Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Patriot's Day Herping! 4-21-2014

We skipped herping on Sunday, because it was Easter and it was cool outside. I'm not sure it ever hit 50°. It did get sunny, but hey... we herped at home with Lilah!
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But the next day, Monday, we both had off for Patriot's Day and we were in for some sunny and warm weather. We decided to go to another turtle-centric place, this time in Middlesex/ Worcester County. We ran into some Marathon traffic (which is why we usually herp to the south on this day) but still managed to get there at about 11:30 AM... just as the weather was getting good n' hot and things were starting to hop!

Right off the bat, we had a Ribbon Snake slide out of the path and into the water, out of camera sight. Not again!! But Painted Turtles were all over the place!
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Right off the path, Andrea spotted this Garter Snake who was weighed down with a nice big meal!
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Aaaand... turtles.
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Heading down to the water to look for frogs, we instead found a Ribbon Snake, making up for the one we missed earlier.
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Further up the trail, we flipped a pair of Redbacks.
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Then our first Four-Toed Salamander of the year, who was but a shadow of his former self. The break looked somewhat new, maybe from earlier this year.
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It's about time for some Painted Turtles, wot?!
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While I was photographing a leaf that I was so sure was a turtle, Andrea spied our first (and only) Nerodia of the day! This place is usually filled with Water Snakes, but not yet this year. This familiar gal was catching some rays.
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^The genius at work...

I need more turtles... it's just how I am! Deal with it!
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This one sat tight while I got in really close for a front shot!
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Then we met what we consider to be the most accommodating Garter Snake we have ever met. It started out tough, as I had to catch him for a photo. He went all flat and even bit me once.
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Then he calmed down.
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And we found we could put him in different poses!
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We took about 40 pictures of him and then he slithered off.

We kept going on and eventually saw a Green Frog!
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Then Andrea spied this Garter...
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Then I saw a small Garter dart into some leaves. I was rooting around, looking for him and Andrea pointed to a small Garter about 3 feet away. Was it the same guy? Damned if I know, but this one was a beautiful young snake!
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Another Green, this time photographed badly.
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Then, Andrea almost stepped on this guy!
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This was turning into a very Garteriffic day! And we had missed getting shots of a few fast ones that we saw too!

This wee Painted was just as charming as he could be.
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We had started back around the trail again and got to our pre-planned turn-around point. Then Andrea said- "Look who's coming our way".
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This Garter had a meal on his mind and was on a mission. He paid absolutely no attention to us as he scoured the area.

We watched him for a bout 20 feet, poking around the edges of the water, turning back and moving on. He made such a pleasant, whispering sound as his belly moved through the leaves. That's what it's all about.

Somehow, Andrea saw this teeny Ribbon Snake! Squeeeeee!
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A couple of Painteds gave us the side-eye, in honor of our friend Terri!
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We have finally reached the Big Year's half-way point with this, #50, a Tree Swallow!
#50 Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

Then we added herp species #8 for the day... Bullfrogs!
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Almost to the car, it happened again... in almost the same spot! A Ribbon slid into the water! Was this the same guy as before? Maybe, but he stopped long enough for us to get pictures this time!
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So, shee-it! 8 species, about 10 snakes photographed (3 species)... this is the best Monday in a long while!!! And this treasure was all in roughly four hours!! What a wonderful day!




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