Ending June in Contrasts. 6-28 and 29-2025

The year is almost half over and I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing anymore. It was going to be overcast so I decided I wanted to go to a turtle spot. In the wise words of Hüsker Dü (and covered by my own damn band) it makes no sense at all. Whatever. It's flat and there was a chance for the one Box Turtle there, so we headed to Plymouth County on Saturday in intermittent rain and cool weather.

No, we didn't see the Box. Or anything else for quite a while. Finally, we saw a Painted Turtle who might even have been dumber than me. Possibly, but most likely not.

We sat down at the end of Osprey Path with only one photo taken. Unheard of. I took a photo of something that looked like a Snapper head after the waterfall. No, it's not. Then it disappeared. It was?? Well, this shitty shot is all I got.

This Painted Turtle shows me how it's done.

As does this Bullfrog.

It was great hearing a lot of Bulls and Greens calling from the ponds. It was turning out to be a decent frog day in this cool rainy weather. We stood there for quite a while, just listening to frogs croak. I tried like hell to get a shot of a Bull sack extended but I was too slow, poorly placed, or I'd put my time in on a shy guy. But they were all beasts!

Painted Turtles were OK with us just standing there.

We decided that there was no need to go "the long way" and so we cut over to the big pond. I wanted to check out Racer Rock. No, no Racers (haven't seen one here in years) but the grass next to the cement platform had a chubby Water Snake gal laying about.

This massive gal had her head poking out for a nice photo.

Andrea got into the action as well.

Another fat mama Nerodia was in the grass on the other side.

After resting at a nearby picnic table, we went back by the cement and saw at least another two new ones. All huge and obviously with snakelet. Great spot, standing in the shade of the blossoming Swallow Tree. (They don't call 'em Tree Swallows for nothing!)

Walking back along the big pond, we saw some guys in the fishing area. That usually means we don't stop there. But they were laying down, reaching into a spillway with sticks, removing debris. This piqued my interest. They said that they'd seen a massive turtle in there that might be stuck. They'd already pulled out two tired Spotted Turtles. The two guys (Connor and Gary) were tenacious and their persistence paid off and they eased a big ol' Redbelly out of the confined space. Very impressive work!

These two are, like us, reptile enthusiasts and Andrea told them how good their karma will be! Connor even called me and ran to catch up with me afterwards because I'd stupidly left my backpack at trhe spillway!

Two good dudes. I wish there were more in the world.

This Snapper was, by the way, watching as they were trying to gather the Redbell!

A few more Painters.

It was warm enough, but still cloudy. At some point, I said that I didn't expect it to be quite like this. This Water Snake gal had a nice, secret place to warm on a small rock.

Finally added Bird #57 with a female American Goldfinch in her summer finery.

Not a horrible day, just not what I'd expected weatherwise. 

The next day, Sunday the 29th, was going to be warmer. I chose a place in Middlesex County that we hadn't been to yet because I figured it would have been flooded earlier on. Well, now it was very much grown in and impossible to see the water. We did walk out a boardwalk and dock to see a few Painters eventually.

Sun? Yes. Lots. It was hot. Again, at some point, I said that I didn't expect it to be quite like this. Anyway, we got to some rocks and I flipped a feisty, bitey Garter. Yes, that's probably musk on the lens.

A fellow nature walker (from California) pointed out a Robin's nest, which was beautiful... but more on that after this brilliant golden Green Frog. Plenty of Greens were calling. 

Yeah, I thought this was a nest of baby Pterodactyls.

Turns out the guy was right. A Robin came back to feed them.

While I was waiting for the mom to come back in hopes of getting a better shot, Andrea was over by the Garter rocks and found an Ermine (Short-tailed Weasel). Cuteness overload.

We saw our First of Year Monarch Butterfly suckin' on some Milkweed flowers.

Far too lazy to look up the species but this dragonfly landed in a terrific spot for a photo.

The Spaghetti Plant was in full bloom.

Actually, it is Rope Dodder and it is a parasitic plant. Those host plants are probably doomed. It's cool stuff, though.

We sat for a bit in the shade, watching the river run beyond the trees. All of a sudden, 3 ermine hopped across the path right in front of us. What a treat that was. They were all no longer than 7 inches, the last one was even shorter! Black tipped tails. Adorable.

Last photo of the weekend. Also adorable... a young Painter.

I was happy to hear the Greens but this spot was a stronghold for Northern Leopards and we haven't seen them there in years. I hate that they seem to be gone from this spot.

Not my perfect choices of places to go but they both paid off with good sights. I took Rt. 95 the wrong way home though, wasting time and gas (which is money). I should be put down.

Plymouth Rocks! 6-20-2025

Another weekday that we could be together! Yeah! We made an early break to go try to cross Musk Turtles off of our "not yet seen" list, so we headed to the spot we call "Musk Turtle Place" in Plymouth County, getting there at about 10:30 AM. There is also an abandoned mill there with tons of boards for flipping. I hoped we'd be there before everything was on the crawl. I did miss a couple of Garters that took off upon being flipped so I decided to grab the next one I saw, which was this lovely musk-machine.

Well, I did say I was going to look for Musks. It would be a day of stink. It should be noted that I did see a Snapper in the pond out front but it retreated unphotographed.

The next couple of Garters I was able to shoot as flipped.

