Friday the 8th (my brother's birthday!) was a pretty nice day so when Andrea finished up work at 2:30, I convinced her to take a nature walk somewhere... anywhere. We made an odd decision to go to the place that holds our local dens. We always go at the beginning and the end of the year but never any other time. While it didn't turn up anything crazy, it did give us an instant of hope.
We hit a path with two footbridges. In the water on our right as we went over, we saw a Green Frog and a Bullfrog. They looked like this, respectively:
We continued on and at the next footbridge, there were two teenaged girls sitting next to the water, so I naturally asked if they'd seen any frogs. They said they had not but were looking for them. I gave them pretty good directions on where to see the two we'd just seen and we went on our way.
We turned back after about 20 more minutes of exploring. The girls were no longer at that second (now first, on the way back) footbridge. I hoped they'd gone to the next one to look at the frogs but you know... kids these days. We got to the (now) second footbridge and they weren't there. But our pal Joe from a few weeks ago was! I have matched spots... this is the same Bullfrog in the same place.
We headed back towards the car and before we got back to the main path, the two girls were coming towards us. I asked if they'd seen the frogs and they said they couldn't find them. We took them back (luckily, not too far) and showed them all three. They were very happy, chirping how they loved frogs. I figured we had done a good deed. It's good to see youngsters enjoying nature.
The next day, we got up fairly early and headed to Essex County for a first-of-year walk around a lovely reservoir there. It was going to be warm and sunny. Upon hitting the trail, we noticed a lot of burned woodlands along the path. I was reminded of a wildfire in the area last year that lasted a few days and I'm sorry to say that this place was in the path. Flipping burnt logs, however, revealed super nice looking soil, so who knows. It might be OK after all.
It took a while but we finally saw some critters, a few Painted Turtles enjoying the sun.
This guy did a big hoist and was standing tall.
This particular place is usually very good for Water and Garter Snakes but we were striking out. I was down by the edge of the water looking for Musk Turtles when this small Water Snake swam right in front of me.
I spent a lot of time flipping for Garters, hoping for some shoestrings, but coming up empty. I did see a beautiful two-footer slither out of sight and managed a "proof" shot but little else.
We looked around a lot more but found ourselves back to where we'd seen our first Painters on the day. We watched them swimming and foraging and doing turtle business for quite a while.
I snapped a shot of Bird #63 on the year, a Solitary Sandpiper.
A Honey Bee packing up it's saddlebags.
Around this time, an older guy and a young girl (likely grandpa and granddaughter) whom we'd seen earlier, wisely wearing mosquito hoods (the gnats were awful) came up and we started talking. They are very familiar with the place and the girl is very fond of reptiles. They'd seen a Garter not too far away. We walked back to the parking lot together and talked about animals. I almost got a Garter on the way (the girl called snakes "friends") but failed. But at any rate, I had a lovely chat with the girl who wants to eventually learn falconry and learn everything about reptiles in the area.
It dawned on me that in the last two days, I have had better conversations with kids than I do with most of my peers. My own granddaughter (who I wish still lived in Essex County so she could explore nature with this girl) is a bug fanatic! Surely I am a fifteen year old girl at heart.
Now, don't think all pervy and stuff, Andrea is my only love. It just did my old heart good to see youngsters loving on what so many people think of as unlovable animals. It makes me think that guys like this Painter might have a decent future.