This post is not as indelicate as the title might imply. It is not a practical guide for intimate examinations of tiny birds. Nor does refer to some louche activity involving large motor vehicles. It’s all about plumage and recognition. And there are only two species – and two genders for each one – to wrestle with*.So here are the adult male and female Bahama Woodstars and Cuban Emeralds in all their glory…
Cuban Emerald (f) Gilpin Point, Abaco (Keith Salvesen)
And finally, a brilliant Woodstar photo taken by Tom Sheley, birdman and generous fishing partner, that spans the boundary between wildlife photography and art.
Bahama Woodstar female. Abaco Bahamas . Tom Sheley
There have been very rare reports of vagrant sightings, in particular Anna’s Hummingbird
It’s often a hard decision whether to include a short piece of video footage in a post. By short, I mean less than a minute. On the one hand, there is usually a good reason for inclusion, even if only aesthetic. On the other, it simply takes up more time for busy people who may prefer to flick through an article and enjoy some nice images along the way. Today, you can have the best of both worlds.
Sanderlings are definitively ‘peeps’, a group name that embraces the smallest and squeakiest sandpiper species. They are the wave chasers, the tiny birds that scuttle along the beach, into the retreating tide for a snack from the sand, and back to the beach again as the waves creep in. Their little legs and feet move in a blur, and many people immediately think of wind-up clockwork toys as they watch the birds in action. But these charmers never wind down while there is shoreline foraging to be done.
One of the joys of being a sanderling is that rock pools fill and empty diurnally. At some time during daylight, there’s the certainty of a quick dip. I was lying on the beach when I took this short video, so that I didn’t spook the birds. I was equipped with a smallish camera (I drowned it the following day. By mistake I mean) so I kept my distance rather than try to get closer and spoil their joyful bathing.
I caught these little birds at a critical moment. You can tell that the tide is coming in fast. The peeps are becoming edgy, and weighing up the joys of immersion in a pool with the less enjoyable prospect of being washed out of the pool by the next wave. Within a minute or so, they had all flocked down the shoreline for a foraging session in new territory.
Waves and incoming tide getting a little too close for comfort on the edge of the pool…
Next to the migratory PIPING PLOVERS that favour Abaco as their winter home, the wave chasers are my favourite shorebirds. It was my keenness on them that killed my camera. I went out into the incoming waves to get shots back at the beach with the sun behind me. Great idea until I lost my balance with, as they say, hilarious consequences. Lesson learnt – never turn your back on waves.
Imagine that you are swimming along resplendent in your snorkeling gear (me) – or in scuba gear for the advanced swimmer (you). There, below you, camouflaged against the sea bottom is a fish. A strange-shaped brown sort of creature with odd side fins. As it progresses over the gravelly sand, your immediate reaction is ‘What the f…?’ Its fins seem to be turning into… wings. Like this:
Yes, it’s a flying gurnard. Unlike flying fish, it can’t actually fly through the air. But once its wings are fully spread, it certainly looks as though it could.
WHAT’S THE POINT OF THE WINGS IF THE THING CAN’T FLY?
This gurnard species usually gets around using its ventral fins as ‘legs’, with the pectoral fins (‘wings’) close to the body. There seem to be several possible reasons for possessing the ‘sudden-deployment-of-flashy-wings’ superpower.
It surprises and deters predators by movement, turning prospective prey into an apparently different creature
Bright or lurid colouring may be a deterrent warning of a foul-tasting or poisonous species (APOSEMATISM)
A creature may actually be harmless and even tasty (as here) but may appear to be unpalateable or poisonous(BATESIAN MIMICRY)
In any event, the wings enable the fish to take off from the sea bottom and travel faster by ‘flying’ thought the water to escape a predator
Here’s a short video of a flying gurnard on the move, from ‘Sia Big Fish’
Credits: All main images Adam Rees / Scuba Works with many thanks as ever, except final one ‘cralize wiki’; Hyperallergic for the historic image; Sia Big Fish for the video
WHEN NEW PROVIDENCE WAS OLD: MAPPING BAHAMAS HISTORY
‘Exact Draught of the Island of New Providence
One of the Bahama Islands in the West Indies’
ORIENTATION
Lateral thinking is one thing; topsy-turvy thinking is in another league. The map that graces the top of this page is of New Providence and Nassau in the the early c18. By today’s exacting mapping conventions, which historically were less rigorously observed, it is upside-down, with Nassau on what we would call the south-west corner. However the convention that maps were orientated to the North was not generally accepted before C19. And in the middle ages maps were mostly orientated to the East (whence the term ‘orientating’). With advancing survey techniques from C17 on, maps were mostly orientated to the South like this map of New Providence.