I was very happy but not the least bit surprised to see a Ringneck, the first one we'd ever seen at this spot.

We ran into a couple who were also exploring the abandoned property. The guy showed me a Box Turtle he'd seen nearby that morning. Damn! That gave my exploring a new twist! Of course, we didn't see one (it was hella hot by this time) but it gives me hope for the future. Cool place, at any rate.

We went over to the most reliable Musk Turtle spot and there was, as usual, some folks fishing. But they were nice (mostly kids) and never questioned why I was looking so intently in the water and the rocks. (This is also a great Water Snake place.) I had to get in and go through the reeds and plant clusters individually and finally saw a wee Musk basking on a twig. He fell in upon seeing my massive bulk.

It was about 30 minutes of hard work but mission accomplished!

Andrea retreated to the car for some AC while I went back to the spillway which was now clear of fishing folks. I saw a Nerodia poke her head out of the wall, then pull back in. I laid down on my stomach, held the camera low, a couple of feet above the water, and tried my best. Got a decent shot while clicking almost blindly.

From the other side of the spillway, I could see another Water Snake who must have been pretty much just below where I'd laid down for the other shot. It looks to be in the blue.

I didn't want us to get overheated like the day before but Andrea said she had enough gas to look at a nearby old mill-site. It is usually pretty good for turtles. In fact, after we got there, we saw a Painted Turtle right away, enjoying a lunch of green stuff.

There is a series of spillways there and there are sometimes turtles in those. The first one had a small Painter swimming about.

Andrea noticed a full grown Musk off to the right of the Painter, basking and dry.

The next spillway had a small Painter taking a super aggressive shower. He stayed there for a while.

After moving, he promptly got himself wedged between a rock and a hard place.

I was ready to jump down and give him a hand but after a while, he wriggled just right and fell through.

While that drama was unfolding, I noticed another, smaller Musk had pulled up to bask in the previous spillway.

That gave me a rare chance to photograph two Musks basking at once, a rare sight for me, a mere mortal.

The little guy fell back in shortly after I took the picture.

Andrea looked off the boardwalk and spied a massive Water Snake crawling through the brush. An absolute beast, this is the only shot I could muster.

We were hot but satisfied so we headed to the car. The green-eating Painter was now up basking.

I'd planned on hitting another spot, over in Bristol County, but Andrea was toast and to be honest, getting home to the AC and some lunch didn't sound horrible. But we'd seen our target, thrice. It's always a good day in the field, especially when you're seeing turtles!

Hot Times at the Magic Tree. 6-19-2025

Andrea had Juneteenth off and I... well, I have pretty much every day off. Extra day in the field. The forecast was for temps in the mid-90s by 11 AM. We left the house for a Worcester County spot to visit the Magic Tree. Not sure why I was so adamant about going there this day but we did. Due to traffic, we didn't get there till a little after 11. Yes, it was hot hot... hotter than hell.

Before heading into the park, we ran into some friends who we know through the Boston music scene. It's always a treat to run into friends out of context! They had just seen two large black snakes at the Magic Tree. I'm grateful for that tip because had we gone to a different area first, we might have missed the snakes! As it was, we got there in time. Yes... there were two Rat Snakes and they were getting busy.

It seems late in the year but there is no ,mistaking what was going on. Tails were twisting and twitching.

First of Year Rat Snakes and it's good to see that the tree still stands. It is still cordoned off which is a wonderful thing to see.

It was very hot and I figured that most things would be hiding. That meant that I had to flip every little thing in the park, which lead to a few cases of gasping for breath, browning out and feeling my heart thud in my throat. I have to remember that I'm getting fairly old and going nuts in 90° weather is fucking stupid.

Here is a nice Forest Tent Caterpillar.

In the shade, some of the grass was still cool and dewy. That was good enough for this Pickerel, who gave me no chance at a successful shot. Eh, I did OK.

We saw nothing for most of the rest of the time. Too hot for turtles to be up and no cuadates would be anywhere near the top of their burrows. We dunked ourselves in the lake and relaxed in the shade for a while. We did see one small Painter basking but he dunked himself when a car went by.

Remember the storm drain that was giving me anxiety back here? We were happy to see that some chicken wire had been placed along the largest opening! Still, I could see a Green Frog in there on a floating log, living large with all of the bugs he could eat. The water is deeper and not far from the drain tunnel in the wall. I miraculously got a shot of the Green through the wire, into the dark.

No, he's not missing any meals.

Getting ready to leave, we ran into the ranger who we'd mentioned the drain problem to last year. She was responsible for the chicken wire! It was great to thank her (and she us for bringing it to their attention) in person. 

On the way out, I slowed up going by the turtle spot and there was a Painter up catching some hot hot rays.

The little bugger who had slid in earlier was back, grunting his way to the top.

Thinking of storm drains, we decided to go a few miles down the road to another spot where we'd seen some problems (mentioned in the above link). We got there and peered into the drain and there was an adult Painted Turtle who scampered into the shade of the tunnel going under the road. He should be OK.

I stood by the water's edge and watched the pond. I saw some movement and snapped a photo but didn't see much in the shot. Until I got home, uploaded the photo and noticed that the movement was from a Toe-biter with eggs on its back. I wish I'd gotten a better photo.

That's about it. We got milkshakes for a Rat Snake reward, went home and put the AC on and literally chilled out the rest of the day.