Marty Essen

@martyessen.bsky.social

6467 Followers 2472 Following

Multi-award-winning author of nine books (three nonfiction & six fiction), talent agent, college speaker, activist, adventurer, and photographer. Website: https://martyessen.com Blog: https://marty-essen.com

Marty’s photo of the day #5132: In nine days, Nellie gets the final X-ray on her second bionic leg (she had TPLO surgery seven weeks ago) and, if all goes well, she will once again be off-leash and free to race through the forest at warp-nine. For now, she covers every inch of the Essen Wildlife Refuge on-leash. With one exception: Nellie’s surgeon gave the okay for her to swim in the stream that crosses the refuge. It didn’t take long for Nellie to understand that she can go leash-free as long as she stays in the water. So her swims get longer and longer. Pushing upstream, against the current, is great hydrotherapy!
Marty’s photo of the day #5131: During the 30 years Deb and I have lived at the Essen Wildlife Refuge, we’ve often heard nighthawks, but only after dark, and if we saw them they were just a flash in the forest. This year is different. Two weeks ago, I was walking our dog, Nellie, through the forest when we spotted this mother and one of her chicks. The mother immediately went into her wounded bird act. Today’s photo is from Nellie’s and my walk three days ago. This time momma nighthawk had two chicks. The chicks immediately flew to a nearby tree while momma did her wounded bird thing again. Since extreme close-ups of these gorgeous birds are uncommon, I thought you might enjoy this one.
Marty’s photo of the day #5121: It wasn’t easy to take a photo while holding a camera in one hand, with a venomous snake crawling on my other hand, in the rainforest, in the dark, but I did it. This little cutey is a brown blunt-headed vine snake. Its venom is potent enough to immobilize the small lizards and frogs it eats, but it’s harmless to most humans. (Photographed in Costa Rica.)
Marty’s photo of the day #5118: Nellie’s recovery from getting her second bionic rear leg will take at least 8 weeks, so I must restrict her to leash walks to keep her from engaging warp drive too early. Because of that, we are covering every inch of the 25-acre Essen Wildlife Refuge. And since Nellie wants to walk often (including a 4:00 a.m. forest-walk this morning), I’m getting so much exercise. Those walks are leading me to see landscape features I hadn’t noticed before. They’ve also led to some interesting wildlife observations. We’ve always had pileated woodpeckers around, but—at least to my knowledge—never so many. This morning, Nellie and I were approaching a pileated woodpecker in a tree that was squawking at the top of her lungs. As I aimed my camera, Nellie bolted, yanking the leash and ruining my shot. Two juvenile pileated woodpeckers were on the ground—15 feet away—picking apart a log and hadn’t noticed the human and dog approaching. Much to the relief of momma pileated woodpecker, the youngsters took to the air. I shot today’s pileated woodpecker photo a few days ago. At the time, Nellie was trying to pull me to a squirrel she wanted to have a conversation with. Do you know how hard it is to hold a camera steady while restraining a 63-pound bionic dog, who’s convinced she’s healed enough to engage her warp drive?
Marty’s photo of the day #5117: This is a mudskipper, a fish that spends more time out of water than in it. They breathe on land by absorbing oxygen through their moist skin; they propel themselves by using their fins as legs; and since fish don’t have eyelids, they keep their eyeballs moist by periodically retracting them into their sockets. These unique adaptations give mudskippers the ability to remain on land for a day or more. (Photographed in Queensland, Australia.)
Marty’s photo of the day #5111: As most of you know, last week our psychopathic führer, Donald Trump, blamed Canada for the forest fire smoke crossing into America. What you may not know is that it is not the first time a Republican has tried that bullshit. Today’s photo shows the great fire of 2000—the highest priority fire in America at the time. Deb’s and my house is in the mountains just below the fire line in this photo. I remember the stress of evacuating and thinking that we might lose the house that Deb designed and we had built just four years earlier. Instead of offering care or sympathy for all of those in the Bitterroot Valley affected by the fire, Montana’s Republican Governor, Marc Racicot, was all over the news blaming Democrats for the fire. Even though Racicot has mellowed in his retirement, I will never forgive him for his assholishness while in office. Trump and Racicot were projecting. The world’s forests have taken care of themselves since long before humans existed. They don’t need to be logged or raked. Not all forest fires are a result of human-caused global warming, but many are, and in virtually all cases the fires are bigger and more destructive because of global warming. Ever since President Ronald Reagan ordered the solar panels ripped off the roof of the White House and cut funding for renewable energy development, Republicans have been doing all they can to help greedy oil companies and stand in the way of progress to mitigate global warming. Because of that, a large portion of the blame for uncontrollable fires and just cooking our planet belongs to the Republicans. Yes, other countries contribute, but when Republicans claim, “America leads the world,” and then they fail to lead, they own the results of their deliberate failure.
