The Urban Pantheist

Sorry Mr. Bullfinch, I don't take sugar in my coffee!
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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.

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Fort Barrington is an Antigua and Barbuda National Park, but there is no interpretation, signage, park rangers, or even a paved road. It's not hard to get to, however, and is a fun hike.
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Or since we're only on the one island is it a lesser antille?


One of the neighboring houses has the worst/best driveway I've ever seen.

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A zenaida dove, Zenaida aurita, incubates eggs on a nest on a light fixture on the garage.

Like its close relative the mourning dove, the zenaida dove has no qualms about nesting near human habitation. This bird, common throughout the Caribbean (national bird of Anguilla) carries out much of its activity around people. On our recent stay in Antigua we saw them drinking from a swimming pool, fighting on rooftops, and perched everywhere on eaves, ledges and ornamental plants. They eat seeds and the crumbs of human foods derived from seeds, and occasionally insects. Their cooing song makes for a pleasant morning wake up call.

This dove was named for the wife (and cousin) of naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte (both could claim Emperor Napoleon as their uncle). There are six other doves with the Genus name Zenaida. This dove is usually called "turtle dove" on English speaking islands, or sometimes referred to as a "mourning dove." I saw three other dove species on Antigua (though Wikipedia claims there are nine total--more visits needed!): the much smaller ground dove, the larger white-crowned pigeon, and the feral rock pigeon.

As you know, since you read my journal, a house can be natural habitat for wildlife. In and around a house there can be many factors that encourage certain kinds of animals. At the house we stayed in Antigua, the main attractants were lights at night, and dining outdoors during the day.


Lesser Antillean bullfinches area attracted to the activities surrounding breakfast. These bold songbirds essentially fill the house sparrow niche, and are found wherever people are on the island.
( many more, including one dead one )

We always see a lot of domestic animals when we visit, including horses, donkeys, various breeds of cows and myriad sheep and goats. This time we encountered more dogs and cats for some reason. It wasn't too surprising to meet Socks and Rocco since they belong to Alexis' aunt and uncle who live there.

Socks

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This street in St. Johns (Antigua's capitol, a small and dense city of 20,000 people) shows a central drainage ditch. The water ends up in a small brackish swamp in the harbor. The oily mud is full of fiddler crabs, and you can see lots of white herons in the bushes when you drive opposite that part of the harbor. Actually getting to that part was a little tricky, involving crossing two vacant lots and attracting strange looks. When I spoke my intention to get down there, my mother in law warned me "It's horrible!" Well, I've seen worse. I'm glad I went there, I saw...( Read more... )

How about a random selection of vacation pictures? From Aphid to Zenaida. ( Read more... )