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.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mkarpaq6dk2yMarty’s photo of the day #5028: The beachmaster. . . . The Galapagos sea lion version of the current president of the United States—only smarter and more stable. (Photographed earlier this year in the Galapagos Islands.) #photography #nature24 Apr 2026 14:52 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkarpaq6dk2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mk66oexiak2qMarty’s photo of the day #5027: I just missed photographing this osprey as it tried to grab a fish off the surface of the water. After that, I watched and shot photos as it sat on this branch, waiting for another opportunity. Alas, the bird had . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #birds #photography23 Apr 2026 14:06 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk66oexiak2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mk4343e77s2dMarty’s photo of the day #5026: Deb, Nellie, and I visited the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge last night—enjoying pizza and beer by one of the big ponds and then heading over to the area where dogs are allowed. After Nellie enjoyed her . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #photography #wildlife22 Apr 2026 17:57 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk4343e77s2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjz75kdv722mMarty’s photo of the day #5025: This is a Nazca booby. Photographed earlier this year in the Galapagos Islands. #photography #birds #nature21 Apr 2026 14:31 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjz75kdv722mhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjwoscsxvc2lMarty’s photo of the day #5024: This is a Galapagos land iguana. The species can weigh up to 25 pounds and live up to 60 years. I can’t stop staring at that huge front claw! (Photographed earlier this year in the Galapagos Islands.) #photography #nature #wildlife #reptiles20 Apr 2026 14:34 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjwoscsxvc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mju5qvsez22gMarty’s photo of the day #5023: Yesterday I was experimenting with different camera settings and lenses to prepare for an international trip and needed a subject to photograph. That’s when this big bull moose showed up and said, “I’ll pose for you!” (Essen Wildlife Refuge, Montana) #photography19 Apr 2026 14:23 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mju5qvsez22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjrvje25r22uThis is the magical forest behind Deb’s and my house. Obviously, I boosted the colors of the sun’s rays streaming through the trees, but photography is an art, eh? Perhaps this is what the forest looks like to animals that see in spectrums that humans can’t see. #photography #nature18 Apr 2026 16:50 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjrvje25r22uhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjroxukipk2eMarty’s photo of the day #5022: This cute little bird is a Galapagos flycatcher. (Photographed earlier this year in the Galapagos Islands.) #birds #photography18 Apr 2026 14:53 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjroxukipk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjpmgu2ye22kThe date was November 29, 1978. My best friend, Reid, and I were huge Bruce Springsteen fans. We were both going to Duluth East High School and had very little money (I was working at WEBC radio for $2.65 an hour). Somehow we got tickets . . . (Tap ALT & then tap text for full story.) #Springsteen17 Apr 2026 19:03 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjpmgu2ye22khttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjp7eiw3zc2aMarty’s photo of the day #5021: In 2004, Deb and I backpacked 53 miles across Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe. We saw quite a few chacma baboons (the largest baboon species). For this photo, the baboon was a little beyond . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #photography #nature #animals #wildlife17 Apr 2026 15:09 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjp7eiw3zc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjmneyq4xc2oMarty’s photo of the day #5020: Exploring the Everglades was the only adventure in my nonfiction books where my wife didn’t accompany me. I was on a college speaking tour in Florida and scheduled multiple days off for exploring . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #birds #photography #nature16 Apr 2026 14:42 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjmneyq4xc2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjk55py5w22nMarty’s photo of the day #5019: My Everglades trip was the only adventure in any of my nonfiction books that I did without my wife. I was on a college speaking tour in Florida and purposely scheduled multiple days off for exploring. Because . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #photography #nature15 Apr 2026 14:46 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjk55py5w22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjhnvzmfqc2xMarty’s photo of the day #5018: In 2002, Deb and I drove all the way to the top of Canada and caught the great Porcupine caribou migration (the longest land migration on Earth). The caribou passed by us in waves, and we hiked with them for . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #photography #nature14 Apr 2026 15:08 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjhnvzmfqc2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjf5346s2c2vMarty’s photo of the day #5017: When Deb and I look back on all the adventures we’ve had around the world and pick favorites, our 2014 Costa Rica trip is always near the top of our list. Who knows? We may go back there some day. My photography on . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #photography #birds13 Apr 2026 15:01 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjf5346s2c2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mjclzkk2wk2oMarty’s photo of the day #5016: Deb and I were on a 53-mile-long backpacking trip through Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe when I photographed this African grey hornbill. The year was 2004, and because of 2 flights on rickety little bush . