NHM Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition

The Natural History Museum (NHM) in London holds a prestigious annual wildlife photography contest aptly named the ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition’. It is currently in its 62nd year. You can enter a maximum of 25 photos in one of 13 different categories. Across all categories, 100 photos are selected as finalists. I entered […]

The aquatic ecosystem of an abandoned swimming pool

In late April of this year, I found a Florida softshell turtle trapped in an abandoned outdoor swimming pool. In a previous post, I recount how I drained the pool, captured the turtle, and returned it to the nearby lake from which it came. This pool is part of a shuttered hotel, and is near […]

The distinctive white-eye fish

The white-eye fish (Oxyzygonectes dovii) has distinctive white eyes which are fluorescent in appearance. They tend to swim just below the water surface in open estuary habitat. This combination of features make them very easy to spot, despite their small size. I recently witnessed this firsthand. While sitting on a balcony overlooking an estuary in […]

Microfishing an urban Florida canal

Microfishing refers to a specialized form of angling in which very small fish species are targeted using miniature tackle (i.e. short rods, light line, and tiny hooks). The technique was developed in Japan, where anglers target the miniature Japanese Bitterling (also referred to as Tanago). This niche style of fishing has recently been growing in […]

Frogs of Costa Rica

Costa Rica has 152 frog species. For comparison, the entire United States has 116 frog species. This really is quite impressive given that Costa Rica is about the size of the U.S. state of West Virginia. When geographic area is taken into account, Costa Rica has among the most frog species per unit area of […]

La Chua Trail

A persistent dilemma for the traveler is whether to visit some place new or return to a place you have visited before and like. Of course, different individuals weigh these options differently. At a broad scale, two extremes could be: visiting the same place for vacation every year, versus always visiting someplace new. On an […]

Water birds in close proximity to alligators

In Florida, I frequently see water birds in close proximity to alligators. We can define ‘close proximity’ as less than one alligator body length away. I find this curious, as alligators do occasionally eat birds. So why aren’t birds more wary of alligators? I know I am not the only one who finds this situation […]

Alligator Diet Observations

The question of what alligators eat has mostly been addressed through stomach content analysis. A sample of dead alligators, often harvested by hunters, have their stomachs opened, and all the prey items contained within are identified. Another approach involves capturing live alligators and removing their stomach contents through pumping or the Hose-Heimlich technique. This avoids […]

Dry Season Everglades

Before moving to Florida, I wasn’t aware of how distinct the wet and dry seasons were here, and the profound effect this has on the landscape and wildlife. The wet season is summer, and the dry season is the rest of the year. It still rains in the dry season, but substantially less than in […]

Rescuing a Florida softshell turtle from an abandoned swimming pool

It is springtime in north central Florida and that means female turtles are moving about on land looking for nesting sites, and alligators are active. A week ago, I was walking along the edge of a lake, past a long-ago shuttered hotel. Out of curiosity, I took a look in the abandoned and partially filled […]