Intrepid Herpers take a Soaking! 8-2-2014

I am working the Boston Comic Con next weekend. Knowing that, I was going to herp this weekend no matter what. The weatherman was calling for rain but I wanted to go to Plymouth County anyway. Hey, rain shouldn't stop Box Turtles and frogs and snakes... should it?

Well, rain it did. And the temps in Plymouth County never really got above 65°. But we stepped into the wet air and did what we do... looked for herps! We had flipped one tiny Fowler's Toad at Electric Toadland and never looked back.


It seems, however, that the only ones dumb enough to be out on a cool, rainy day was... us. This bigger Fowler's had the right idea. He watched us from a dry crevice under a rock.


The only herps out and about were the tiny toads, which Andrea has a very good eye for.



Of course this Bullfrog didn't give a shit either.


There were lots of birds being active. We saw a hummingbird hovering around at one point and heard lots of Veerys, but I couldn't manage a picture. I already have a Common Yellowthroat this Big Year but I got this decent shot of a female.


Whatever this was that was poking its head into the hole in the tree, it didn't want me to get a good picture of it! Still, I like this shot despite the subject flying away from me.


Another toad with enough sense to stay out of the rain...


It wasn't really raining hard so we kept at it. We were surprised that we weren't seeing more frogs. We had flipped a hoppy Pickerel and startled a couple of Greens in the bog but we were hoping for some tree frogs. At another spot, as it started to rain harder, I flipped a pair of Green Frogs. Even they were smarter than we were!


We hiked the path were we'd seen a Green Snake and a Hognose before but the rain really started to come down...


We eventually turned back, we were soaked to the skin and weren't really coming up with anything. A few tiny toads were still out but as a running river formed on the trail, even they took cover. We got to the car and admitted defeat! 3 hours in the light rain was one thing but when it started pissing down, we took the Toads' advice.

Well, you can't blame us for trying! Being out in nature, even if you're taking a bath, is better than sitting on your arse indoors! We regret nothing!