Loren Merrill Photography

08/09/2026

Atlantic puffins engaging in a little courtship behavior. The bird in the back is performing some ritualized head-up displays while the bird in the front appears deeply disinterested.

Taken during my Down East photo workshop to Eastern Egg Rock.
From late May, 2026. Muscongus Bay, Maine.

08/06/2026

A gorgeous hummingbird clearwing (moth) visiting the wild bergamot (bee balm). These moths have a long proboscis that they unfurl (visible in the top image) when approaching a flower and then insert to sip up the nectar.
Millbrook, NY. August 5, 2026.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

08/05/2026

Male indigo bunting on a blackberry stalk. I still hear males singing, although it feels like a little bit less singing each day.
Millbrook, NY. July, 2026.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

08/04/2026

This raccoon was wading out in deep water feeling for possible food items with its highly sensitive hands. Here it's munching on something crunchy; crayfish perhaps or a freshwater bivalve. And while this individual doesn't have a shortened spine like the now famous raccoon Jimothy from Seattle, he does have somewhat floppy ears, giving him a distinctive goofy appearance.

Millbrook, NY. July, 2026.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

08/01/2026

Preparing for the big leap. Mom bobcat with a meadow vole jumping through and over some big puddles in a flooded meadow.
Millbrook, NY. July 29, 2026.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

07/31/2026

Another shot of the bobcat (I now know to be a mom) with her recently caught meadow vole. This is before she hit the wet parts of the meadow and started running. Looks like she's doing a little bit of pre-run stretching.
Millbrook, NY. July 29, 2026.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

07/30/2026

In between downpours yesterday I caught a glimpse of this bobcat trotting across the grassy meadow. I hurried outside as quickly and quietly as I could thinking the cat had probably vanished into vegetation. But to my surprise, she came walking back towards me with a freshly caught meadow vole in her mouth. When she came to the flooded part of the grass, she started running (turns out bobcats - like most cats - don't love getting their feet wet). Here she's splashing through the wettest part right before gets to the dirt road (and right before she realizes she's running right towards me). Pretty incredible encounter.
Millbrook NY. 7/29/26.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

07/17/2026

A quick jaunt back to spring when the apple blossoms were bursting and the blue-winged warblers hunted among them for caterpillars. The blossoms are long gone, but these apple trees are now laden with young apples. Could be a good year for apples and the animals that eat them.
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Millbrook, NY.
May, 2026.

07/16/2026

My latest The Outside Story is up!

Most of our northeastern snakes draw their coloring from the palette of earthly tones, coming in browns, grays, and yellows. Some species have bright patterns that fade as the snake ages, and…

07/01/2026

My article on the return of sturgeon in the Northeast is now available to read online: https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/sturgeon-comeback-northeast
This all came about because we've started to see (and hear) sturgeon breaching near our family place in the Maine midcoast.

For millennia, a group of prehistoric fishes have been swimming the rivers, lakes, and coastal waters of northeastern North America. These fish – some of them approaching a leviathan-esque 15…