Marty’s photo of the day #3557: Chinstrap penguin runway model (photographed on Antarctica).
Chinstrap penguin
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Year: 2021
Genova, Italy
Marty’s photo of the day #3556: The beautiful, friendly city of Genova, Italy. But far too confusing for my GPS!
Statues in Florence, Italy
Marty’s photo of the day #3556: Florence, Italy has statues everywhere, and like this one, I found them more dramatic to photograph at night. Remember in 2002, when U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft had a drape installed to cover the nude breast of the Lady Justice statue? John Ashcroft (and fakers like him) should most […]
Dogs and heights
Marty’s photo of the day #3555: One of the ways dogs are like humans is that some are afraid of heights and others are not. I’ll never forget, many years ago, when Deb and I rented a Forest Service lookout tower in northwestern Montana. Our Labrador retriever climbed right to the top, but I had […]
Verona rooftops
Marty’s photo of the day #3554: This is a rooftop view of Verona, Italy. On another subject: Remember the song “My Sharona” by the Knack? You can still sing the song perfectly if you replace “Sharona” with “Verona.” You’re welcome!
Central American agouti
Marty’s photo of the day #3553: Today’s photo comes from Costa Rica. This is a Central American agouti—a rodent that can weigh up to nine pounds.
Wolves in the night
Marty’s photo of the day #3552: I took this photo from my favorite campsite ever. Deb and I were in the Yukon Territory, traveling for the Canada chapter of my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents. After we snuggled into our tent with our dogs, a wolf started howling next to […]
Nanga Sumpa
Marty’s photo of the day #3551: For anyone who has read my latest book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, this is Nanga Sumpa, the Iban longhouse that Deb and I raced the flooding deep-canyon river to get to. In Borneo, entire tribes live in a single longhouse, and when […]
My COVID-19 vaccination: the reaction and the whining
I had never had a reaction to a shot before, but after I got my Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, I felt like I had gone several rounds with a heavyweight boxer. My wife, Deb, on the other hand, didn’t have any reaction to the shot she got at the same time. From what we’ve […]
Return of the hummingbirds
Marty’s photo of the day #3550: Spring is on the way, and soon the hummingbirds will return. This is one of the hummingbirds that hung around Deb’s and my house last year. It was a bit tough to identify, but I’m going to say it’s a rufous hummingbird.
Skittish macaws
Marty’s photo of the day #3549: This won’t go down as my most crisp photo, but macaws are skittish. I had been trying to photograph them for the entire week I was in Costa Rica, and I finally got close enough for a few shots on the morning of my departure.
Evolution in progress?
Marty’s photo of the day #3548: This excerpt from the Australia chapter in my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, explains the shot: Earlier in this chapter, I promised to introduce you to a bizarre creature that would eliminate all reasonable doubts of evolution. I found such a creature—in fact, oodles […]
A ground squirrel vs the far-right
Marty’s photo of the day #3547: “Let me get this straight: You don’t believe DDT harms wildlife; you don’t believe humans cause global warming; you don’t believe masks help stop the spread of COVID-19, yet you do believe that your god will soon reinstall Donald Trump as president. Isn’t that kind of like a ground […]
Brown Pelicans
Yukon Territory in the fall
Marty’s photo of the day #3546: This is the Yukon Territory in the fall. One of Deb’s and my favorite trips for my first book, “Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents,” was when we traveled all the way to the top of Canada in September 2002. Now that we have a real, competent […]
Anaconda dreams
Marty’s photo of the day #3545: A full-grown anaconda can weigh up to 500 pounds, qualifying it as the world’s heaviest snake. It can also reach 28 feet in length. This one wasn’t quite that big. Okay, it wasn’t even big enough to do damage to anything larger than a rat. Still, it was an […]
James Bond Point
Marty’s photo of the day #3544: I came across this spot while kayaking along the coast of Costa Rica. I dubbed it “James Bond Point.” Can’t you see James Bond (preferably played by anyone other than Daniel Craig) in a speedboat chase scene, racing through this spot? At the last moment Bond would lunge up […]
Beep! Beep! It’s a three banded courser.
Marty’s photo of the day #3543: When I first saw this bird, in Zimbabwe, I simply called it a “roadrunner.” This morning I spent some time acquiring a more accurate identification, and now I’m reasonably sure that it is a three banded courser.
Republican and turkeys
Marty’s photo of the day #3542: How are turkeys like Republicans? Turkeys show off their feathers when they want to mate; Republicans show off their guns when they want to mate. Turkeys have trouble solving complex problems; Republicans have trouble solving simple math—like that 306 electoral votes is greater than 232 electoral votes. Turkeys will […]
Eyelash viper
