Baby Squirrels

At least 5 times in the past couple years, my mom has come home with orphaned animals.  I have no idea how or why it keeps happening, maybe she's some sort of little baby animal magnet.  From a nest of rabbits being run over by a lawn mower to baby squirrels falling out of their nest, my mom always gives these little guys the chance to fight and grow strong.  The first one or two times this happened, we weren't very prepared.  We didn't have anywhere to keep four baby squirrels that hadn't even opened their eyes yet, or any knowledge of how to care for them.  Now, we're much better equipped.  Building a big cage isn't all that hard if you have the right materials, and it's much better than a twenty gallon fish tank.  Our vet actually lives on the next street over from us, so we know a lot more about how to nurture these little fellas back to a healthy point where they can be released.  It's amazing how fast baby squirrels can recover.  They'll go from barely moving and needing to be dropper fed to climbing all over you and socializing in just a few days.  Before you know it, they'll be strong enough to join their friends in the trees.  

Yellow-Spotted Salamander

Whenever I see a log or a rock in the woods, I have an intense urge to go over and flip that thing over as fast as I can.  Ever since I was a little kid, any time my father and I go on hikes or walks through the woods, we search for the perfect log to flip over.  What we're looking for is a rotting log or rock, in a moist setting, the perfect home for a salamander.  These little amphibians are one of my favorite animals.  If you're going to start flipping logs to add some extra excitement to your walks through the woods, you'll mostly find Red-backed or Jefferson salamanders, the two most common species that live in New England.  If you're lucky, or after you flip enough logs, you'll find a Yellow-Spotted salamander.  They aren't super rare, but they are still pretty uncommon to find.  I've found two of these specimens in my life, and each time it was a memorable experience.  The bright yellow spots that cover its body make it look almost fake, just too perfect.  After finding this little guy under a decaying log in New York, I took a few pictures, and returned his log, leaving him to eat his worms and other insects crawling around in the dirt.

Even Dead Fish Have A Story

Salmon are tough as nails.  They're born along with thousands of their brothers and sisters, working with a very small percentage to live.  In the first few stages of their life, they're constantly battling to stay alive, to live and feed in the river that they were born in.  Once they reach maturity, the hard part starts.  Using the instincts they were born with, they follow the river downstream until they reach the ocean, where a new life, along with a whole new batch of dangers await.  Orca whales, Salmon sharks, and even humans are just a few things these fighters have to deal with while living in the ocean.

Their next journey is their last.  The same instinct that drove them from their birth place out into the vast ocean kicks in again, guiding them back to that same river.  The salmon spawn, and finally end their epic, perilous journey.  Tired and very beat up from the spawning process, they die.  Some of them will decay and become a part of that river where it all began.  Others, like the one in the picture above, get caught up in shallow waters.  The seasons change and the water levels drop, temperatures plummet and snow falls, preserving the carcass for months, even years.  

First Timers

One of my favorite parts of being an experienced fisherman is sharing that experience.  Even if someone doesn't find the same release that you do, or experience the same joy that comes from landing that memorable fish, it's still worth seeing the amazement and surprise spark up in a persons eyes.

Bringing first timers out for a day of fishing is always risky.  The weather is always changing, and some days those fish just aren't around.  Luckily, when my dad and I brought my sisters best friend and her boyfriend, we had a bright, calm, perfect day.  We saw whales, we caught big fish (the above picture is a 50" Striped Bass, the first fish either of them had ever caught).  I couldn't think of a better way to show people a new experience.

Bird and Her Eggs

So hopefully by now, anyone who is reading this should know that I'm into nature.  Not just plants and the outdoors, I'm big into animals as well.  Which would explain why, throughout my life, many different types of critters have taken up residency in my house.  Cats, dogs, birds, an iguana, multiple orphaned baby squirrels, and at one point, a turtle that had been run over (don't worry, he lived!).

This is my bird, Bird.  Yes, I did name my bird Bird, and there's a story behind it.  When we first got her, we had no idea how to tell whether she was a male or a female.  She was young, and with research I found out that it would take a few years for certain features to develop that would indicate the sex.  So that, coupled with the fact that I've never been good at coming up with interesting and catchy names, resulted in the name Bird.

A couple months later, when Bird was living a happy, although still genderless bird life, I noticed that she was spending most of her time in a little bird house that I had recently put in her cage.  After a few days, I started to get a little worried due to the fact that she now would not come out of her humble abode.  I popped the top of the house off, and there was Bird, sitting on a pile of pure white cadbury-egg sized eggs.   

