True bugs, insects from the order Hemiptera, have piercing, sucking mouthparts, like a pointy straw. There are tens of thousands of kinds of true bug and they eat many different things, but whatever they eat, they eat like it’s a Capri Sun. Assassin bugs, like the one in this photo, typically eat other insects, but this one seems to be […]

We are very pleased to announce the book launch event for the all-new second edition of The Incomplete Guide to the Wildlife of Saint Martin. The event is free and open to the public, and will feature a slideshow presentation about the wildlife of the island, book sales and signing, refreshments and more. Persons of all ages, including children are […]

If the yellow warbler could understand what a book is, it would surely tell its friends about the upcoming book launch for the new edition of The Incomplete Guide to the Wildlife of Saint Martin. You can do what the yellow warbler can’t by inviting friends on Facebook to the event using the appropriately-named “Invite Friends” button here: https://www.facebook.com/events/310941832373599/ Of […]

The other day I saw dozens of red-eared sliders who were eating some dead fish, but only the most persistent (hungriest?) stuck around once I came over to take photos. These turtles are an introduced species that I’ve mostly seen in Fresh Pond. They are very popular as pets, and they were probably introduced to the island as escaped or […]

You can help me promote wildlife awareness on St. Martin. Download this poster, print it out and post it somewhere so people know about the upcoming book launch: http://www.sxmwildlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/book-launch-poster.pdf If you post a photo of the poster and tag it with The Incomplete Guide to the Wildlife of St. Martin, I’ll give you a 9″x6″ photo of an animal from […]

The bellyache bush has tiny flowers that are popular amongst nectar drinking insects like butterflies, bees and flies. But it’s a dangerous meal. They’re the best place to find crab spiders and lynx spiders. These spiders typically wait near on or near the flowers to attack unsuspecting insects. The crab spider in particular is often extremely well camouflaged. As you […]

This afternoon I walked from Grand Case to a meeting in Anse Marcel and stopped along the way to take photos of some of the blues and hairstreaks that were feeding on the flowers of bellyache bush on the hills around Bell Valley (or whatever the real name is for the valley between Grand Case and Anse Marcel…if you know, […]

Here’s a brightly-colored leafhopper with four nymphs (immature leafhoppers) of different sizes. I don’t think I had ever seen it before yesterday when I took this photo. Even after over three years, there is always a new animal to discover on St. Martin. I haven’t identified this one yet. There are thought to be perhaps 100,000 species of leafhopper in […]

I may have saved this gulf fritillary butterfly this morning. It was newly emerged from its chrysalis, but had fallen on the ground before its wings had hardened. After emerging from their chrysalis, butterflies have soft, wrinkled wings. They typically suspend themselves while they pump fluid into their wings to expand them. Then the wings harden. This butterfly had already […]

I had some time to kill near Philipsburg yesterday and I didn’t want to bring too much camera gear, so I decided to do some macro photography using natural light. Normally when I take photos of very small things, I use a flash, because the depth of field (the part of the photo which is in focus) is very small […]