DATE
The map is undated on the face of it, and I have found attributed dates of both 1700 and 1750 (see below). It could be anywhere in-between. At the time this map was made, New Providence was sparsely populated except for Nassau itself; and little was known about the island’s interior. Contemporary accounts describe a haven for pirates operating around the coastline. Not for nothing was Nassau protected by a battery and a fort. I’ve divided to map into sections to make it easier to take a closer look at each area. You can click each to enlarge.
1. TOP LEFT CORNER(the south-east of NP in actuality), with the compass pointing downwards to the north. A smattering of houses dot the ‘west’ coast. There is one significant property above Little Sound, standing in what looks like a cleared or even cultivated area. I’ll look at that in more detail below. Note the words above The Great Salt Water Sound: “Very High Pines Grow Here Aboue (sic)”, evidence that forests of tall pines familiar even today on Abaco were found on NP 300 years ago. The island is otherwise mostly marked as if the landscape was fairly open.
2.TOP RIGHT CORNER (south-west & west), with the confident title in a cartouche proclaiming exactness. This was not uncommon in historic map-making – the cartographical equivalent of today’s boastful product slogans – ‘simply the best’ and so on**. The caption next to the Great Sound, This Part of the Country is little Known, suggests an unexplored and perhaps hostile environment – possibly one of marshes and bogs. This sector of the island appears to have been uninhabited, or at least to having no population centres worth recording.
3. BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER (north-west). At last there is more evidence habitation, with a string of dwellings along the coastline. The 2 cays shown have names, West End and ‘Pellican’. And it looks as though the two ships have set out from port. On the left side of the bay above them, a church can be seen. Initially I thought the double row of crosses might indicate an area close to the shoreline that might be safe – or at least safer – from pirate attack. The leading ship – as the detailed crop shows clearly – is a warship. No harm in romantically speculating that it is escorting a trading vessel… More recently an online friend Klausbernd told me that the double crosses on map are in fact a navigational aid indicating cross bearings.
4.BOTTOM MIDDLE SECTION As we move towards the main – indeed only – town on the island, it is clear that the northern coast was the most desirable place to live. The scattering of houses along the coast continues; and the captions for the ponds show a possible reason why: fresh water, on an island where other areas of water are actually marked as ‘salt’ or which might have been unpleasantly brackish. And now we can see more of the posh establishment I referred to above. Not only did it lie in open (or perhaps cultivated) country, but it was plainly of some importance. It is notably larger that other buildings depicted, for a start; and it has its own very long track that forks off the coastal track.
5. BOTTOM LEFT CORNER: NASSAU We have reached the big city, the centre of the population, and the port – with the harbour entrance handily marked. It bore the same name then as now; though the other names marked (as far as I can make out) have mostly if not all changed over 3 centuries. The Baha Mar development and its attendant travails seem light years away from this map. The double line of crosses ends here (bottom right at the first cay). If they marked a safe zone for vessels passing back and forth into Nassau harbour, they did not need to extend further because of the town fortifications (see detailed crop). There is a fort right on the shore; and at the far end of the harbour sound is a battery at Drewitt’s Point. The town is watched over by a substantial building – presumably a Governor’s residence – that is surrounded by a stockade . In the early c18 Nassau put on a show of strength to deter invaders and pirates.
DO WE KNOW THE EXACT DRAUGHT’S EXACT DATE?
The map itself is undated. The Library of Congress, whose map I have chopped up for this post, simply dates it as 17– and notes:
Manuscript, pen-and-ink and watercolor; Has watermark; Oriented with north to the bottom; Relief shown pictorially and by shading; Depths shown by soundings.
The excellent David Rumsey Historical Map Collection chooses the year 1750, the maker unknown. Another source puts the date at 1700.
Whichever, a clue to establish the map in the first half of the c18 is that the publisher is believed to be ‘William Innys [et al.]’, London. Innys and his brother John (the ‘et al’ presumably) were active at that time. In 1726, for example, they published an edition of Newton’s Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (first published in 1687), indicating that they must already have been well-established.
WHAT ABOUT THE PIRATES?
The “Deposition of Capt. Matthew Musson” made on 5 Jul 1717 in London, contains some excellent contemporary pirate-based material. The middle passage in particular gives an indication how well organised and extremely well-armed the pirates were. And it is clear that piracy was actually driving inhabitants away from New Providence.
“On March last he was cast away on the Bahamas. At Harbour Island he found about 30 families, with severall pirates, which frequently are comeing and goeing to purchase provissons for the piratts vessells at Providence. There were there two ships of 90 tons which sold provissons to the said pirates, the sailors of which said they belong’d to Boston”.
“At Habakoe one of the Bahamas he found Capt. Thomas Walker and others who had left Providence by reason of the rudeness of the pirates and settled there. They advis’d him that five pirates made ye harbour of Providence their place of rendevous vizt. [Benjamin] Horngold, a sloop with 10 guns and about 80 men; [Henry] Jennings, a sloop with 10 guns and 100 men; [Josiah(s)] Burgiss, a sloop with 8 guns and about 80 men; [Henry?] White, in a small vessell with 30 men and small armes; [Edward] Thatch, a sloop 6 gunns and about 70 men. All took and destroyd ships of all nations except Jennings who took no English; they had taken a Spanish ship of 32 gunns, which they kept in the harbour for a guardship”.
