Driving there was kinda scary. There were moments when the rain fell so hard that we couldn't see the car in front of us. Finally, it cleared a bit and I asked the Powers That Be for just 4 hours of clear weather. Oddly enough, we got it.
So we got there before noon and headed in. A small, reddish Garter Snake was our first encounter... always a very good thing!
Further along, while I was flipping my way back into the woods, where I found this Wood Frog,
Andrea was finding two species: a Pickerel Frog
and a puffed up American Toad!
Our quest for baby Garters ended fairly soon, with a flip of this youngster!
Of course we were very taken with him...
I needed to get a closer look!
Then things got pretty Phibby for a while... with toads (all were presumably American, though some had nearly blank bellies...)
More of the ubiquitous Pickerels
and even a Redback!
We actually got a Spring Peeper to sit still long enough for a shot! Hallelujah!
We were hoping to see some turtle hatchlings as well, as the season is coming upon us! Sadly, despite it being a year light on predation so far, many nests had been raided... mostly by raccoons, from the looks of it.
At water's edge, I flipped a piece of tin, hoping to spy a surviving hatchling or something. I saw what I thought was a small tan salamander walking along the wet leaves... then I saw it was a snake! Ringneck? Redbelly? So small... I had it in my hand before I realized it was a brand new Dekay's Snake!
Still with his baby neck-ring, this guy is one of the smallest snakes we've ever seen in the wild!
A new species for this particular part of the refuge, too!
Well, that cheered us up... as did our exploration of what looked like an exit hole in the sand. We opened it up and sure enough... there were dozens of empty eggs deep in the sandy chamber!
A couple of dozen Snapper babies had hatched... let's hope some of them made it to the pond and will survive to come ashore and lay their own eggs in the future!
Speaking of turtles, the sun had been valiantly trying to come out for a while now and that was good enough for this 8-pack of Painteds!
A bit down-river, more Painteds found some space... 2 sets of three!
I went down to wash my hands in the stream water and looked up and saw this gal, who Andrea was photographing at just the same time! Duck Yoga!
After a short snack, we headed on. I saw what looked to be a massive Snapping Turtle lazily poking around a sandy creek bed.
I descended the hill that we were on to try to get a closer shot. Almost immediately, one leg went knee-deep into the muck. Then the other. Then, I figured I might as well go look at him up close. Yesterday's blog post here will give you the whole story of what happened!
What I didn't mention while being funny was that, when I looked closely at him, I saw a bullet hole in his carapace.
What else could that be? Perfectly round. It looked to be healed pretty well... I mean, I didn't stick my finger in or anything, but it looked fairly solid inside. But he must still have a bullet or shrapnel or something still inside him. What kind of sick bastard takes a pot-shot at a turtle? There are "No Hunting" signs all over this area, too. And by the way, his was a very decent fellow. Just a couple of obligatory snaps in the short while I held him.
We followed this up with a few more frogs... another Wood...
A Green (finally)...
and a Peeper that I flipped in a piece of carpet!
I love carpet!
And here's two more reasons why... first, a young Garter Snake!
This guy had all kinds of personality!
We realised that we don't have one of those traditional "hands and wedding rings" photos, so we remedied that problem right then and there!
Second reason we like carpets? See reason one! Another Garter! This one, obviously, is in the blue!
This spider with her egg sac was also in there!
Mr. Toad just didn't want any attention with all of the Garters around!
Next up, we flipped a first for this place... a Spotted Salamander! Robust little guy!
A shy Redback.
More Toads!
Another Pickerel, this time kind of silvery-grey!
We checked the bunk-bed area again and some Painteds were out! It seems like it has been years since we last saw any in this spot!
On the way out, I took a quick peek at a falling down building that has been good in the past. As I was going in, this Garter was coming out!
Decent sized... she might be one of the preggo ones from the last trip.
Another Wood! This is way more Wood Frogs than usual! I like that!
Almost to the car, Andrea looked over and saw something trucking along a sidewalk! She countered my Snapper find with her own!
Bigger than a hatchling, but not a lot! This guy was so mellow, Andrea was able to remove a pine needle from his face with no ill consequences! I've seen ones smaller than this snap like mad!
So, that was a good trip! The rain held out for over 4 hours (as we'd asked) and we saw 11 herp species! We got a bite to eat (I explained to the cashier at Papa Gino's that I was all muddy and my money was wet because of a turtle. She said she had fallen off of a pier before, while trying to see a turtle... and she can't swim.) before driving into Plymouth County to check out the vernals at Rocky Gutter. Our last time there, which was also after visiting this place in Taunton, was very successful.
Not so much this time. The sun was rapidly setting and we just weren't finding stuff. The pools were quiet and the rock piles were empty, except for this colorful American Toad.
But we have no complaints! We saw a lot of animals and had some crazy adventures! For as sketchy as Taunton seems in some places, I really love it there. I look forward to exploring it further.
No comments:
Post a Comment