Tiger Lily

I think I've always had a great eye for taking pictures.  I don't consider myself an artist, but when I take a picture and it comes out like this, sometimes I start to feel a little bit like one.  I was just sitting on my steps, tying my shoes, and getting ready to go out on my boat on this beautiful day last summer.  I didn't have my camera with me, I wasn't even thinking about taking pictures when I looked over and knew I had to capture what I was looking at.  I shot this with my iPhone, and I still consider it one of the best pictures I have taken.  I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that good art can happen anywhere, at any time.

Monarch Caterpillar

This is the caterpillar of a Monarch Butterfly.  The first time I saw one of these funky little guys was when I was in first grade, on the first day of class.  My teacher had created a whole lesson around these insects, with something typical that we were supposed to take away from it, like "you've watched these caterpillars grow up and fly away, now it's your turn."  Now, I definitely was not paying attention to that part.  I was busy being  mesmerized by the incredible transformation that a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly.

About five years ago, a couple of milkweed plants sprouted up outside in my yard.  Milkweed is the only type of plant that a Monarch caterpillar will eat (the leaf in the picture is a milkweed leaf).  Each year since then, more and more milkweed has started to grow in that same spot, and each year, we get to see tons of butterfly's laying their eggs.  So although I didn't really pay attention to what my teacher was trying to teach us, I think I can say that that experience in first grade is what sparked my interest in nature, which I am thankful for.      

Life of a Chicken

I often think about how simple and care-free the life of an animal, or this chicken, must be.  Not one of those sad chickens destined for a slaughter house, but one that lives a free life, with nothing but a few stray dogs to worry about.  Down in the Bahamas, there are hundreds of chickens wandering about, just like this one.  When I was taking this picture, I had a pretty funny thought.  This bird is basically living the way that most people dream about living.  And I don't mean most people want to be a chicken.  What I'm trying to say is she has a full family, a great, safe place to live, plenty of food to eat, and no financial issues (haha).  Who doesn't want that?

Bonefish

Sadly, this is the only picture I was able to take of my prey during the whole spring break week.  Well, technically not prey, because I don't fish for bonefish for food.  I fish for them because it almost seems like a hunt, where I would be the predator, and they, the prey.

Fishing for bonefish can sometimes be the most terrible hobby in the world.  As I did, you can go for a week or longer without getting the chance to feel one of these powerful fish peeling line off your reel with ease.  It takes lots and lots of patience.  Here's an example.  One day me and my dad were out on the flats, walking through just about knee deep water.  A perfect depth for bonefish.  The tide had lined up with a break in the wind, and we weren't about to miss a chance to fish.  The only problem was the multiple clouds clogging up the blue sky.  When we fish, we wear polarized sunglasses, which help fisherman to see through into the water, making it easier to spot fish.  Constant sunlight is necessary for this to work, which we didn't have.  So, during the few bouts of sunlight that we did have, I spotted a fish. It was about 50 feet away, slowly making its way towards us; a perfect set up.  All we had to do was stand still and wait.  And then, the lights went out.  A cloud roller over the sun, and all visibility was lost. As we waited for the cloud to move on, I tried to think about where the fish would end up.  And then the lights turn on, the fish is 5 feet in front of me, and I see a blast of sand underwater as he spots us and darts away.  Time to do it all over again.        

Cuban Emerald Hummingbird

The above shot is of a Cuban Emerald Hummingbird, a type of hummingbird native to Cuba and the Bahamas.  Whenever I see a hummingbird at home in Massachusetts, I never have my camera with me, so I've just been waiting for a chance.  My first day down in the Bahamas was one of the best days, weather wise, of the whole week.  I was so excited to see dozens of these tiny birds flitting around from flower to flower, barely staying still for long enough to get a photograph.  This particular one would roost up on a branch above a group of flowers, and wait.  Whenever another hummingbird would come by and try to feed, he would swoop down and chase them off with a lot of angry chattering.  Surprisingly enough, despite their size, these little guys can produce quite a racket.

Every summer, back in Massachusetts, I notice more and more hummingbirds coming to feed at the flowers around my house.  I'm hoping that this year will be the best year yet.
   

Interesting Starfish

While wading the flats down in Green Turtle Cay, there's something interesting to see.  Even if you get a day when the fish aren't around, you won't be disappointed.  On the first day of my trip, among the many other colorful starfish laying in the crystal clear water, I found the one in the second picture, with six huge legs.  This got me thinking about my trip down here a few years ago, when my dad found a starfish that only had four legs, with no signs that it had ever lost one.  This means that had been born with only four legs.  When he asked locals in town about it, they told him that a four legged starfish is rare and considered very good luck.  A few days later, while I was walking through the flat looking for fish, I looked down and saw one sitting right next to my foot.  Unfortunately, it didn't seem to bring me any luck, because that day I didn't catch any fish.     