“Ye greatest part of the inhabitants of Providence are. already gone into other adjacent islands to secure themselves from ye pirates, who frequently plunder them. Most of the ships and vessells taken by them they burn and destroy when brought into the harbour and oblidge the menn to take on with them. The inhabitants of those Isles are in a miserable condition at present, but were in great hopes that H.M. would be graciously pleas’d to take such measures, which would speedily enable them to return to Providence their former settlement, there are severall more pirates than he can now give an accot. of that are both to windward and to leward of Providence that may ere this be expected to rendevous there he being apprehensive that unless the Governmt. fortify this place the pirates will to protect themselves”. Signed, Mathew Musson. Endorsed, Read 5th July, 1717. 1½ pp. [C.O. 5, 1265. No. 73.]
CAN I BUY THIS MAP FOR MY WALL?
You certainly can. Well, not an original obviously. But you can find prints of it on eBay and elsewhere – just google the map title. You can get a modern copy for around $20 + shipping
**I have an enjoyable example of this tendency on a William Guthrie map of Europe dated c1800 that I own. A map from “the beft authorities” could surely have no serious rival!
Credits: Library of Congress Online Catalog (Geography and Map Division); David Rumsey Historical Map Collection; Baylus C Brooks, Professional Research & Maritime Historian, Author, & Conservator / “America and West Indies: July 1717, 1-15,” in Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 29, 1716-1717, ed. Cecil Headlam (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1930), 336-344; Bonhams (Auctioneers). Thanks to Klaubernd for his advice on map orientations.
“CATCHING THE EYE”: OYSTERCATCHERS (+ BONUS ID TIP)
I’m focusing (ha!) on oystercatchers and their eyes. Like the extraordinary one in the header image. Notice the bright orangey-red ‘orbital ring’, the egg-yolk-reminiscent eye and the pitch black iris. An eye-catching and unmistakeable feature of this handsome black and white shorebird, the American Oystercatcher.
Here’s another AMOY eye, with a different smudge of black by the iris. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that AMOY specialists are able to ID individual birds at least in part by their different eye markings. And you can see that the eye-ring smartly matches the beak into the bargain.
This wonderful photograph of a loving AMOY pair with their precious egg safely encircled by a rocky nest was taken on LBI, NJ by ‘Northside Jim’, whose amazing photos I sometimes include. See how brightly the eyes of each bird stand out, like tiny archery targets.
The World is Mine Oyster
This well-captioned AMOY shot was generously put on Wiki by photographer Dan Pancamo
OYSTERCATCHER ID TIPS
A while ago, when I was choosing AMOY photographs for publication, I idly wondered what was the difference between them and Eurasian Oystercatchers (yes, yes, I hear you – apart from geographical, I mean…). At a first comparative glance, to me they looked remarkably similar in coloration and size. Assuming both species were to be discovered on the same shoreline, how best might one distinguish them? The main differences seemed to be:
Leg colouring differs, AMOY legs being generally pale pink as opposed to the stronger coloured legs of the EUROY (if they can be called that). However there are considerable EUROY variations (see below), from pink to orange to reddish, that are presumably seasonal. The leg colour, assuming they are visible to the watcher, is not quite a definitive identifier.
Both species have black heads and necks, but the AMOY’s back plumage shades to dark brown. But how distinctive would that be in low light or indifferent weather?
Mrs RH, looking over my shoulder, saw it at once: the eyes. If you can see the eyes, you can tell instantly what make of OY you are looking at. Here are a some Eurasian Oystercatchers showing their own distinctively red eyes and orbital rings.
As so often, I have since found that the excellent Birdorable site has nailed the differences clearly and simply. Eye colour, leg colour and – less obviously – the AMOY’s brownish back as opposed to the EUROY’s entirely black and white body. Sorted.
BRITTLE STARS are closely related to starfish, and in particular to Basket Stars. They are commonly known as “serpent stars”, having 5 long, thin arms that may grow as long as 2 feet long. There are lots of different types of brittle star – at least 2000 – and they are found in every ocean on earth from the poles to the tropics. In Bahamian waters they a commonly found living on reefs.
Although these creatures look primitive, their structure, nervous systems, respiratory systems, digestive systems, sex lives and transportation methods are incredibly complex. Take it from me – I’ve just read about it all. So I’ve decided to pick a few aspects of these creatures to highlight rather than discuss the minutiae of their ossicles (tiny bones), madroporites (a sort of water filter / pressure balancer) and viscera.