Marty’s photo of the day #5110: I shot this photo of the Bear Glacier in 2002, while traveling in Canada for my first book, “Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents.” Now the glacier has melted into a fraction of what it once was. Some photos I’ve seen show that the ice doesn’t even reach the lake anymore. Thank Republicans for that! Ever since President Ronald Reagan ordered the solar panels ripped off the roof of the White House and cut funding for alternative energy, the Republican Party has been denying global warming and giving massive tax breaks to oil companies. Because of them, years and years of potential progress have been wasted. Now we have heat waves and forest fires that are unprecedented. And why is it that the Republican Party always talks about America being the "Greatest Country in the World" yet drops the ball on the most serious human-caused problem in history? As Democrats, liberals, and environmental organizations try to lead on mitigating human-caused global warming, fucking Republicans keep trying to push us back to the 1950s when there were few, if any, environmental regulations. Yeah, if Republicans would have just gotten the fuck out of the way and stopped kissing the asses of wealthy oil company executives, we'd be well on our way to winning the battle against global warming.
Marty’s photo of the day #5108: It’s been three weeks since my dog, Nellie, got her second bionic rear leg (TPLO surgery with a metal plate and six screws), and she is recovering much faster than the first time. She has to stay on leash for eight weeks, and this morning she practically dragged me across the Essen Wildlife Refuge to take in all the scents left by the wildlife overnight. I photographed this moose on the refuge at a different time, but Nellie was convinced it was watching us this morning.
Marty’s photo of the day #5097: For the second day in a row, Nellie gets credit for my photo of the day. Until her new bionic leg heals, she is restricted to leash walks, and it was during a leash walk yesterday through the Essen Wildlife Refuge that we spotted this nighthawk. The nighthawk immediately flew away from us, staying low to the ground. When the bird took off a second time, I thought it flew to the opposite side of the refuge. I started walking that way when Nellie froze—unfooled by the nighthawk, which had only traveled a short distance before landing on a low branch. This time it stayed perched long enough for a series of photos. I have some beautiful portraits to share later, but I think I like this action shot of the bird taking off better than the stills.
Marty’s photo of the day #5096: Our dog, Nellie, has amazing senses. She gets credit for this shot. It was well after sunset when we stepped out onto the front porch. Immediately she knew something was sleeping among the trees a hundred feet straight out from us. I couldn’t tell what it was, so I grabbed my camera, a long lens, and cranked the ISO up to 6400. Only when I looked at my camera’s screen could I tell that it was a deer—now awake—staring at us. As some of you know, last week Nellie had TPLO surgery (to install a metal plate with six screws) on her right-rear leg. Because of that, she’s restricted to leash walks until the end of August. Normally she sleeps through the night, but because she doesn’t like the stitch-licking-prevention cone she has to wear when we go to bed, she gets me up in the middle of the night for walks. It’s her trick to get me to remove the cone. On those walks through the forest of the Essen Wildlife Refuge, all the eyes shining in the light from my headlamp are spooky. Do they belong to a bear, a mountain lion, or just a deer like the one in today’s photo? I have to trust Nellie’s reaction to let me know what is watching us in the dark.
Marty’s photo of the day #5095: I photographed this Boyd’s forest dragon on a night-hike in Australia. These lizards get to be about 20 inches long. Unlike most lizards, they do not bask in the sun to regulate body temperature. Instead, they conform to the ambient air temperature of the rainforest. As such, they are highly sensitive to temperature changes and serve as a key indicator species for rainforest health.