Friends-
I mentioned last time that we were enjoying a visit from some of Paula's family while we were here on Tilloo. In addition to those folks, we have had several "critter" visitors with whom we share our island paradise. Of course, there are the regulars...the hermit crabs, curly-tailed lizards, and the anoles, plus we've seen the two American Oystercatchers that were on our beach last year.
Here are some shots of some of our other visitors.
When our neighbors, Don and Stephanie, were here, Don found a five foot Abaco Island Boa (Epicrates exsul). Over the years we have probably seen a dozen or so of these guys, but never one this large. They are harmless to humans and feed on small mammals, birds, and the aforementioned lizards.
We've also have a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), who likes to stroll up and down our path at night. We have encountered him (or her) a few times, but we always see lots of tracks in the sand each morning. Here's a shot of him wading in the water.
Living underneath our dock, in amongst some rubble left over from previous docks (this is our third), we have a beautiful 3.5 foot Green Moray Eel (Gymnothorax funebris). We've seen him (or her?) half a dozen times this year. He's pretty shy but he does venture out from time to time. Paula managed to get a photo of him a week or so ago. If you look closely you will also see some gray snapper and a sargent major or two.
A couple of times when we have ventured out onto the dock we have seen a medium sized Southern Stingray (Dasyatis americana) buried up in the sand resting. This one is about three feet across from wingtip to wingtip and maybe five and a half feet nose to tail.
A couple of days before the guests left us we were fishing out on the dock and noticed a large dark shape approaching in the water from the north. It turned out to be a young Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). While the photo doesn't really show the distinctive coloring, we all noticed the pattern and later confirmed the species in our fish book. This animal was at least five feet long and hung around the dock for several minutes before cruising off to the south.
Of course, our most important and enjoyable visitors were Paula's family. Brother Michael and his wife Andrea and sister Jean (aka Sis) stayed here for a week. We fished, we talked, we walked on the beach, we visited Hope Town, we swam at Tilloo Bank, we had a grand old time. Here is the whole crew in Hope Town with the Elbow Reef Light in the background.
That's (left to right) Sis, Michael, Andrea and you probably know those other two.
We've only got ten more days on Tilloo...where has the time gone. We've still got so much to do before we get back to civilization! More beach walking, shell collecting, napping, etc., etc.
Our adventure continues...
P&P