You are most likely to see Brittle Stars clinging to coral or sponges
A DOZEN BRITTLE STAR FACTS TO PLAY WITH
The star has no eyes and no sense organs as we know them, but can detect light chemically; and (why would they need this?) sense smell through their ‘feet’… [Not a superpower I would prize, but still]
The mouth is on the underside of the central disc (‘body’) of 5 segments, each with a toothed jaw
The mouth is used both for ingestion and, putting it delicately, egestion. [Nor that superpower]
Stars eat tiny organisms suspended in the water or mini-worms, gathering them with their arms
If I have understood this, they breathe through their armpits, and can excrete from here also
The arms fit the main part with ball and socket joints, and are flexible in all directions
The genitals seem to be located in or between the armpits (lucky we are not descended from stars)
Stars readily regenerate lost arms until they lose the 5th – then they are in real trouble
This enables them to shed an arm in a predator attack, like a lizard its tail
Trials indicate that a jettisoned arm cannot regenerate from itself
They use only 4 arms to move along, with the fifth ‘steering’ out in front or trailing behind
Brittle Stars are inedible but non-toxic
Often, brittle stars will cling on inside a sponge
Here is a great video from Neptune Canada of a brittle star fight on the ocean floor over the remains of a shrimp. If you watch the ones joining the fight, you will clearly see the locomotion method described above, with one limb pathfinding and the other four ‘walking’.
I’m not renowned for extreme sensitivity, so I feel no shame in showing mating brittle stars, courtesy of Channel Banks. It’s not exactly Lady Chatterley and Mellors, but the entwined arms are rather romantic, no?
Credits: all wonderful photos by Melinda Riger of Grand Bahama Scuba; BS infographic and viddys as credited
September 12th is the day chosen by Sea Shepherd to raise awareness and promote the conservation of dolphins. It was established on the one-year anniversary of the killing of 1,428 Atlantic white-sided dolphins in the Faroe Islands, which was the largest single slaughter of cetaceans in history.
As many will know, the marine mammals of the Bahamas – whales, dolphins and manatees – are researched and protected by the Bahamas Marine Mammal Research Organisation. It was established more than 20 years ago by Diane Claridge and Charlotte Dunn. Based for many years in Sandy Point, Abaco, the organisation has recently extended its operations to an office in Marsh Harbour.
BMMRO has a wide remit in marine mammal research and education. Young children are given an opportunity to learn what lies beyond the seashore. Older children have opportunities for combining learning with fun at the summer Whale Camps. There are learning groups and talks, and all schools are welcome to participate.
Plans in progress include establishing Whale Camps on other islands, such as Long Island and Eleuthera. There has also been outreach to Exuma and the Berry Islands.
At a more advanced level, BMMRO provides outstanding opportunities for older students to increase their knowledge and skills, to take these to higher education, and to prepare them for the life of a marine mammal researcher.
BMMRO has recently produced a comprehensive Field Guide featuring all 27 marine mammal species found in Bahamian waters. These give a great deal of information and are readily available.
You can find out more about the nature and scope of the work carried out by BMMRO HERE . The speed of the development of sundry critical threats to the world’s oceans and their denizens has been astonishing. It is now irreversible. Fortunately the number of ocean research and protection organisations has increased significantly as the situation worsens. Please consider making a donation to support the work of BMMRO, or (for those elsewhere in the world), to the marine mammal organisation in your area.
LEAD SCIENTISTS: Diane and Charlotte – pioneer researchers in the Bahamas over 4 decades
There are few more exhilarating sights in the world of birds than an osprey swooping from a great height down into the sea, emerging with a large fish held characteristically ‘fore and aft’ in its claws, and flying into the distance with heavy wing-beats.
This fantastic photograph of one of Abaco’s unique ground-nesting parrots was taken by ace photographer Nina Henry during the preparation and compilation of BIRDS OF ABACO. It’s the most special of the many we studied. The bird clearly displays the full fanning of its tail; and the image captures the bright colours perfectly. NH/RH/KS
The sounds are unmistakeable – a discordant chorus of soft chuckling noises like tongue-clicks as the RWTs flock into a bush, interrupted by harsh, metallic calls like rusty metal gate-hinges being forced open. Or maybe a lone bird mournfully repeating its eerie call from the mangroves far out on the Marls as the bonefishing skiffs slip silently along the shoreline. No other species sound quite like Agelaius phoeniceus.
The handsome males sport flashy epaulets, most clearly visible in flight or in display – for example to impress a prospective mate. Again, they are unlikely to be confused with another species.
The females, as is often the way, are less showy. I have read that they are ‘nondescript’ or ‘dull’, which is unnecessarily harsh, I reckon. Here are a couple of examples.
And the darker brown ones that are clearly not handsome black males? These are young males in their first season, before they move on to the full adult male plumage. Originally I had designated them as females (as I had assumed). I was very gently corrected by the legendary bird expert Bruce Hallett. I took the first male juvenile at Casuarina, when I also made the sound recording (below). The second was at Delphi (with some ‘light’ issues, I notice…).
