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Marty’s photo of the day #4545: Sometimes I overlook photo folders on my computer. Yesterday I was searching for a completely unrelated picture and opened a folder from 2016. So that’s where my bear cub photos were hiding! This bear cub was in a tree in front of Deb’s and my house in 2016. Now […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4537: Vancouver Island is supposed to have one of the densest populations of black bears in the world. Last month, Deb and I saw two of them on the island, and our dog, Nellie, swears she saw another one not far from our tent. Even so, for us that’s not […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4499: I shot this elk photo yesterday morning on the Essen Wildlife Refuge. We get a lot of elk here, but because elk move to different locations depending on the season, seeing an elk on the refuge with a full rack is rare. This bull was with five to fifteen […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4492: Yesterday, I featured this bear shot from my motion-sensing camera as part of my Sunday “This Week at the Essen Wildlife Refuge” series. But I love this picture so much that I’m giving it its own solo post. With one slight improvement, however.
Marty’s photos of the day #4480-4481: Deb’s and my house sits roughly in the middle of the 25-acre Essen Wildlife Refuge. A long gravel driveway comes in from the side, crosses in front of the house, and wraps around to our garage. A long raised porch runs across the front of our house, the porch […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4461: These flowers are blooming all over the lower level of the Essen Wildlife Refuge. They also have many names. Today I’ll call them a name my wife recently came across: showy fleabane daisy.
Marty’s photo of the day #4445: After 27 years of protecting our forested land as the Essen Wildlife Refuge, I really believe the animals have figured out that they are safer here than elsewhere. As proof, both the number of animals living around us and the variety of species are off-the-charts. Consequently, this summer’s theme […]
Marty’s photos of the day #4433-#4435: Here are three photos of this past week’s wildlife action, captured by the upper-level motion-sensing camera at the Essen Wildlife Refuge. Photos I’m not posting include a black bear, a fox, and the mystery animal that I’ve been trying to positively identify for the past few months (likely a […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4430: For the last couple of weeks, I have been learning a lot about water rights in Old West Montana. I say that because as near as I can tell they haven’t evolved since the 1800s. Deb and I have 25 acres, “The Essen Wildlife Refuge,” on a private mountain […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4428: “Dad! What do I do with this thing? I can’t chase it, like a squirrel, but I can’t really play with it, like a dog, either.” In my book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, I have a story about Buddy, a cantankerous Saint […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4405: Here’s another elk photo from my motion-sensing camera. I always aim my camera low—in hopes of capturing wolf, fox, and mountain lion shots―so up-close elk have to be positioned just right, or the camera decapitates them. This is the tail end of the herd, which was following about 15 […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4404: During the past few weeks, we’ve had a ton of wildlife action at the Essen Wildlife Refuge, including moose, deer, wild turkeys, wild peacocks, nighthawks, foxes, and even a probable fisher. We also have a large herd of elk hanging around. This elk, photographed last week with my motion-sensing […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4394: While I’m always respectful of animals, sometimes being a wildlife photographer/writer doesn’t go as planned. Over the years, I’ve been stung by the world’s most venomous insect, bitten by a venomous snake, and attacked by a hippo (the hippo bit through the center of Deb’s and my canoe and […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4386: Arrowleaf balsamroots are blooming all over the Essen Wildlife Refuge this week.
Marty’s photos of the day #4383-4385: These photos are from Deb’s, Nellie’s, and my adventure last night. As we do every evening, we walked the path that follows the perimeter of the Essen Wildlife Refuge. We were on the far side, when this moose burst through the trees and cut onto the path―just in front […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4323: I bought a new Canon R50 camera and three lenses to go with it. I’m eager to fully test my new equipment, but the changeover from winter to spring in Montana is the worst time of the year for photography. The lighting is poor, the wildlife numbers are down, […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4297: A few weeks ago, I shared a story and photos of a bull and pregnant cow moose that were visiting the Essen Wildlife Refuge. Here’s another of the bull from that photoshoot. He’s a big boy! With any luck, I’ll be able to photograph the babies (moose often have […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4289: Pileated woodpecker, photographed at the Essen Wildlife Refuge, Montana.
Marty’s photo of the day #4266: Hey! It’s me, Nellie, taking over Dad’s morning post. I’ve been looking at the photos of the day Dad has been posting lately—residents of the Essen Wildlife Refuge, exotic animals from all over the world, and even a dog who lived at my house before me who could jump […]
Marty’s photos of the day #4259-4262: We could have a baby moose at the Essen Wildlife Refuge this spring! Every morning my dog, Nellie, enters my writing room and stares at me until I take her outside to play. Yesterday morning we followed our usual routine. In addition to playing ball, Nellie thoroughly sniffs and […]
