Puerto Rico, land of enchantment and surprises

My partner and I went to Puerto Rico for 9 days. I am not big on just laying out in the sun so I took some photos of the local biodiversity. It was the greatest orgy of nature exploration I've ever had. It's amazing to be in a place where you can walk in the sea with a phone or camera because the waves are generally so small, and where you can hike up thousands of vertical feet across a whole series of ecological communities, and where the mushrooms, orchids, warblers and other creatures are so present and visible.

First we went to San Juan, where I was surprised by the number of wild chickens as well as by the very good tide pools right next to Old San Juan, in the La Perla neighborhood. It was right there that we saw our first amazing Caribbean creatures like gobies (Bathygobius) and Atlantic seargeant major fish (Abudefduf saxatilis, what a great binomial). There were also hundreds of Sally Lightfoot crabs, Grapsus grapsus, skittering everywhere on the rocks by the sea.

Speaking of crabs, there are endless parades of Caribbean land hermit crabs, Coenobita clypeatus, just about everywhere in San Juan and elsewhere we went in PR. The excessive numbers of sea grapes (Coccoloba uvifera) seem to have created a prime environment for plant pathogens like the sea grape gall midge Ctenodactylomyia watsoni and the sea grape flatid, Petrusa epilepsis. Many also had leaf mines. I was surprised to see huge termite nests and tunnels right by the national historic site in Old San Juan. There are also gigantic iguanas patrolling the parks, running away from overeager tourists.

The bird life is surprisingly scant, but there are many greater Antillean grackles, Quiscalus niger, starting at the airport. Also some interesting pigeons and doves, and over the course of the trip we saw a fair number of plovers and other shorebirds.

More to come...

Posted on May 4, 2024 03:05 AM by steven-cyclist