November

And so starts the off-season. The worst part of the year for nature viewing and living in general. Still, we do try to get a walk in whenever we're dumb enough to think we might see something. Like on November 2nd. It was a cold Sunday but the sun was supposed to come out. It did, but it remained behind clouds most of the time we were poking around our local dens.

Luckily, Redbacks are a hardy species so we were able to see one!

We went back on the following Saturday in the early afternoon. It was a dark and dismal morning but the sun came out after noon so we headed over, intent on getting a walk in if nothing else. Flips produced no salamanders and the Valley, Back-Valley and Robles' Dens all gave us nothing. Still, it was a nice day overall. Then, in between the path to Robles and Sly's den area, there was a Garter laying next to the path.

We'd seen some in the Spring in this area but never really considered it a den site. That all changed when this skinny guy just disappeared into the ground. About 15 feet away, there was another that appeared to be half in, half out, but I found the cute noggin which was hidden by a piece of wood.

Not bad. It wasn't really warm but in the sun, things were good enough. Note in those photos... they're keeping their bellies in the sun!

We checked a few more spots before the Cottonwoods dens but saw nothing. But Andrea spied this skinny mini at the Cottonwoods!

Cute overload!

We saw nothing at the Rock Wall Den so we headed back and decided to see if any frogs were up near Joe's Bridge. There were none, but we stayed there looking at the water. Then, she came...

An old bag (probably my age) came up and asked what we were looking for and we said frogs. Somehow, that triggered her snake hatred and she became very dramatic and said "as long as it's not snakes... ewww" and she shuddered. I told her that we'd been lucky and had seen three. Her drama became even louder as I explained that they were all off path (except one! shhh!) but she kept shuddering so I told her to calm down, everything here is harmless. But the drama had to go on so I said "it's all part of nature's creation" and she had to admit that yes, everything has a place. But then she had to go and say "but what about Adam and Eve? The serpent is a devil!" at which point it was no longer even a discussion based in reality. I told her "but that's just a fairy tale" as she walked off, saying it was real.

Some people actually think the Adam and Eve story really happened? I wouldn't have thought it possible, but there you go. What a twat. I should have asked her opinion on dinosaurs. I realize that I no longer have any patience or tolerance for any animal hatred anymore.

Hey... it's now November 30th and we haven't been out since the 8th. It has been shitty and/ or busy. Fuck you, November!

My, But That Ended Early 10-26-2025

We're not going to see much more this year. We went over to the dens to see if anything was up despite temps in the low 50s. In the sun, things might be brave. Well, my timing might have been off (wouldn't be the first, or even hundredth time this year) but no snakes were up. We did manage a couple of Redbacks and a Spotted, though, which is never a bad thing.

Goodbye, October. You sucked. And now on to even suckier months.

Whittling Down the Year. 10-19th and 22nd, 2025

It's the time of year when you have to take what you can get and every sighting might be your last of that particular species. We headed to a spot in Middlesex County where one October day we had about 30 snakes, mostly Garters, a few Water Snakes and Ribbons. Of course, we've never come close to repeating that but we still keep it in mind. We were in no hurry to get there as it was cold and we waited for the sun to come up. We got there noonish.

We didn't see much right away and the water levels were quite low. It wasn't until the second pond that we saw a bunch of small Bullfrogs in the edge water.

Further out on that pond, some distant Painters were basking. The sun was up and we were in shirt sleeves by now.

This guy had a caterpillar (Banded Tussock Moth?) caterpillar photobombing that I didn't notice until uploading the shot.

A few more, feeling fabulous.

A couple of huge Green Frogs were sitting next to the water. First, a female and next a male showing a massive tympanium.

We ended the day with a couple more Bullfrogs.

So, no snakes but still a handful of critters that we will not be seeing in a couple of months.

We woke up Tuesday morning (October 21st) and got Andrea ready for work. It was pouring rain. She mentioned how it looked like good Ambystoma weather out. I agreed. And by 2 PM, when the sun was poking out, I was ready to go see if she was correct. I hate to cheat on her while she's at work but it was too nice to be faithful, so I went to our den-spot to poke around.

First log flip, early in the Valley, got me a good sized Redback. Off to a good start.

Towards the back of the Valley, I flipped the first Spotted Salamander (maculatum) that I've seen at this place in a few years. Small but chubby.

None of the den-sites had shown me anything but then, crawling below one, was this good looking Garter who was also poking around. First October Garter for me.

Out at the Cottonwood den, a dark, slim Garter was out... until it saw me and vanished.

I looked at the Rock Wall den, looked for Joe at the bridge, looked up at Robles' den and saw nothing else. Circling back, the new Old Faithful log had a Redback under it.

Then, up at the rocks near the cemetery, I scored a Blue-spotted with bonus Redback.

Then, the next rock had a two-pack of Blues. A nice way to end the day.

