Large tamarind trees are often found in pasture areas, where they provide shade for livestock during the heat of the day. The loose bark of these trees also provides shelter for a number of different animals, including geckos, spiders, scorpions and beetles. Many of the animals that shelter under the bark of the tamarind during the day are nocturnal, emerging […]

Here’s a planthopper (Ormenoides venusta) we saw on the field trip with the Montessori students. These tiny insects are very common on St. Martin. Like all members of the order Hemiptera, they have straw-like mouthparts and drink their food. In this case, this planthopper feeds on many different plants. I don’t take a lot of photos when doing a field […]

I went on a field trip with students from the Sint Maarten Montessori school on Friday and it was a blast! We saw kleptoparasitic spiders, ants moving their nests, lizards that live only on St. Martin and many other interesting things while walking through Bellevue. Word on the street is that the kids had a really great time and learned […]

In case anyone doesn’t know, you can download the first edition of the St. Martin wildlife guide for free here: http://www.sxmwildlife.com/publications/ The second edition is currently at the printer and should be available in June. The PDF of this version is currently available to the backers who supported the printing of the book. Once the book is out, the PDF […]

Excitement! Proofs of the new book have arrived today in several forms: a bound digital print, an unbound set for checking the color and even a totally blank dummy book showing the exact paper and binding. I’m just starting to review it now, but so far it looks like the print quality will be very good.

It’s nesting season for a number of bird species that nest on the ground, including killdeer, least terns and black-necked stilts. These nests are most common on mudflats around our salt ponds. Because the nests are unprotected, camouflage is the primary defense mechanism. Many of the nests are just a small depression in the sand or mud, with hard-to-see eggs. […]