Sunday’s hike with the SXM Trails hiking association was another terrific one. It started in Quartier d’Orleans on the Moho trail. Apparently Moho is a large stone that was carved by pre-columbian Amerindians. The hike up the windward side of Pic Paradis started primarily in a somewhat overgrown ravine, but the vegetation got increasingly sparse as we climbed the slope. This is quite a contrast to the lush vegetation on the leeward side that we experienced on the descent into Colombier. The trail on that side was lush enough to remind me a bit of Saba. We ended the hike as the second day of the Arrowroot Jollification was winding down and enjoyed a cup of delicious arrowroot pap.

On Sunday the SXM Trails hiking association took a hike up to Fort William, at the top of a hill overlooking Great Bay, the Salt Pond and Fort Amsterdam. The early morning views from the top of the hill were really outstanding. After descending the hill, we followed the rocky beach around Little Bay and went into Cay Bay. The cliffs on the western side of Little Bay were very beautiful. Part of a small airplane wing was washed up on the rocks.

I actually didn’t take many photos of animals on the hike, but did get quite a few photos of the rocks and cliffs. The new hotel development in Cay Bay made me a little bit sad, but the hike was still a great time.

Last Sunday, I hiked with SXM Trails on Naked Boy Hill on the Dutch side. It was a reasonably strenuous uphill jaunt on the east coast side of the hill, and the view from the top was really great. It was a particularly good vantage point for viewing the burned area of Sucker Garden Hill. On our way down, we followed a line of cables and pipe on a rocky slope that was full of goat-nibbled orchids. We even saw an unusual fern with large fronds and black stems that seemed out of place on the relatively arid hillside.

I also saw the turnip-tailed gecko for the first time, but unfortunately it was two halves of said gecko that had been accidentally stepped on. That said, at least I know they are on the island.

How often do you see insect eggs? Given how many insects there are around us, there must be tons, but they’re rarely seen. On a recent visit to Philipsburg, I found many clusters of what are almost surely oleander caterpillar moth (Empyreuma affinis) eggs. The moth itself was unknown on St. Martin before hurricane Luis, but is a Caribbean species with an expanding range. Now, they’re extremely common, perhaps in part because there are so many oleander bushes on the island. In the photos you can see eggs at different stages of development, including empty ones which had already hatched.

I also captured images of a few critters a the Rastafarian farm during their We Agree with Culture event. There were clusters of leafhoppers on some of the bushes, and a Cuban tree frog. The Cuban tree frog is another species that has been spreading around the Caribbean and beyond.

A couple weeks ago, a large hillside area over Sucker Garden in the Dutch side burned. Apparently a fire to burn brush or trash had gotten out of control. Luckily, there were no serious injuries or houses burned. Although it was perhaps the largest fire in recent memory, the fire department was able to get it under control, and in some places slave walls (stone walls from colonial times) stopped the spread.

I was in the area on Friday, and took a few minutes to walk the area. I was particularly interested to see if any animal remains would be there, particularly the Leeward Island racer, a snake which is effectively extinct on the island. As it turned out, aside from thousands of burnt and crumbling snail shells, there wasn’t much to see. It was quite odd, though, to walk through the burned area. As you can see in the photos, without grass and brush, it’s very clear how little soil there is in much of the island.

I have a couple galleries of local stuff here. The first is a set of plants and critters from the Grand Case area. It’s pretty heavily weighted towards the spider that has absolutely overtaken mangroves and pond shores around the island. It seems to prey heavily on midges, which have been super common for a while, perhaps explaining the population explosion for the spiders.

The next set is just a few photos of an awesome rainbow that I saw the other morning in Grand Case Bay.

The day after the cleanup at Fresh Pond, I met with volunteers to plant trees near Little Bay Pond. A joint effort by the St. Maarten Pride Foundation, the Nature Foundation and EPIC, the event was well-attended, including many students. Volunteers planted a variety of trees between the pond and the roadside, as well as a number of red mangroves at the water line. Stones were collected to mark the newly-planted trees, and trash was collected from the area. We even saw a really nice rainbow!

With all the activity, it was also a good chance to see a few creatures, particularly when picking up rocks. Although I had to skip my SXM Trails hike to attend the planting, it was well worth it.

I recently participated in a clean-up of Fresh Pond that was organized by the Sint Maarten Pride Foundation, EPIC and Youth Link. The clean-up area centered around a bird watching hut built by EPIC which is currently home to a squatter. The amount of trash in the area was staggering, but we were able to do quite a bit of cleaning in the area. The incoming public health minister came by with his staff and didn’t hesitate to get into the muck to get the trash picked up.

There were also lots of spiders, which are apparently quite common around the ponds of the area because of the abundance of midges.

Fort Louis is always a nice stop for visitors to the island, so we took Jenn’s mom there before she left. Here are a few photos of the fort.

Even more exciting was the nearby museum. I’ve already visited it a couple times, so the displays were nothing new, but Christophe did show me a tiny hummingbird nest with two chicks inside. He was even nice enough to get me a ladder so I could take some photos. As you can see, baby hummingbirds are quite cute. These were the Antillean crested hummingbird, which is actually very small even for a hummingbird.

UPDATE: I’m adding a few photos that were sent to me by the Museum/Archeological Association photographer Hervé Baïs. If you like Saint Martin, you will surely enjoy his SXM photoblog.

On a recent visit to Friars’ Bay, I saw a number of birds. There were plenty of carib grackles, some of which seemed to be adolescents with sort of intermediate coloration. I also saw a duck I wasn’t familiar with and what seemed to be a small parrot. With no native parrots on the island, I would guess this one may have escaped from captivity, but I didn’t get a photo.