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #birds #photography12 Apr 2026 14:51 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjclzkk2wk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mja3eyze4k2lMarty’s photo of the day #5015: I call this a “pipe cleaner spider.” I photographed it with a film camera on my trip to the Amazon Rainforest in 2001. Back then I was still using film cameras, and I had trouble focusing . . . (For full story tap ALT and then tap the text.) #photography #nature11 Apr 2026 14:47 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mja3eyze4k2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mj5j5k4a5c2lMarty’s photo of the day #5014: Whenever I’d go through the Antarctica photos I shot back in 2003, I’d pause at this photo, wishing it wasn’t blurry. I like it because I was able to capture a chinstrap penguin at the moment it sneezed to . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #birds #photography #nature10 Apr 2026 14:16 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj5j5k4a5c2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mj2yzmegds2sMarty’s photo of the day #5013: If you are viewing this photo on a smartphone, it probably won’t look like much. But if you are viewing it on a big screen, it’s really, really cool! In 2014, Deb and I were in a boat along the coast of Costa Rica . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #photography #nature09 Apr 2026 14:22 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj2yzmegds2shttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3miyjgt3dls2rMarty’s photo of the day #5012: In 2004, Deb and I were on a 53-mile-long backpacking trip through Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe when we came across a pack of 18 painted dogs. At the time, there were only 700 painted dogs in Zimbabwe and . . . (Tap ALT for full text.) #photography #nature08 Apr 2026 14:38 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3miyjgt3dls2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3miw2wt4c2c2pMarty’s photo of the day #5011: I shot this yellow-billed stork photo in Zimbabwe, Africa twenty-two years ago. Although my current books are fiction, my first two books, “Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents” and . . . (Tap ALT for full story.) #birds #phototography #nature07 Apr 2026 15:13 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3miw2wt4c2c2phttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mito4nfzus2kThe audiobook version of “The Silver Squad Rides Again” was published on Audible this morning! Like the original, “The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles,” actress Maria McCann (Grey’s Anatomy, The Practice, Lucifer, & 45 movies) narrates the story. https://www.audible.com/pd/B0GW12KMP6/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-504069&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_504069_rh_us #Books #BookSky06 Apr 2026 16:18 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mito4nfzus2khttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mitgpflcss2yMarty’s photo of the day #5010: I shot this red leaf monkey (aka maroon langur) photo on the island of Borneo twenty-three years ago. I haven’t posted it before because I shot it with an early digital camera that had difficulty handling low light in. . . . (Tap ALT for for full text.) #photography06 Apr 2026 14:06 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mitgpflcss2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3miqwabvctk2vMarty’s photo of the day #5009: And then the Easter Sea Lion delivered shiny blue fish to all the pups in the sea. (Photographed earlier this year in the Galapagos Islands.) #photography #nature05 Apr 2026 14:05 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3miqwabvctk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mioglsxmh22pMarty’s photo of the day #5008: There are more than 30 species of clownfish, and all are born male. The largest male in a group becomes a female, and if she dies, the next largest male turns into the new female. (Photographed in the Raja Ampat of Indonesian New Guinea.) #photography #sealife #fish04 Apr 2026 14:20 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mioglsxmh22phttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mily6e6shc2mMarty’s photo of the day #5007: This is a male magnificent frigatebird, hoping to pick up a hot chick. (Photographed earlier this year in the Galapagos Islands.) #birds #photography #wildlife #nature03 Apr 2026 14:57 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mily6e6shc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mijglmjz6s2hMarty’s photo of the day #5006: With this photo, I tried to capture just how big Galapagos giant tortoises are. (Photographed earlier this year in the Galapagos Islands.) #photography #wildlife #nature02 Apr 2026 14:37 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mijglmjz6s2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3migvpi2mdk2cMarty’s photo of the day #5005: Here’s a little cuteness for your Wednesday: a juvenile swallow-tailed gull. (Photographed earlier this year in the Galapagos Islands.) #birds #photography #nature01 Apr 2026 14:29 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3migvpi2mdk2chttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3miffapp5ks2zAs of today, The Silver Squad Rides Again is available here: Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-silver-squad-rides-again-marty-essen/1149683620 Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSH7FMHS Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Silver-Squad-Rides-Again/Marty-Essen/9798994260708 #Books #BookSky #Librarysky #author #writer #writing #novels #fiction #publibs01 Apr 2026 00:02 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3miffapp5ks2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mief7czyjk2mMarty’s photo of the day #5004: With all the exotic species, exclusive to the Galapagos Islands, it’s easy to overlook other species, such as this whimbrel, which are just passing through. These birds can fly nonstop over the ocean for 2,500 miles or more. #birds #photography #oceans #islands31 Mar 2026 14:29 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mief7czyjk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/martyessen.bsky.social/post/3mibvgy5dqs2gMarty’s photo of the day #5003: Marine iguanas are the only lizard that feeds in the ocean—evolving to eat algae. They can hold their breath for up to thirty minutes and dive down to nearly fifty feet. (Photographed last month in the Galapagos Islands.) #photography #nature #wildlife #oceans30 Mar 2026 14:41 +0000at://did:plc:ae4u6x3vsxwlmlplgwfdzxrn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mibvgy5dqs2g