October 21, 2025 (continued)
By the time that Rafael dropped us off at Finca Barrancoli it was almost 2 PM and we had been awake since 3:15 that morning. Most sane people would take the opportunity for a mid-day siesta. But we had more important matters to attend to.
We had been keeping a close eye on a tropical storm forming south of Hispaniola, and it looked like this soon-to-be hurricane would be lashing the island with bands of heavy rain in the coming days. The rains had fortuitously held off long enough for our Zapotén excursion that morning, but it would be hitting us soon. Therefore, after a quick lunch at the ecolodge with Kate, we jumped in our vehicle and drove towards Lago Enriquillo while it was still sunny out.
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| Exploring the scrub near Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
The desert scrub surrounding this hyper-saline lake interested us for a few reasons. For one, this is a reliable location to find the Hispaniolan Palm-Crow which was one of five endemic bird species that we still "needed". But perhaps more interesting to us was a population of Hispaniolan Ground-Iguanas that lived here as well. These prehistoric-looking iguanas thrive in the scrub around Lago Enriquillo. They are absent over much of their former range due to habitat loss (cutting down of trees for charcoal production).
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| Exploring the scrub near Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
We arrived at our destination and immediately found a group of vocal Hispaniolan Palm-Crows. That was easy! They were being a bit sneaky but we caught up with them later and managed some decent photos and recordings.
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| Hispaniolan Palm-Crow - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
The iguanas put on quite a show for us as they basked outside of their burrows. These iguanas are mostly vegetarian, eating a variety of leaves, cactus pads and fruits.
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| Hispaniolan Ground Iguana (Cyclura ricordii) - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Hispaniolan Ground Iguana (Cyclura ricordii) - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
The other common lizard in these sandy environs is the Hispaniolan Khaki Curlytail Lizard, and we saw many of them.
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| Hispaniolan Khaki Curlytail (Leiocephalus schreibersii) - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Hispaniolan Khaki Curlytail (Leiocephalus schreibersii) - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
The temperatures were very hot in this environment but a brisk wind wicked away the sweat, making it marginally more comfortable. We spent some time here photographing the cacti, lizards, and whatever insects we could scrounge up.
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| Consolea testudinis-crus - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Lady-of-the-Night Cactus (Cereus hexagonus) - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus) - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Mexican Fritillary (Euptoieta hegesia) - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Sphingonotus haitensis - Lago Enriquillo, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
We drove back towards the ecolodge but detoured to some agricultural fields outside of the town of Puerto Escondido. Only four endemic birds had evaded us so far and one of them - the Hispaniolan Oriole - is regularly found here.
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| Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) - Puerto Escondido fields, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Right away we had a surprise encounter as a distant flock of parakeets revealed themselves to be Hispaniolan Parakeets. Though we had heard them in the Santo Domingo Botanical Gardens and I had briefly observed two of them in flight there, this was our first good look at this endemic species.
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| Hispaniolan Parakeet - Puerto Escondido fields, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
A short time later, a small group of the parakeets flew over us which allowed Dan and I to marginally improve on our photos.
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| Hispaniolan Parakeets - Puerto Escondido fields, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
We lucked into a small group of Hispaniolan Orioles right before we were ready to call it a day. They liked to fly up into the tall palms, immediately vanishing from view.
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| Hispaniolan Oriole - Puerto Escondido fields, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Hispaniolan Oriole - Puerto Escondido fields, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
We geared up after dinner for a long night-hike, despite feeling pretty tired from our very full day. After all, it would probably be our final opportunity for a night-hike in good quality habitat this trip. We also had no plans for an early alarm the next morning since we were just going to be birding near the ecolodge.
A light sprinkle of rain fell as we left the lodge property to begin exploring Rabo de Gato. In our experience, rain on a night-hike is always good, especially if you are exploring a habitat that sees limited precipitation. The rains often spur reptiles and amphibians to be more active.
We were barely ten steps down the road when Laura yelled out those sweet, sweet words: "I"ve got a snake!"
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| Laura with the Haitian Dwarf Boa (Tropidophis haetianus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
And what a snake she had found. This Haitian Dwarf Boa was the first snake in the family Tropidophiidae that any of us had seen.
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| Haitian Dwarf Boa (Tropidophis haetianus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Many species of dwarf boas are quite secretive as they spend their days in underground burrows. Another common name for the dwarf boas is the thunder snakes, so called since they often appear during rainstorms, leaving their subterranean retreats behind.
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| Haitian Dwarf Boa (Tropidophis haetianus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Haitian Dwarf Boa (Tropidophis haetianus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
My original plan for the walk was to use the thermal camera, an activity that is not conducive to looking for snakes or other herps since I have to be focused on the screen and can't use a light at the same time. But after Laura's dwarf boa discovery, I put the thermal camera away and scanned for snakes as well. The rain stopped and we had clear weather for the rest of our walk.
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| Eleutherodactylus pictissimus - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Hispaniolan Desert Gecko (Aristelliger expectatus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
This strategy paid almost immediate dividends. Not thirty minutes later, my headlamp picked up the distinctive shape of another Haitian Dwarf Boa, this one crawling over a rocky slope near the trail.
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| Haitian Dwarf Boa (Tropidophis haetianus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
We noticed this scorpion in the same area which I have tentatively identified as a Dominican Bark Scorpion (Centruroides nitidus).
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| Dominican Bark Scorpion (Centruroides nitidus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
And the night kept getting better. Laura found the next snake, one that we all had high hopes of seeing on this trip. A gorgeous subadult Hispaniolan Boa!
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| Hispaniolan Boa (Chilabothrus striatus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
As you can imagine, Laura was on cloud nine with her epic snake finds from the evening.
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| Laura with the Hispaniolan Boa (Chilabothrus striatus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
This is one of four boa species found in Hispaniola, and it is the most widespread one. This species can reach lengths of almost 2.5 metres, so ours was just a young one in comparison!
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| Hispaniolan Boa (Chilabothrus striatus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Hispaniolan Boa (Chilabothrus striatus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
Dan was the only one who hadn't found a snake yet and so he was feeling the pressure. But he came through in a big way when he spotted a Hispaniolan Boa up in the canopy!
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| Hispaniolan Boa (Chilabothrus striatus) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
We turned around at this point since we were all quite tired and there was still a moth sheet to check. I used the thermal camera for most of the walk back in a last ditch attempt to find a Hispaniolan Solenodon, but it was not to be. Here are a few photos of some other odds and ends from the hike.
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| Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Owl Moth (Thysania denobia) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Cuban Leaf Slug (Veronicella cubensis) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Phormictopus sp. - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Fast Orange (Eurema nicippiformis) - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Broad-billed Tody - Rabo de Gato, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
The moth sheet was really popping off, likely because we were checking it at a later hour this time, giving it more of a chance to percolate.
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| Parilexia sp. - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Orange Silver-spot (Ommatospila narcaeusalis) - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Eunomia colombina - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Hispaniolan Hornworm (Manduca caribbeus) - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Callionima calliomenae - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Hübner's Olive (Sphacelodes vulneraria) - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Synclera jarbusalis - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Unidentified noctuid moth (tribe Acontiini) - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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| Euscirrhopterus poeyi - Villa Barrancoli Ecolodge, Independencia, Dominican Republic |
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