bananaquit and amarat flower

The amarat is often mistaken for the obnoxious wild tamarind, especially when it’s small. The amarat, however, matures into a tall hardwood tree and produces attractive flowers in the spring. It belongs to the acacia family (locally called kasha) but unlike its unfriendly relatives the amarat bark is smooth and spineless. In the photo on top, a bananaquit sucks the nectar from an amarat flower

American Kestral

The telephone pole that I can see from my deck seems to be a favorite perch for this American kestral also known as a sparrow hawk or killy killy

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 21st, 2011 at 4:52 pm and is filed under st john flora and fauna, St. John Flora & Fauna. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.