Silver Lining

Silver Lining-Will Benson

Silver Lining is going to be a part of the Fly Fishing Film Tour, one of the biggest fly fishing organizations that travels around the country each year.  The tour consists of hundreds of fly-fisherman made videos, with each one simply telling a story.

Silver Lining, by Will Benson, is one of many amazing films that focuses on the massive migration of Tarpon through the Florida Keys.  What makes this film different from the rest, is that it has a darker, gloomier message inside.  Tourism plays a huge role in the Florida Keys, and cruise ships play a huge role in tourism.  Every day there are massive ships coming in and out of the islands.  With cruises getting more popular and ships starting to get bigger, problems start to arise.

This video talks about the impact that "mega cruise ships" could start to have on the environment surrounding the Florida Keys.        

Green Turtle Cay

At the end of next week, I'll be getting on a plane.  Flying to one of my most favorite places on earth (so far).  Green Turtle Cay is a 3 mile long, half a mile wide island in the Bahamas, off of Abaco.  My family travels here just about every year.  We were mesmerized the first time we arrived; a combination of the feeling of getting away from it all, unimaginably generous locals, and beautiful surroundings.

This year, instead of spending every minute of every day out on the flats fishing, I'm going to devote some time to photography.  Since I haven't been able to make it down to Green Turtle in about two years, I'm itching to get started.  The amount of amazing wildlife that makes this place their home is incredible.  So, even though I have no pictures for show right now, expect many in the weeks to come.

Black-capped Chickadee

After a five minute walk down a trail at the Ipswich River Mass Audubon Sanctuary, you can stand all day with a handful of bird seed and watch as bird after bird lands on your hand to feed.  This Black-capped Chickadee isn't the only species that you'll hold in your hand.  Others include Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, English Sparrow, and multiple types of finches.

Landlocked Salmon

This is a Landlocked salmon, caught by my dad in Grand Lakes Stream, Maine.  These fish have a very interesting story.  They are technically the exact same species as the Atlantic salmon, but they live a completely different lifestyle.  Atlantic salmon live most of their life out in the ocean, only returning to the fresh water rivers that they were born in to reproduce and die.  Landlocked salmon, however, have evolved in a completely separate way.  They live their whole life in freshwater lakes and rivers, never making the trip to the ocean that their relatives do.

Redfish

This is a Red Drum, or a Redfish.  These fish can be found anywhere along the eastern coast of the United States and in the Gulf of Mexico.  Redfish are very fun to catch and delicious to eat, but unfortunately, they aren't going to be the topic of this post.  
When I caught this fish, I barely even noticed that it had been hooked.  My mind was in another place.  I was thinking about the fish that I was actually here to catch, the fish that should be on every fly-fisherman's bucket list.  Megalops atlanticus, or, Tarpon.  The entire trip to Islamorada, Fl, had been planned around the idea of knocking this species off of my list.  But, as I'm sure you can tell from the picture, we had no luck.  So, until March, when I try again, this picture will have to suffice as a place holder.   

Steller's Jay

This is a Steller's Jay, a very close relative of the Blue Jay, that lives in the western part of the United States, including Alaska.  And yes, it's in the process of swallowing a whole peanut, with the shell still on.  When I put a handful of peanuts out in my uncles backyard in Anchorage, Alaska, I really wasn't expecting much.  Maybe a few squirrels, or some ravens.  But I was bored, so I sat there for a little bit and watched.  When this bird showed up, I was expecting it to just grab a peanut and book it.  It then proceeded to swallow one, grab another in it's beak, and fly away, coming back every couple of minutes until the whole pile was gone.  Every time I would put more peanuts on the table, that bird would be back within five minutes, lugging them off to its tree somewhere.  At least it won't need to worry about going hungry this winter.        

Red Fox

When this picture was taken, I was in the outskirts of a small town in Alaska called Talkeetna.  I had been walking around in 5 degree weather with my uncle for hours, trying in vain to catch a glimpse of a rabbit for long enough to get a shot off.  The second when we thought we were going to go home empty-handed, a patch of snow in the distance moved.  Towards us.  Just when I realized it wasn't snow, just a very white rabbit, I saw the fox behind it.  Frozen in mid run, it stood for minutes on end, just staring at us.  And then for the next hour, this fox just...hung out with us.  It sat staring at us, sniffed us, and followed us until it started to get dark, when it trotted off into the woods, back to its hole.

My name is Max, and throughout the next couple months I hope to share stories and photographs of my experiences with nature, with whoever cares to read them.