Black-necked stilt chicks can run, but they prefer to hide. Although they are able to walk around within a day of hatching, their primary defense mechanism is camouflage. Here you can see a few chicks on the airport salt pond in Grand Case doing their best to avoid being noticed. I assume that the rock wall in the pond was […]
Least terns are also hanging out around the Grand Case airport. I’m not sure if they’re nesting there, but they may be. Looking in through the fence at the birds hanging out beside the runway, it occurred to me that the airport might not be such a bad place to nest. Sure, there are planes taking off and landing, but […]
The Willet is a shorebird that is normally considered to be a non-breeding, overwintering resident in the Caribbean. However, on St. Martin some pairs do stick around during the summer months to breed. At the airport pond in Grand Case, I encountered a pair of willets exhibiting the behavior of concerned parents, calling loudly to get my attention, and even […]
Want a free 6″x9″ photo print of a St. Martin animal? Download a book launch poster, put it up, take a photo and post it to Facebook or email it to me and I’ll give you a photo at the book launch. You can download the poster here: http://www.sxmwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/book-launch-poster.pdf Thanks for spreading the word online and out in the real […]
These photos are not so great because I was quite far away, but they do show how a whimbrel uses its long bill to catch crabs in their burrows. These crabs are the primary food for whimbrels when they are overwintering on St. Martin.
I learned a couple things about the Zenaida Dove today. One is that it’s the national bird of Anguilla, where it is usually called the Turtle Dove. I actually might have already known that. I also learned that it makes pigeon milk. Also known as crop milk, it is something that is made by most doves and pigeons and a […]
Here are a few more photos from folks who backed the Kickstarter project to fund the book printing enjoying their books…with style!
Here’s another example of interesting insect behavior, a congregation of the scarab-hunting wasp Campsomeris trifasciata on the underside of a leaf. These wasps are solitary. Rather than having a nest where the wasps raise their young, eggs are laid individually be females inside beetle grubs. In one case I found online, a group of males were observed congregating on the […]
If ruddy turnstones could read, they’d come to the upcoming book launch in a big group. In fact, they’d probably come early and take some time to enjoy the Philipsburg Jubilee Library (http://www.stmaartenlibrary.org and https://www.facebook.com/librarysxm). If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend it. I personally did quite a bit of research there when working on the book. The library […]
Ghost ants are tiny ants with pale abdomens, and you may have them in your home. They are found in so much of the tropical world, we aren’t sure where they are originally from. They are a common household pest, where they are attracted to sugars or oils. We’ve had a few species of ant in our apartment, but this […]