What do you know... Andrea was right. It was a good salamander day. I feel no remorse for cheating. I needed to get out into the woods and away from this computer that shows me the badness in the world every day. I need to be in nature where I can only see the goodness (mostly).

Octobrrrr... 10-11-2025

The season is hanging on by a thread. We'd already had a hard frost two days before but we wanted to have a nature walk. Why not just hit the local spot, take an extended hike and see if anything is up. Surely we'd get at least a salamander or two.

We did just that, up by Robles' den. A flip of asphalt got us a four pack of Redbacks... with a fifth sneaking into a crack in the rock.

The next rock had just one loner.

Down in the Valley, I was happy to see our first October 2025 snake, a large Water Snake peeking out of the den entrance. Yes, I guess they are back, as they should be.

Gee, I hate to be boring with Redbacks, a species some "herpers" don't even count, but I love them and this guy was about 4 inches long... a beast!

A bit later, I went to flip a log that broke in half. Nestled inside was a Blue-Spotted.

We checked all of the known den-sites and saw nothing, so we headed towards the attached park. No frogs were out at the first bridge (no Joe!) but at the second bridge, while watching geese and ducks, we noticed a single Painted Turtle trying to catch some rays. Getting ready for Hallowe'en, she is sporting a Bride of Frankenstein 'do.

Out in the attached park, we looked around but the sun had gone behind clouds and it was pretty cool. It never got above 65° all day but with no sun, it was chilly. So, we headed back. I just had to check on the Valley on the way back. The same Water Snake was poking out. It was dark enough by this time that I had to use a flash, exposing some nice red markings.

Last up... more Redback beauty. So there.

That's it. And the rest of the year won't be much more interesting to people who like fancy stuff, but we're satisfied with our local commons. No trips for us this year (or likely ever again because I'm a lay-about) so we get what we get.

I'm really sad that this year ended so abruptly but what can you do? Hopefully, it will be nice enough this coming weekend to get out again and see if any tenacious critters are not yet ready to hang it up. I know I'm not.

Something Blue, Something New. 10-4 & 10-5, 2025

Mercifully, the weather was supposed to be decent for the weekend. We had made plans to see Andrea's mom on Saturday but we decided to check out our local dens on the way there for two reasons. First, to see if anyone is back yet (no evidence). Secondly, we had a massive yellow squash that we wanted to leave in the woods for snacking, having seen a pumpkin get devoured last year but unknown critters.

It was very very dry but Redbacks didn't seem to be worrying about it.

As I said, the dens were unoccupied so after depositing the squash, we walked along the path up to the adjoining park. Our pal Joe the Bullfrog wasn't there, so we went further out. Eventually, we got to a spot where we could see distant Painted Turtles basking.

We had to get going but I wanted to check out some often-rewarding rocks just before we got to the car. Much to our delight, we found (despite the dryness) a couple of Blue-Spotted Salamanders, our first of the year.

Not a bad half hour right there.

The next day, we decided to try a new spot. While watching the Nerodia tug-of-war last week with some other folks, they'd mentioned a spot in Plymouth County that they enjoyed. I did some research during the week, printed a map and we headed over to this new place on Sunday morning.

It is a fairly short hike, just over three miles. It's near the coast and boardwalks traverse a river in two spots. From those boardwalks, we saw plenty of late-season Painted Turtles catching some rays. That's quite an old-timer on the top.

Hoissst!

Smarty pants.

Old-timer and brown shell made no effort to move as we crossed the boardwalk.

There are a ton of bird-blinds, lots of marsh-land and some nice wooded trails as well as field-side trails. But we saw nothing while walking. Still, it was beautiful. Andrea saw a Praying Mantis and I got a funny photo and dedicated it to one of my favorite books.

Before leaving, I got another (very) distant shot of a group of Painters way out on a pond.

It was a successful recon mission and we figure that in April, it will be great with birds and lots of critters. Just not this day. So, we got milkshakes and headed back towards home with the intention of stopping at a reservoir in Norfolk County that we'd not been to this year.

We got there and noticed plenty of change in the two years since our last visit. We were happy, however, to see a few Redbacks early into the hike.

The ponds around the main lake were low but still filled. This Bullfrog was happy enough, anyway.

After that, we took plenty of shaded, wooded trails and then set out across the dam in the blazing sun. Most of the bushes and trees along this path had been downed so I started to realize that Water Snakes and Racers would be unlikely at this time of day (mid-afternoon). We went all the way out, then started back and I could tell by then that Andrea was just doing this only for me. I felt pretty shitty. Well, we made it back to the path that led to the car and feet were draggin'.

All of a sudden, things were good... a Snapling was standing in the middle of the path, head held high and being beautiful.

Nothing will make Andrea happier than a baby Snapper.

We photographed him and then I saved him a few hours by walking him down to a wet, leafy area right next to the pond. He can hide there of bury himself or move on. Lots of opportunities.

A snakeless weekend but a First-of-Year and a new spot scoped out. Better than sitting around looking at a computer. By far.