Stuff we saw June 8th and 9th.

Obviously, I'm tiring of writing this blog.

We went out in hopes of turtle nestings on Saturday, June 8th. We went into Middlesex County, to a very turtle friendly place. It was warm and sunny. We got there mid-morning and I feasted my eyes on a tarp around a work site. It had plenty of puddles on it, showing me it had been there for a while. My thoughts went to in-the-blue snakes. What I didn't expect to flip was a hatchling Painted Turtle.

Andrea had seen a Garter slip out when I saw this guy but we never recovered it.

We wanted to get this wee one to the water's edge, which was a pretty good walk from here. So, we moistened a washcloth and started our journey.


We saw a couple of Garters along the way but had a top priority in our hands. He was getting really active, too. We got to (what we considered) a good spot and put him down into his new world.

Hopefully, a frog didn't eat him right away.

So, that was a fun start. Now, where are those Garter Snakes now that we have free hands?

Beauty.


We could hear plenty of Bulls and Greens but this is the only frog, a Bull, that I could actually see.


Next path... a turtle on the move! This Painter wasn't looking to nest, just passing between ponds. I removed a leech from his shell.


Though there were no great stacks of turtles basking, we saw plenty of one-off logs with Painters, and a few more Bullfrogs, too.







We got to the wide-open nesting field and saw signs of nesting and predation. Here is a Snapper nest that has been dug up and eaten by mammals.


This looks to be a recently laid nest that hasn't been destroyed yet. You can see the tail dragged across the loose soil. Also, a deer stepped on it.


This field has great sun exposure but maybe too much sometimes... we have seen dead turtles that had succumbed to the heat up there. We were happy to see this Painter heading out, having finished her business.


We decided to go no further in after this. We figured we'd hit another spot on the way home. On the way out, we passed by the ponds again. This Bullfrog was visible from about 50 yards off. Big 'un.


Staring at the water produces some fun results... a wee Painter noggin.


Andrea finally scored us a photographable Garter, and a stunner it was, with a vivid white stripe.


Then she spied an American Toad that I had walked right past.


Before leaving, I wanted to peek into the tarp to see if the Garter had returned. Yup.


Andrea found another little guy who made snarling faces at her.

As expected, both were in-the-blue.

We headed back home, stopping off at the other spot. Marsh Wrens laughed at my inability to get a shot but a pair of Mallards had no problem standing there while we photographed them.


The sun had gotten a bit low and we saw no turtles or frogs (though we heard some Greens calling). We figured if we were to see any snakes, we might have to flip some stones. There is one spot there where we can do that and almost every stone had a tidy little (or big) Garter coil under it. This surly chap is the only one we got a picture of.


We didn't stay long. On the way back to the car, Andrea saw a pile of Nerodia.

I couldn't see her until I saw a twitch... looks like she's not alone. There was some hanky-panky goin' on.

Boomp boomp... chicka-ch-haa... oh yeah.

That was a decent way to end up the day.

The next morning, we headed deep into Bristol County to try to see some nesting turtles again. The place was less crowded than it sometimes is but it was still pretty annoying. I have decided that I really do not like sharing my natural places with humans. But most humans are oblivious asswipes so these two Garters that were right there next to the visitor center went pretty much unnoticed.



By the water, we saw a giant pickle that was in fact a Bullfrog.

We showed it to a couple of young girls and their mom.

They kind of followed us to the next spot, where we'd found a pretty Water Snake.

They were cool and the snake was a good demo-snake. Not real snake fans, they were open minded and enjoyed seeing how beautiful this one was. They'd mentioned the cabin (which we had walked by due to humans) and nests.

We went back to check out this year's batch of nesting Barn Swallows. There were dozens of nests.



A couple of Painters spaced out enough to make for a shitty photo. Thanks, guys.


A cool sight... a small vernal was teeming with tadpoles, presumably Wood Frogs. There were thousands in there.


Painter. I've taken this exact same photo countless times. But it's still a good one.


We weren't seeing much so my eyes and ears started going to the trees. I heard one familiar call but realized I didn't know what it was. I got a shot of the culprit. Looked like a Phoebe to me but the call was wrong. With the aid of my pal Bob, we sorted it out and I found the call on You Tube... this is an Eastern Wood Peewee, Lifer #186 and $90 on the year.

I'm very proud of myself... first ID by call!

We started to tire but went on, making our way back. Quitters we ain't. We finally got to a spot where Andrea saw a Water Snake take off into the water.

A family was there... some of the kids took a look and the dad got my patented lesson on how its not a Water Moccasin. He was dead stupid and his Boston accent made him sound even dumber.

But his wife really frosted my balls. She had already passed  us, but felt the need to come back and go into her histrionics, twitching and fake gagging, to show how much she hated snakes. Seriously... fake gagging. By ignoring her, it made her get closer to make sure we could see her showboating. I just had to walk away.

Know what? If you hate snakes so much, how 'bout not walking through their home? It will save you lots of gags and maybe even some pulled muscles from your pathetic overacting.

Needless to say, that put me into a mood that hasn't really even gone away yet. I'm tired of trying to enjoy myself but having to share the world with humans. I'm tired of my species. I'm tired of trash and noise and other people's ignorance. Yeah, this has made me not even care enough to continue the blog. I have so much shit always hanging over my head. Why add more pressure on something I supposedly love.

Yeah, I'm in a weird place in my head and heart right now. Thank god Andrea can put up with my mental scribbling.

And bless her soul, she found a pretty olive Garter before we reached the car.


I dunno. I might feel differently after our next hike. I'm a fucking mess.