Fledglings are kind of cute…
SO WHAT DO THEY SOUND LIKE?
You may need to turn up the volume a bit. You will also here a lot of dove noise and, in the background, the sound of waves lapping onto the shore.
Photo Credits: Tom Sheley (1, 2, 4, 5, 8); Alex Hughes (3); Keith Salvesen (6, 7, 9 & audio)
A few years ago I was wandering along a track in South Abaco looking for birds in the coppice, when I came across this aggressive-looking creature. I could only get a partial shot of the insect, and I wondered whether to try to reach towards it to get a more complete shot. Perhaps I could have, but extremely fortunately for me (as I later discovered) I didn’t touch it.
Afterwards, I read an article about these critters which prompted me to re-examine their status in nature’s ‘scary insect’ department. Q: how scary are they? A: of all the world’s most agonising stings, it is No. 3.
The creature turned out to be a Spider Wasp (aka Pepsis Wasp), of the Pompilidae family. The insect is familiarly known as a Tarantula Hawk, for reasons given in unsparing detail below. For it turns out that this creature would be the hardest bastard insect on Planet Bastard in the Galaxy Bastardion.
It’s lucky that I didn’t try to collect it to keep in a small box as a pet. Note, for start, the complex eating apparatus… and it’s not for nibbling leaves as I had thought, but chopping up small insects. The leg claws and barbs are for pinning down its prey. You would not believe how unpleasant these little buddies are – and that’s before we even mention the sting…
SPIDER WASPS IN ACTION
These wasps are known in some countries as “horse-killers”. The Pepsis wasp is a sub-species, and is called Tarantula Hawk because it hunts tarantulas and uses them in a most ingenious and cruel way… Some claim that these insects are unaggressive to humans – if you leave them alone, they will spare you. I’ve also read that“The tarantula hawk is relatively docile and rarely stings without provocation”Now read on to see if it might be sensible to provoke one or not.
SCARY CRITTERS & LIVING LARDERS
(Trigger Warning: this is really rather gross)
SPIDER WASPS are ‘solitary’ insects that feed on ground spiders / tarantulas by stinging them to paralyse them, then eating them. In the most sinister way, the females also make use of them for breeding purposes. Hear this! They build a nest in a burrow, find a spider (a tarantula for choice), paralyse it with their sting, drag it to the nest and lay a single egg on its abdomen. Then they seal up the burrow.
If of a nervous disposition, look away now
When the egg hatches, the larva chews a hole on the spider’s abdomen and enters a living larder. It gradually eat its host as it grows. The spider’s vital organs are left till last, so that the spider stays alive as long as possible until the larva has reached full-size. After several weeks, the larva spins a cocoon and pupates (often over winter). Finally, the wasp becomes an adult, bursts Alien-like from the spider’s abdomen (deftly evading Ripley), and tunnels out of the burrow…
Do NOT try this at home or more than 10 yards from a medical centre
SPIDER WASPS: MORE FEARFUL FACTS
Their hunting improves with experience – the more spiders they eat, the quicker they find, attack & kill them
Males use ‘perch territories’ to scan for receptive females from a tall plant or other vantage point, a behaviour known as HILL-TOPPING
Adult wasps also feed on a variety of plants for nectar & pollen. They may become intoxicated on fermented fruit, which affects their ability to get around (I think we’ve all been there at some time…)
The female Pepsis gets her spider in two main ways: approaching a tarantula causing it to rear up defensively on its legs, thus exposing its abdomen to the sting or
She locates a tarantula’s burrow, using her sense of smell. She tricks the spider into emerging by tweaking the web at the burrow’s entrance or ‘intruding’ (see video below)
The wasp uses her long stinger to stab her prey. The poison rapidly paralyses the spider. She then drags it to her burrow, lays her egg onto the tarantula’s abdomen, seals the burrow and leaves. Job done
The hooked claws and barbs on the wasps’ long legs are weapons for grappling with victims
The stinger of a female tarantula hawk can be up to 7 mm (1/3 inch) long – and the sting is among the most painful insect stings in the world (see below)
Only the females sting (males may pretend to) because the stinger is linked to the ovipositor (egg-laying organ)
You can distinguish females from males by the curled antennae of the female. Mine was therefore female
The Pepsis wasp has (unsurprisingly) very few predators, though apparently roadrunners and bullfrogs may tackle them
Here is a hypnotically fascinating 3-minute video of the life-or-death struggle
SPIDER WASP –v- TARANTULA
THE STING
The sting of these wasps is among the most painful of any insect, though the most intense pain lasts only a few minutes. Entomologist Justin Schmidt bravely submitted himself to the stings of various insects and described this pain as“…immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one’s ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations.”
