in the usually bone-dry drainage ditch (also it's at a very steep pitch, but fallen leaves kept some of the water from draining away). And I noticed a crab in the water.
I took a bunch of pictures of the weeds that grow along the side of the road there--pressure from goats means that the plants that survive are thorny, poisonous, or both.
I don't know what this one is, I'm pretty sure I haven't caught it when it was fruiting or flowering.
Small black and brown birds flit about everywhere--most of the ones I saw were Lesser Antillean Bullfinches. This one, however is a female black-faced grassquit Tiaris bicolor. The two species are easy to confuse, but their behavior is very different. The bullfinches hang around people waiting to steal crumbs, while the grassquits stay away, quickly crossing paths and darting into the bush.
Further up the hill I found another crab, this one mostly out of the water.
I put a stick into its grasp and hauled it out of the ditch for a photo. Then I placed it into the nearest puddle in the drainage ditch.
Mexican poppy, poisonous AND prickly, and likes dry soil. I saw tons of these.
Near the edge of the goat path I found this weed--the flowers indicate that it's in the nightshade family.
I came up from the goat path via a slightly different route this day, and found a nearly perfect goat skull.
I hung it in the tree, facing the house so that it might be visible through binoculars.
Speaking of that tree, I took a picture of the leaves and flowers, to ascertain that it was not a poisonous Manchineel tree.
I still don't know what it is, but I ruled that out. Still probably toxic to some degree, since the goats haven't eaten it to death.
This is a look down the hill toward another bay. Maybe Hawksbill bay? Alexis says it's Galley Bay.
And another view down, toward some houses, some ranch land, and a couple hoping for a little privacy.
This is another nightshade, but with oak-shaped leaves. I think there are at least three different nightshades growing wild on this hill. It makes sense, since it is a family known for its toxins.
And this is yet another one--maybe the same species as the first lance-leafed one above?
Tiny brown flowers on this plant remind me of black swallow-wort, but I don't think it's related.
Same plant, with the hairy little fruit pods visible.
And the same plant's fruit, dried and releasing seeds.
I wish I'd taken more pictures like this, showing the villages on the island. This is a section of Five Islands Village, near to where we stayed.
And something about this tethered donkey next to a suburban home captures the feeling of an Antiguan village.
There are several kinds of dove and pigeon in Antigua, this one is the white-crowned pigeon Patagioenas leucocephala. These birds are suffering from the disappearance of their breeding habitat, mangrove swamps.
While walking up the hill to the tree on Sunday I noticed water in the usually bone-dry drainage ditch (also it's at a very steep pitch, but fallen leaves kept some of the water from draining away). And I noticed a crab in the water.
I took a bunch of pictures of the weeds that grow along the side of the road there--pressure from goats means that the plants that survive are thorny, poisonous, or both.
I don't know what this one is, I'm pretty sure I haven't caught it when it was fruiting or flowering.
Small black and brown birds flit about everywhere--most of the ones I saw were Lesser Antillean Bullfinches. This one, however is a female black-faced grassquit Tiaris bicolor. The two species are easy to confuse, but their behavior is very different. The bullfinches hang around people waiting to steal crumbs, while the grassquits stay away, quickly crossing paths and darting into the bush.
Further up the hill I found another crab, this one mostly out of the water.
I put a stick into its grasp and hauled it out of the ditch for a photo. Then I placed it into the nearest puddle in the drainage ditch.
Mexican poppy, poisonous AND prickly, and likes dry soil. I saw tons of these.
Near the edge of the goat path I found this weed--the flowers indicate that it's in the nightshade family.
I came up from the goat path via a slightly different route this day, and found a nearly perfect goat skull.
I hung it in the tree, facing the house so that it might be visible through binoculars.
Speaking of that tree, I took a picture of the leaves and flowers, to ascertain that it was not a poisonous Manchineel tree.
I still don't know what it is, but I ruled that out. Still probably toxic to some degree, since the goats haven't eaten it to death.
This is a look down the hill toward another bay. Maybe Hawksbill bay? Alexis says it's Galley Bay.
And another view down, toward some houses, some ranch land, and a couple hoping for a little privacy.
This is another nightshade, but with oak-shaped leaves. I think there are at least three different nightshades growing wild on this hill. It makes sense, since it is a family known for its toxins.
And this is yet another one--maybe the same species as the first lance-leafed one above?
Tiny brown flowers on this plant remind me of black swallow-wort, but I don't think it's related.
Same plant, with the hairy little fruit pods visible.
And the same plant's fruit, dried and releasing seeds.
I wish I'd taken more pictures like this, showing the villages on the island. This is a section of Five Islands Village, near to where we stayed.
And something about this tethered donkey next to a suburban home captures the feeling of an Antiguan village.