A Baker's Dozen of Springtime Garters. March 23 and 24.

Big Night seems like it's going to be Big Month again this year, with amphibian migration taking place in dribs and drabs. So, even though it is technically Spring now, we have to be patient and wait. Not my strong suit.

We were honored to get another invite to the Rehab Aquarium this year and we gladly accepted the offer and went to visit some of the sea turtle rescues that are still being cared for. This Loggerhead, Munchkin, is the 300 lb one that was found (not by us) on our beach. I'm kind of glad we didn't have to mess with her. She is just gorgeous and even a bit playful.


This pretty Loggerhead has recovered from a boat strike and will be heading home soon.


This Kemps-Ridley was found by our friend Maureen (who was there visiting with us).


They do amazing work at this facility and it is indeed an honor to be invited to see actual living, swimming turtles. (We don't see a lot of that on the beaches... especially this past season.)


On the way home, even though it was getting a bit late, it was still sunny so we made a quick stop at the local stomping grounds to check the dens and flip a couple of logs. The dens were bare but we saw a few healthy Redbacks enjoying the moist ground.



The next day, Sunday, was supposed to be around 50° and sunny and we knew the ol' knuckleheads would be lounging outside of their dens. The problem was, we were going to visit Andrea's mum that afternoon so our time was tight. We arrived late morning and it was still cool, but the sun was brilliant.

We said we wouldn't visit the Cottonwood Dens unless we had to. Seeing as how we saw nothing at Robles' Den or in the Valley of Nerodia, we did in fact hit the Cottonwoods. And after letting our eyes settle, we saw seven Garters out in the sun, wholly or partially.






That's a lot of garland.

We headed up the path to the Rock Wall Dens and saw this little guy on the way there.


The RWDs didn't disappoint... these snugglers were up sunning.


We turned back, deciding to re-check the Valley and Robles' Den on the way out as it had warmed up a bit since we'd arrived. Sure enough, the Valley had this guy stretching out, the longest (about 24") Garter of the day.


We'd made a lame prediction of 12 Garters when we first got there and saw the sun and here we were at 11. Would Robles' Den have a late bloomer up? Well, yes. Two in fact.



We've seen no signs of Ambystoma movement at this spot yet but seeing a handful of Redbacks on Saturday and 13 Garters the next day made our first Springtime excursions well worth the effort. Hopefully, weather will continue to improve and we can get into a proper season.