21 April, 2015

Shake your tambourine

Always interesting around here.  Some big wind and waves have washed more (and more) Sargassum to shore and sand away from shore.
Big wave breaking over the dock in the early morning.  You can also see a little Sargassum in the water at the right edge of the photo.  When the day starts like this, there is usually more to come.  :-(
Even though the waves were high at the shore, just a little farther out it tends to be flatter.  A big yacht, I think from one of the big hotels in Placencia, was anchored that morning while their guests took a guided tour up the Monkey River.
Safe anchor about 1/3 mile off our beach.  This is the best spot around for big boats to anchor without damaging the coral.
Click below on JJ Cale, one of the best song writers ever, to hear him and Eric Clapton play "After Midnight" as the musical accompaniment to the rest of this exhibition.



This lovely green headed tree snake (Leptophis mexicanus) was letting it all hang out on the bracket holding our satellite dish.  It apparently likes to eat small lizards.
Just look at that bright green head and that long skinny body.

A black racing strip along the side.
Lovely large eyes.
It really posed for the camera.
The black racing stripe runs the full length of the snake, separating its paler belly from the brown back.
I do believe that this large green iguana would be too much for the green-headed tree snake to handle.  For weeks in late March and early April, we watched this big girl walk at least once a day from north to south along our beach.  She would sometimes climb into palm trees or noni bushes for some sun.  These iguanas, which are quite common, average more than 5 ft in length when mature!  Causing talk and suspicion, she probably laid her eggs on our south lot where quite a few nest sites are located.  In a few more weeks we should see dozens of little baby green iguanas running around.  Talk about shaking your tambourine!"
Female green iguana, stopping for a breather in front of our cabana.  Her foot prints are each about 4 or 5 inches long.
This little basilisk lizard is more the size that the green-headed tree snake would eat.  Can you see him?  No?  He sure hopes the snake won't either!
He blends in very well.
Zooming in a little closer you can see this young fellow still needs to grow up and find out what it is all about.  He will get to be about 2 feet or so long.
Those big back feet help propel it over the surface of water when startled, hence its colloquial name of Jesus Christ lizard.
Another fun group of lizards to see (and hear!) are the geckos, which are nocturnal.  I saw these 2 on the back veranda, hanging around after midnight. Well, not quite that late, but certainly after dark.  They make chirping sounds and for years I thought I was hearing birds during the night; turns out it was geckos all along.
Letting it all hang out on the underside of the pergola on the back veranda.
It has its eyes on the hummingbird feeder.
While I was talking the photo above, I saw a quick movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see something on the other side of the hummingbird feeder.
"You distract her while I run to the feeder!"
"uh-oh. busted."
"May as well chugalug and shout."
Uhmmmm.  Tastes like peaches and cream.
Now that I found out what that chirping "is all about", I finally understand why these geckos are so plump! 


17 comments:

  1. Not too many big waves I hope Wilma. What about coastal erosion in your area.
    By the way, Clapton is God (Well almost).

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    1. The waves weren't too bad. We don't seem prone to coastal erosion in the long haul, although the sand does seem to come and go seasonally. Yes - Clapton is God. ;-) I could listen to him endlessly. (Well almost).

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  2. Love the Green-headed tree snake Wilma. The Basilisk too ( it took me a while to spot it in the first pic). Still getting sent to the App Store, think the problem is possibly at my end not yours.

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    1. That tree snake is something, isn't it? Basilisks are real cuties when they are young and quite handsome with a crest when mature. Don't know what the deal is with the App store; no one else has mentioned a problem and I can't find a link to it anywhere in my blog setup.

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  3. Great stuff Wilma, so fascinating to see the wildlife from your side of the world for a change. I remember going back to Jamaica for a second year running, after there had been a hurricane during the autumn, and part of the long sandy beach had been washed away to just leave rocks and soil.

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    1. I hope I never become jaded to the flora and fauna around here; I still find it endlessly fascinating. I wonder what that beach in Jamaica looks like now? It probably recovered, although no guarantees. Around here it seems the sand just moves from one spot to another and then back again, although there are some areas that seem to lose more than they gain and vice versa. Cheers!

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  4. A great set of exotic, to me anyway, creatures though I think they would give me the heebie jeebees.

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    1. Says the man who recently had a post about the hundreds of spiders in his garden! :-) They are still pretty exotic to me, too, and I can't get enough.

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  5. Wilma, the beach in Jamaica was Negril.

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    1. I'll have to check it out on Google Earth. I bet they hauled sand in if it didn't come back naturally.

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  6. Replies
    1. Awww shucks, thanks! I bet that is just the pain meds talking. ;-)

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  7. "I looked in Miami, I looked Negril, the closest I came was a month old bill.." Sunspot Baby by Bob Seger
    Great blog. I really enjoy reading about your life in Belize. Thanks.

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  8. Sorry about the typo! "I looked in Negril"

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    1. Glad you like it, Anonymous. and thanks for additional lyrics.

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  9. Wow, a snake on the satellite dish...........hope you don't need to readjust the dish anytime soon..........

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    1. We were actually hoping that it would improve the connection, which has been pretty sucky lately!

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