Between Wilderness in the northeast of the island and Pic Paradis in the central highlands, you can probably see most of the wildlife on the island. Below are a couple sets of photos, the first from Pic Paradise and the second from a hike starting at Pic Paradis and descending down near the Careta ravine towards Hope Estate.

The first set from Pic Paradis is mostly snails and insects, but there are a few spiders and a couple bearded anoles.

The second set is mostly snails and insects as well, including a checkered swallowtail with unusual coloration and a bearded anole that looks like an old man because he’s shedding his skin.

Below are a few photos of Bell Valley in mid-September. Lots of the trees were still missing leaves due to the salt spray from the hurricane, but were already starting to recover a little.

I recently went out to check for turtle tracks on a day with good waves and snapped a few shots of Yann, Marie, Etienne and the other Yann as they were surfing in Wilderness.

Surveying for turtle tracks without a car is a bit of work. It usually takes me about five hours roundtrip to get out to our assigned beaches and back. On the other hand, it is also a great opportunity to get out to the most undisturbed part of the island every week (called Wilderness) and see cool stuff, even on days where there are no turtle tracks. Below are some photos from my last three trips.

On September 12th, there was a group of a dozen pelicans fishing around the beach at Petites Cayes. Most of the time you don’t see that many at once. I also got some shots of a brown booby, which I had wanted to photograph. On my way back, there were dozens of cattle egrets near the dump.

On the 25th, there was a mongoose near the beach at Grandes Cayes, probably picking through the trash that people leave there. Near Petites Cayes I saw an American oystercatcher, a terrific-looking wading bird that I have only seen here a few times. On my way back I saw one of the American kestrels that hang out by Eastern Point. I also spent a lot of time trying to take photos of the common ground dove in flight so I could show what its red wings look like in the book. This was a challenge. Also, I saw an osprey for the first time and figured out that Cuban treefrogs hide inside the bromeliads at the nursery I pass on my way to the beaches.

On the 30th, there were various seabirds to see, but the highlight was watching several American kestrels hunting on my way back. They used the wind coming over a seaside hill to hover in place while scanning the ground for lizards and insects. It was very cool to watch.

This post features a pair of birds that are commonly seen on the island, but not usually seen as they are here. The first is an immature brown booby that had swallowed a needle-nosed fish that was a bit too big for it. I found him sitting on a rock near the little beach at wilderness trying to swallow his breakfast. When I left him he was still working on it.

The next is a male magnificent frigatebird, something we see often around Grand Case Bay, but this one, for reasons unknown left his red neck pouch flapping in the breeze as he flew. Usually it is contracted and not noticeable.

In this post are a variety of wonderful creatures from Saint Martin. Yesterday Kevin saw me photographing a frog and said that I was like a paparazzi for animals. I guess this is basically true.

Our first subject is a two-striped treefrog. I had two small freshwater aquaria, one with many tadpoles and one with a few guppies and one tadpole. The lone tadpole grew approximately twice as big before transforming into a frog.

Next up is a baby least island gecko which I found by L’Esplanade while looking for the whistling frog that I still need to photograph. I was quite excited because I had read about them having an orange tail, but I had never seen one with a really orange tail like this.

The tarantula below is not too big as far as tarantulas go, but it was still pretty big. It was a gift from Stephen, Yann, Marie and Olivia who found it at their house.

I found this tiny walking stick on another trip to try to locate the whistling frog.

Last, and least, are a few mosquito larvae and pupae that I photographed for my book.

One can find quite a bit wandering down the airport road near Grand Case. On this day a couple weeks ago, that included waterfowl, goats, iguanas and a whole lot of little creatures mostly hiding under boards.

If you want to see the carib grackle on St. Martin, Mullet Bay is the place to be. Sure, you can find them in lots of other place, but in Mullet Bay they are everywhere. There were a few ruddy turnstones that day as well.

I’m way behind on my posting, but partially that’s because I’ve been updating my book, which is almost done. Anyhow, here are some animals from Friars’ Bay and Happy Bay earlier this month. The outlet that connects Étang Guichard to the sea in the middle of Friars’ Bay is actually one of the best places to see wading birds on the island.

A couple days ago we went to Guana Bay for the first time. There’s a gorgeous beach there and it’s accessible by car, but we were the only people on the whole beach. The bay is a well-known turtle nesting area, and leatherback turtles have hatched there are least once already this year. There were also a number of seabirds fishing in the water near the shore.