Schmidt produced his SCHMIDT STING PAIN INDEXThe pain scale, based on 78 species, runs from 0 to 4, with 4 awarded for the most intense pain. Spider Wasps of the species Pepsis – i.e. Tarantula Hawks – have a sting rating of 4.0, described as“blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath”Only the bite of the Bullet Ant – and the sting of the Warrior Wasp – is ranked higher, with a 4.0+ rating, vividly described as“pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like fire-walking over flaming charcoal with a 3-inch rusty nail in your heel”
LIGHT RELIEF AFTER THE PAIN
1. In 1989, New Mexico chose the Tarantula hawk wasp as the official state insect. The choice seems to have been left to schoolchildren and I’m guessing here (or gender-stereotyping) but I suspect it was the boys’ choice that won…
2. Tarantula Hawk is a “psychedelic progressive metal band” from San Diego, Ca. Their short discography includes their debut Tarantula Hawk (CD/LP, 1998); Burrow (Live CD, 2000, self-released); and Untitled. The cover of their debut provides the perfect ending for this post, vividly depicting the colour and texture of the swirling fiery pain you could experience (and I don’t really mean from listening to the music…)
In the Old World, 1702 was a turbulent year politically, royally, and militarily. Treaties made were broken; new treaties were made. Queen Anne succeeded to the throne of England after William III died of complications after falling off his horse. Anne went on to have 17 children, any one of whom would have secured the succession, but the extraordinary and sad fact is that none survived beyond childhood. In the New World, English troops were abroad, attacking St Augustine in (then-Spanish) Florida.
Meanwhile in the world of cartography, the development of mapping continued apace with the Dutch retaining their pre-eminence, and the French and British making important contributions. Which brings me to Samuel Thornton, hydrographer, and his mapping ways. He was the son of the more famous cartographer, John Thornton, considered the principal English chart-maker of the late c17. As his father aged, a degree of uncertainty seems to have crept in over the authorship of Thornton maps. It is clear that after John’s death in 1708, Samuel took over the business and reissued maps under his own name, sometimes with little alteration other than the name in the cartouche. However there was possibly a ‘grey area’ for a few years before, when the same practice applied.
Samuel Thornton’s ‘…New Chart of the Bahama Islands and the Windward Pafsage (sic)’ is thought originally to date from c1702, when presumably the enjoyably colourful Cartouche (above) in fact bore his father’s name. The map covers an extensive geographical area besides the Bahamas, with the Florida coastline revealed as remarkably unpopulated. Zeroing in on the northern Bahamas (and as is usual with historic maps), certain features stand out, not least with spelling. Andros was written Androfs (sic). The Bahama Banck (sic) is shown to extend quite a long way north of Abbaco (sic) and Grand Bahama (shown as Bahama I). And as noted in earlier posts relating to Abaco’s history (see links below), ‘Hole in the Rock’ (ie Wall) is the only mainland location marked. This was not because there was any sizeable settlement there, but because for at least a century beforehand, Abaco’s most notable topographic feature was a significant and instantly recognisable navigation marker for shipping at the southern end of the island.
One problem with Samuel Thornton’s reissues of his father’s maps was that flaws an original map from which a reproduction was derived went uncorrected. For example if you look at the header image of the full map, there’s a dark band right down the centre of the map, which persisted in later versions. More importantly, there was probably little or no correction of errors that new expeditions in the area might have revealed. Be that as it may, the Thornton map plays a significant role in the mapping of the Bahama Islands and beyond, and marks the start of an increasing sophistication as the new century progressed.
FAIRY BASSLET (‘MIND YOUR GRAMMA’): BAHAMAS REEF FISH (33)
The Fairy Basslet is a tiny brightly-coloured fish with a pretentious alternative name. It is otherwise known as the Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto). These fish are found in the coral reefs of the (sub)tropical western Atlantic. They are also found in aquariums anywhere you like, being small, bright, placid and generally good-natured.
Conveniently, the basslet is unlikely to be confused with any other species. Its striking two-tone colour scheme of purple and yellow is hard to miss. The purple front half (which is presumably where the ‘royal’ comes from, being a regal or imperial colour) may also be violet or even blue in some fish and / or in some light conditions. Another identification pointer is a black spot on the dorsal fin.
You’ll notice that the basslet above appears to be upside down. Which is because it is – this isn’t an inadvertent photo-flip. These little fish tend to orientate themselves to be parallel with the closest surface. This leads to them happily swimming upside down, or aligning vertically. As one article I read says severely, “this behaviour is not to be mistaken for illness”.
Fairy basslets / royal grammas are also CLEANER FISH. They pick parasites and dead skin off larger fish that visit so-called cleaning stations to be attended to by tiny fish and cleaner shrimps. The basslets also their customer’s gills and even their teeth. The deal is that, in return, the large fish do not eat the cleaners, even the snack-sized ones rootling around inside their mouths.
