Monday, September 30, 2013

SALAMADNESS in Western MA! 9-29-2013

What better way to waste one of the last beautiful weekend days of the year than to go to our nemesis place in Franklin County and attempt to find Hognose Snakes and Box Turtles?! Up at 5 AM, on the road before 7 and pulling in before 9 AM! Let's party!

It was still very foggy when we pulled in and we could see our breath. But that didn't deter us. Oh no... we were herping! In fact, we flipped a handful of Redbacks right away!
franklin redbacks 1

In addition to the multitude of bullet casings that we always see here, there were exploded paint balls all over. I found an unpopped one and tried to pop it with my foot. It didn't work on the sand, so I moved it to a rock. Nope. I applied more pressure. Guess where the paint squirted.
DSC_0003

OK, let's herp some more. We were finding plenty of Redbacks, including this massive Leadback!
DSCN7530

But no Hognoses. And no Box Turtles. BUT, Andrea found a successful nest which we believe to be a Box nest!
DSC_0004

Is this a Moose track?
DSC_0006
Not the ice cream... the mammal.

Another big Leadback...
DSCN7533

A flipped Wood Frog...
DSC_0007

A handful of Redbacks...
DSC_0009

OK, we were working our asses off for over 3 hours so far. We were flipping those damn red rocks until our hands were raw. I finally flipped this little Garter!
DSCN7540
I called to Andrea who I thought replied from afar "I've got a bead on something"... so I put him down and photographed him until he disappeared.
DSCN7545
DSCN7547
She had actually said "Wait, I gotta pee". Oh well, I hoped we would see more snakes eventually.

But not here, though Andrea got quite a few nice Redback shots!
franklin redbacks

On the way out, some of the mud puddles in the road had some stealthy noggins popping up and down- teasing us, but even wading through, I couldn't find the culprits.

So, we ate and drove over to Hampden County, to the place where we had such good luck the week before (here) and maybe I'd even find my glasses! The car protested quite a bit when I parked, which made me feel a bit sick... just what I needed... the car to break down 2 hours from home.

But we forged on and hit the trails. Like the week before, it was Salamadness! The first two flips got an Eft/ Leadback combo!
DSCN7557
DSC_0018

I flipped a couple of Efts and one went into the eft defensive posture, which neither of us had ever witnessed before!
DSCN7562
He's trying to show us his brightest orange part to startle us!

Yeah, it was hot and heavy with Efts! Spotted Newt Mania!
DSC_0029
hampden efts
DSC_0034
Hey, how did that folded up Redback get in there?!

Ascending the mountain, I finally saw a snake... a small Garter who was up poking around next to where I was flipping!
DSC_0043
He really really liked Andrea!
DSC_0045
He ground in really good, getting those rear fangs nice n' embedded and slathering her with anti-coagulants and mild venom.
DSCN7574

Right nearby, a smaller Garter was trucking along and stopped long enough for us to get some photos!
DSC_0061
DSCN7580
I'm a big fan of noggin shots... can't you tell?

So, we kept flipping Efts...
DSC_0064

and we made this Salamander lover's dream flip!
DSC_0065

Andrea even got this shot, after a Redback decided to opt out of the photo...
DSC_0074

By this time, we had decided to not try to photograph every Eft or Redback that we saw... it was getting ridiculous! So we'd flip and say "hi, Redback" just so the other knew that we were still seeing herps. Eventually, I said "Hi, Ringneck"!
DSC_0079
A nice clean and bright one... about 14" long!
DSCN7587
Andrea wore it like a hat.
DSCN7591

Andrea went back on her Eft moratorium.... it was just too cute!
DSC_0090

We got to the point where I thought  we were at the spot where I lost my glasses. Andrea didn't think so. Whatever... I flipped a baby Garter!
DSCN7593
DSCN7598

Then we started finding Spotted Salamanders!
DSCN7601
DSCN7602
As I was photographing this guy, I heard Andrea shout and looked uphill and saw her fall and go tumbling ass over tea kettle down the rocks. I promised myself to laugh after I knew she was all right. She was, but she was shaken. Still on her knees, she was flipping nearby rocks. She was going to be OK. But damn, the rocks were slippery! Bruises appeared quickly.

OK, some more Redbacks just because!
hampden pleth

Another healthy flip!
DSCN7606

Andrea's knuckles were starting to swell. From the fall? No! That Garter bite was starting to react!
DSC_0114

We started to head back, not because of Andrea being fragile or anything, but it was starting to get late and we had more spots that we wanted to see. Like this Spotted Newt. (Not really an eft anymore, so it was OK to photograph!)
DSCN7609

Here's a Wood Frog that was checking to see if Andrea was OK.
DSCN7611

OK, this Redback needed to be photographed! He's all noggin!
DSC_0110

This Wood is the second one in two weeks that is missing an eye! Genetic? I dunno...
DSC_0112

We got into the car (which was acting OK now) and went down the road a bit, to the vernal pond where our friend Ryan had found the Marbled Salamander last week. We had only a short time to flip, so we got started. Here's a young Spotted who needs to grow some more spots!
DSCN7617

What can I say? I can't resist Newts!
DSCN7618

Andrea was on fire finding Woods and getting great shots!
hampden woods

We had flipped a ton of Leadbacks and I started to wonder... are we sure these are all Leads? I mean, there are reportedly Jefferson Salamanders here and they're not real fancy... maybe some of these are young Jeffs?! Andrea assured me that Jeffs are mole salamanders and wouldn't look like these lungless guys. Oh yeah... good point.

Which set up my next flip nicely. I flipped a piece of bark and this guy was sitting there...
DSC_0146
Hmmm... dark but with a Mole Sal face... blue areas. "Hey Andrea, I have a Jeffs here".
DSCN7619
Holy shit! We really did! Lifer!
DSC_0150
Andrea stayed and photographed him for a bit while I went on, looking for Marbleds!

Well, I found a stream that was all but dry and got excited for a possible Northern Dusky! Instead, I found a Wood...
DSCN7625
a sparkly golden Redback
DSCN7626
a Pickerel (flipped!)
DSCN7627
more Newts...
DSCN7628
and a flipped Green Frog!
DSCN7629

Andrea got some nice shots of a couple of more Woods...
DSC_0155
DSC_0156

I was right at the water's edge, right in the muck, running out of flipping possibilities when I found this Pickerel...
DSCN7631
and I heard Andrea yell "Marbled"! Yesssss!

This is what she found!
DSC_0162
What a beauty!
DSCN7635
DSC_0172
This nearly spotless Spotted came up to visit!
DSC_0167

That's a happy herper!
DSCN7638
(check out how swollen her hand was by this time!)

As we were putting the Marbled log back together, this Leadback said "what about me? Aren't I beautiful?" Well, yes indeed, and I got one of my best pics of the year here, too!
DSCN7642

Andrea finished things off with some Spotteds, one pale, one not as pale and both small!
hampden spotties

So that was an interesting day! A few snakes, some frogs and a whole slew of Caudata! Andrea still has some nice purple bruises and her hand, while not so swollen anymore, is also a lovely violet hue!
DSCN7644

Ten species! Not bad for late September! The season isn't over quite yet!



No comments:

Post a Comment