The old pier in Grand Case is a great snorkeling location, particularly for small creatures like decorator crabs, baby lobsters and blennies. The posts are covered with algae, tunicates and sponges. On previous visits, I’ve done only macro photography there, but a few weeks ago I took my fisheye lens to try to capture the feel of the pier.

My last attempt to climb Mont O’Reilly was the best so far. Although I didn’t have time to try for the top, I did find a very serviceable passage from the villas above La Savane to the dip between Mont O’Reilly and the unnamed peak to its southwest. The passage was clearly made some time ago and subsequently overgrown, but the going was pretty easy and there were lots of interesting insects. The passage ended in a field, which itself ended in a bit of forest, which ended at a stone wall that bordered a large pasture area that extends all the way to the slope of Pic Paradis across from the lookout point/beginning of the extreme zipline course. Really a terrific hike, and next time I’ll go earlier and see how close I can get to the top of Mont O’Reilly.

The last couple times I’ve been to Pinel and searched the little forest in the southeast for creatures, I have noticed something peculiar. Of the two dwarf geckos that I had seen in the area previously, I have only seen one. Sphaerodactylus sputator seems to be entirely absent now in an area where it was previously quite common. Perhaps it’s just chance that I haven’t seen any, only time will tell. I also happened to see a kingfisher, but didn’t get a photo of it. The American kestrel scanning the fields for prey was much more accommodating.

Nestled at the foot of the central mountains, Colombier is one of the prettiest towns on the island. I recently did a little cross-country hike from the entrance to Colombier, up to the “castle” and over to Morne Valois. I started at the little stream near the main road, where I found large crayfish and three species of freshwater fish. Later highlights included a color variation of Gasteracantha cancriformes that I hadn’t seen before and the very strange micropezid fly that I had seen previously on Pic Paradis. The last portion of my journey was a rather difficult scramble through dense brush leading to an abandoned water storage facility and, finally, through someone’s backyard back into civilization.

If you write a book on the wildlife of Saint Martin and have it sold at the zoo gift shop, one bonus is that you get to visit the St. Maarten Zoo. When we went to drop off some books the manager, Joe, took us on a deluxe tour. Our favorite part was, of course, feeding the monkeys. It’s not a huge zoo, but they have tons of birds, many monkeys and lots of other animals. Definitely worth a visit.

Saint Martin has at least sixteen salt ponds, most of which are both heavily polluted and important wetland habitats. Often ringed with mangroves, they’re a great place to see a variety of birds as well as iguanas and invertebrates.

The first photos in this post are from Étang Chevrise near Orient Bay. In the late afternoon, there was a large flock of pelicans and a mysterious chicken egg on a rock in the water. I also found a number of interesting spiders.

At Étang Guichard, between Grand Case and Friars’ Bay, a family of common moorhens was out feeding. I am particularly fond of moorhen chicks because they are bald.

A few days after that, we also saw moorhen families at the Great Salt Pond, as well as some black-necked stilts and a green heron.

It had been a while since I’d been to the large bat cave, but when Patrick from Uncommon Caribbean was looking for unusual things to do on Saint Martin, it seemed like an obvious choice. We headed up in the afternoon a couple weeks ago and found things pretty much as they were before: lots of bats, lots of mosquitoes and plenty of smell. His terrific article about the bat caves, complete with video, is posted on the Uncommon Caribbean site. Below are a few photos I took while we were there.

Jenn, Michelle and I took a little hike on Pic Paradis which was quite enjoyable, heading up through the forest to Chewbaca Rock and then back down the edge of the forest. Going slowly, we managed to find a lot of small creatures including a gorgeous spider wasp and a coqui antillano hidden in a hollow tree branch.

When looking at the satellite imagery on Google Maps, Burgeaux Bay looks great. It’s a small bay between Maho and Simpson Bay that is surrounded by rocky areas. Underwater, we found what looked like it should be a fantastic snorkeling area with a mostly rock bottom that should be perfect for coral formation. Unfortunately, it was not very lively down there, with some algae and very few corals. For now, it’s a bit of a mystery to us why it isn’t the great snorkeling location it looks like it should be.

Still catching up, I have a few photos to post from two recent SXM Trails hikes. The hiking association hits the trail every Sunday morning at six am to hike different areas of the island and is a lot of fun.

My first hike of the year with them (after accidentally sleeping in on January 2nd) was a hike from Grand Case to Fort Louis via Friars’ Bay. It’s a walk I’ve made myself quite a few times, but it was nice to do it with the group. As a special bonus, my sister Michelle was visiting and came along for the hike!

The next week, we met at the food truck across from Hope Estate and went over Pea Tree Hill to Anse Marcel, then around the Pointe des Froussards, over the beach at Baie de Petites Cayes, along the coast of the wilderness area and back via Cul de Sac. On the rocky beach, I was delighted to find some isopods scampering on the coral rocks.