MUTUALISM
The relationship is a good example of mutualism, a type of symbiotic relationship where both species involved benefit from their interactions. Think also of cattle egrets and cows.
WHAT ABOUT BREEDING?
I really can’t improve on this rather touching description from Wiki:
“The male will build the nest among rocks using pieces of algae.The male will then lead the female to the nest, where she will deposit 20-100 eggs in the nest. During the breeding period, this behaviour is repeated almost every day for a month or longer. The eggs are equipped with small protuberances over the surface with tiny threads extending from them which hold onto the algae of the nest and keep the eggs in place. The eggs will hatch in five to seven days, normally in the evening…”
HOW COME THE NAME ‘GRAMMA LORETO’?
This official name became a brainworm with me after I started this post. I had to check it out. The ‘Gramma’ part simply denotes a member of the genus of fishes in the family Grammatidae.
The Loreto part is more mysterious. It is an an ancient town in Italy; and the name of several British schools, including – almost too good to be true – a school called Loreto Grammar. But it was also the name of Señorita Loreto Martínez, who caught the ‘type specimen’ while fishing in the bay at Matanzas, Cuba.
MISC
I failed to be able to resist finding out whether any country of the world has a purple and yellow flag. The answer is, no. However I am delighted to be able to report that the flag of the Independent Party of Uruguay is basslet-coloured.
Credits: all fantastic photos by Melinda Riger of Grand Bahama Scuba; magpie pickings of an unacademic sort for facts and speculation
Abaco has two permanently resident woodpecker species, theWEST INDIAN WOODPECKERand theHAIRY WOODPECKER. There is a third, migratory woodpecker species that is a fairly common winter resident, the yellow-bellied sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius.
Like its woodpecker cousins, the sapsucker drills holes in trees (see below). The dual purpose is to release the sap, which it eats, and to attract insects that it also eats. A two-course meal, if you like. They’ll also eat insects on an undrilled tree, and even ‘hawk’ for them in flight. They balance their diet with fruit and berries.
The distinctive patterns of sapsucker holes may completely encircle the trunk of a tree with almost mathematical precision. This is sometimes described as ‘girdling’ and may have a damaging effect on a tree, sometimes even killing it if the bark is severely harmed. This may require preventive measures in orchards for example, though note that in the US Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are listed and protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act so radical action is prohibited.
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER SOUNDS
DRUMMING (Xeno-Canto / Richard Hoyer)
CALL (Xeno-Canto / Jonathon Jogsma)
On Abaco, palms are the favourite trees for sapsuckers. There are several palms along the 3/4-mile long curved beach at Delphi. Below is a coconut palm that has seen plenty of sapsucker action, with the drill holes girdling the entire trunk from top to bottom.
In their breeding grounds yellow-bellied sapsuckers excavate a large cavity in a softwood tree as a nest. They mate for life, and often return to the same nest every year, with the pair sharing nesting duties. I have no idea whether the pair migrate south for the winter together, or whether they agree to take a break from each other. I’d like to think it’s the former…
Credits: Photos Gerlinde Taurer, Tom Sheley, RH; Cornell Lab (Range Map) & Xeno-Canto (YBS recordings as credited above)
Featured in ‘Guide to the Birds of Abaco’ by Keith Salvesen, pp 242-3
These very pretty shells, with their striking pink radials, are sometimes known as ‘rose-petal shells’. They are always tempting to pick up from the sand. The ‘hinges’ (muscles) are very delicate, however, and with many of these shells that wash up on the beach the two halves have separated naturally.
Sunrise tellins are not uncommon, and make good beachcombing trophies They can grow up to about 7 cms / 2.75 inches, and the colouring is very varied, both outside and inside.
TELLIN: THE TRUTH
The occupant of these nice shells is a type of very small clam. They live on the sea-floor, often buried in the sand and with the lid (mostly) shut. When they die (or their shells are bored into by a predator and they are eaten) the shells eventually wash up empty on the beach. There’s not much more to say about them – they perform no tricks and are believed to have vanilla sex lives. Other small clams are quite inventive, doing backflips and copulating with enthusiasm.
Inside Story… not much to tell except (a) very pretty & (b) possible predator bore-hole top right
WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO KNOW ABOUT THEM?
These clamlets have 5 tiny teeth to chew up their staple diet, mainly plant material
These include one ‘strong’ tooth and one ‘weak’ one, though it isn’t clear why. How someone found this fact out remains a mystery
Tellins are native to the Caribbean and north as far as Florida
They live mainly in quite shallow water, but have been found as deep as 60 foot
They have no particular rarity value, and are used for marine-based crafting.
TELLIN LAW
You know those lovely tellins you collected during your holiday and took back home to your loved ones? You did take them, didn’t you? You may have committed a crime! In the Bahamas there is no specific prohibition on the removal of tellin shells, certainly not for personal use… but the general rule – law, even – seems to be “in most countries it is illegal to bring back these shells from holidays”.
