It was once again going to be a nice day out so we decided on a turtle-centric hike in Middlesex County. Tis the season for shoestrings and walking pebbles and we wanted to see some of each. It was lovely out when we got there but there were a lot of cars in the lot. Would this be a human-filled day?
Tarp is always of interest to us. Snakes like to hide in it. It retains moisture so when that "time of the every couple of months or so" hits, they like to hang in the tarp to moisturize their old skin. This place has had a pile of tarp laying there for a few years now. That would be our first target. Under the first edge I lifted was a huge surprise... the very first Milk Snake we'd ever seen in this refuge.
Judging from this little fella's roly-poliness, we figured shoestring Garters were probably present, too.
Carefully unfolding the tarp, we saw some more potential meals for that chubster... here's two of three newbie Garters that we saw in the tarp.
Since Milks are snake-eaters, we figured we'd warn them. Note the blue eyes on the second one.
Also in the tarp, this ready to shed adult Garter gave us the blue stink-eye.
We headed in, enjoying a rare gnat-free walk at this place, ever vigilant for small turtles and snakes. This gorgeous, large Garter gal was stretching out next to the path.
The first time we got near the water, we saw a couple of Painted Turtles enjoying the warm sun.
It's nice to see the occasional Redback again, now that the nights are cooler.
Before hitting the ponds in earnest, we relaxed on a bench and admired this Pine Sphynx caterpillar (Thank you once again, Teá!)
Then we settled in to look at turtles. There were so many Painted Turtles up and sunning that it was almost comical. Here are some...
In the past, there has been a Blanding's or two in the mix in some of these distant stack shots but today, it was all Painter. No wonder some people call them "sun turtles".
Andrea spied this Bullfrog in hopes of breaking up my streak of turtles.
Now, back to the Painters. The far side of this particular pond was just bursting with happy, sun-worshipping Painted Turtles.
If you're still with me here, just look around the photos... noggins are all over the place.
Madness, I tell you. This Heron was struck by the sheer silliness of so many turtles that he started cackling to himself... a victim of Chelonian Fever.
We made it past the pond eventually and up to what has been made into a nesting spot; an open, sunny field. They over-tilled it in the Spring, though, and the tire-tracks look like they would doom any small turtles trying to climb their way through the field. We didn't see any anyway. Andrea went to look for Wood Frogs while I headed to a spot that overlooks that turtle-crazy pond. On the way, I saw this fine American Toad.
So, what could I see from up there? Painted Turtles!
This little guy had a nice clump to himself!
But not for long...
Yoga.
We're always happy to see such a healthy population of Painted Turtles. This day, in particular. Yes, we love them because they're beautiful but this field had over a dozen dead adult Painted Turtles around the perimeter of the far end. We'd seen 4 on our previous trip but the numbers this time were staggering. What was it that is killing them? They were only partly devoured. There are plenty of Raccoons there... could they be the culprits? Perhaps the deep furrows caused by the tilling slowed the turtles down enough to be trapped. I do not know, but it's a fucking bummer.
I asked this Mantis if she was responsible. This is the look she shot me.
Since we still had plenty of gas (a rarity these days), we decided to head down the trail a bit more to see what we could find. On the mile walk to the next water (a marshy riverbed) we didn't see anything (except a massive Garter skin coming out of a hole) but when we reached the water, we were rewarded with some Green Frogs.
There were a few pesky Pickerel Frogs darting in the grass as well. They made photographs extremely tough, as you can see.
Heading back, we finally saw our first Water Snake of the day, a gorgeous juvenile, about 16" long and beautifully banded. He was stretched out straight in the path. Luckily, a bike hadn't come by and squished him.
We helped him make his way across.
Happily, we saw some Painted Turtles up on the path on the way back as well.
That second guy was Business Turtle... on the go.
There were still some baskers, too.
I got my pathetic 2020 Bird Count up to 67 with this Belted Kingfisher.
Before leaving the ponds, I got artsy with this Painter in the lowering sun.
We were feeling the walk back but happy with our nine species on the day. The question we both asked... should we check the tarp again before leaving? Of course! And we were delighted to see (without having to move any tarp at all) this momma Wolf Spider and her kids.
We didn't want to bother her, so we only poked around very gently on the other side. That was good enough to really piss off this Garter.
The day ended on a fun note. We were driving the long entry road out and noticed a large frog sitting in the opposite lane. Not a good spot. I put on my hazards, jumped out and stopped the oncoming car while I went over and poked this chubby Green Frog to make him hop to safety.
The driver and I exchanged a thumbs-up and nobody has to worry about how big of a splotch that bruiser would have made. He hopped on in the brush, happy to be able to eat again.
Did I just fat shame a frog?
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