Linnaean Examples
As ever, the very excellent Bahamas Philatelic Bureau has covered seashells along with all the other wildlife / natural history stamp sets they have produced regularly over the years. The sunrise tellin was featured in 1995. You can find more – much more – on myPHILATELYpage.
All photos Keith Salvesen / Rolling Harbour; Rhonda Pearce, O/S Linnean Poster, O/S BPB stamp
The WTF? series is dedicated to the wilder, less conventionally fish-shaped side of reef life – those creatures that you may come across, blink into your face-mask, and silently mouth the words ‘What’s That Fish?’ (that’s what it looks like you are saying, anyway).
Let’s meet some Arrow Crabs Stenorhynchus seticornis, one of the very few creatures surely to have a triangular body plus a huge pointy nose (rostrum), supported on long skinny legs. To which add, they wear tiny blue gloves on their two front claws.
These crabs are coral reef dwellers and mostly stay concealed during the day. Their body is protected by a carapace, and the rostrum has serrated edges like a tiny rasp or file. I haven’t found a definitive reason for this gadget, but I suspect it is more for probing than for piercing or fighting.
There’s a considerable colour variation among these crabs, as these images show. The body may even have blue iridescent lines (#2, above). And those claws may be any of 50 shades of blue…
Arrow crabs are most active at night. They eat feather-duster worms (illus.) and similar invertebrates such as bristle worms.
Like certain types of shrimp, they also have a symbiotic relationship with anemones, whereby they make use of an anemone to benefit from the food it captures – and possibly for cover too. They are protected from anemone stings, whereas some of their predators are not.
This was the place where I was going to tell you about the arrow crab’s private life, but, well… “it’s complicated”. Briefly it is: male passes sperm-filled capsule to female; she uses it in some way whereby it fertilises her eggs; she then ‘broods’ the eggs in one of her ‘swimming legs’; the eggs hatch into larvae and swim off to eat plankton; each one then grows & moults, repeating the process until it has reached adult form. On balance, humans have arguably perfected a preferable method.
Arrow Crabs are apparently popular aquarium creatures, although they sound to me rather a disagreeable challenge. They can move quickly on those long legs, and it seems as if they inclined to be aggressive to other inhabitants of the tank. As far as I can make out, it’s best not to put 2 of them together: they certainly won’t be doing the sperm capsule thing described earlier…
Master of Disguise
Photo credits: Melinda Riger / G B Scuba (1, 3, 4, 5, 6); Adam Rees / Scuba Works (2, 8, 9); Nick Hopgood,Wiki (7); Chuck Elliot – video
It’s been quite a while since I wrote about these astonishing little creatures. Adam Rees of SCUBA WORKS is a diver who combines great underwater experience with wonderful photographic skills. Here is a showcase for some of Adam’s seahorse photography and the amazing detail he captures. If these images don’t make you want to get your head underwater and explore the reefs, I can’t think what will…
The white peacock (Anartia jatrophae) is not a rare butterfly in the northern Bahamas. However, until recently I had never – or never consciously – seen one before. Then we came across a few, all very frisky and mostly refusing to settle for more than 1/100 second. By the time I have remembered to remove my lens cap, they are 50 yards away.
I checked out these pretty but unassuming butterflies online because they seemed rather pale and anaemic. As far as I can make out this is because they were still in winter colouring; in summer they are more brightly marked. Here’s a photo of a dishevelled white peacock taken in June at Delphi by Charlie Skinner, which shows stronger colours.
ARE THEY EVER FOUND LOOKING BRIGHT AND NOT FALLING APART?
Yes, of course, but interestingly, never ever in the field. The one below, non-anaemic and intact, was thoughtfully uploaded to Wiki by Greg Hume. He took it at a butterfly show, where presumably tatty butterflies are excluded…
Photos: Keith Salvesen 1 – 4; Charlie Skinner 5; Greg Hume 6
Going snorkelling? Planning a scuba day on the reef? You’ll see wonderful fish and amazing coral for sure. But sometimes the beauty of other life on the reef can be overlooked. Check out the anemone in the header image, with the camouflaged cleaner shrimps playing around it. You wouldn’t want to miss a sight like that. The many and varied forms and colours of anemone on the reefs of the Bahamas make up a vital component of a spectacular underwater world and its astonishing variety.
Anemones are living animals of the invertebrate type. Basically living corals without skeletons. All have stinging cells of several varieties to sting or entangle their prey such as small fish, or other invertebrate species.
Most anemones host varieties of cleaner shrimps. They also provide a base for the snapping shrimps that can stun their own prey. Some of these can (painfully) penetrate human skin.
Some crabs pull particular species of anemone off the reef and attach them to their carapace. This is thought to have a double purpose of providing both camouflage and protection.
All great archive photos: Melinda Riger of Grand Bahama Scuba, with thanks; also Rick Guest for info
ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO 
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