Beating the Heat at the End of June. 6-26 and 27th.

We had to get out early because it was going to be 95° and humid as hell before too long. We got a late start, so we just went over to a nearby spot to walk, not expecting to see much. There was a cool breeze, but it was well into the 80s already.

Our first cool sight was this Buck Moth Caterpillar (Hemileuca lucina... thank you, Teá!)

We got to the sand pits where kids (and man-boys) ride their bikes around and do jumps and shit. Turtles used to nest there. Evidently, some still do. This Painted lady was walking through the danger zone, leech and all.

While Andrea was taking that shot, I noticed a shell over in the fire-pit. My first thought was "oh no... fucking humans..." but no, it was a second Painted Turtle gal looking for a proper spot to nest.

This adorable American Toad was out in the heat but retreated to this tree-hole while I was there.

From there, we did the full walk at this place, about another 5 miles, but the heat was likely the reason we didn't see any more animals for the rest of the walk. Heading back, we saw another Painter up in the same sandy area!

Compare those three turtle photos... all different turtles, but all making the very same stance. That must be the "shit- they saw me" pose.

Heading back to the car, we were surprised and happy to see a lovely Garter in the shade. Perfect white stripe.

That was it for Saturday, but we awoke at the ass-crack of dawn to head to Plymouth County on Sunday. It was going to be another scorcher and we got there a bit before 8 AM while it wasn't too bad. At our first stop, we flipped a gorgeous Ringneck.

We ventured out to the vernal pool that has held its water for a couple of years now. It is getting a little small by now but it's still the home of many tadpoles. An adjoining pool had a couple of Bullfrogs and two Six-spotted Fishing Spiders, which look very different from each other.

Our next stop was the bog and we knew we'd be seeing a lot of frogs. Bullfrogs were all over and young Painted Turtles tried to evade my camera, but I was patient.

The next 15 minutes were as wonderful as any we have spent yet this year. I was next to the bog photographing this young Painter.

Andrea pointed out this stunning Green Frog that was right there, hidden in plain sight.

She then noticed this Bull sitting on the concrete of the spillway, watching us.

It really was a case of "the more you look, the more you see". We heard a Green Frog calling from right there, but couldn't see one. Nope, that's a Bullfrog.

Right species, but this Green wasn't calling.

Not even close.

We never did find the calling Green. We suspect he was under some brush. We did, however, see an arrogant looking Painted Turtle. Goofy, yes... serious, yes... but we'd never seen an arrogant looking one.

Well, now we have.

We were reluctant to tear ourselves away from that magical spot, but we eventually did. We snuck past boxes of bees and checked the other nearby bog. Again, many beautiful frogs were present, including this perfect Green.

The bogs are unshaded. Naturally, we were getting toasty, so we headed towards the shady woods. Speaking of Green Frogs, Andrea found one in a very unlikely place... on a spillway 6 feet above the water!

We went over to the visitor's center after that because I was out of drink. We filled up some bottles with water and looked for turtles but they weren't up (a few very distant ones were) because of fishing people, so we went towards the woods.

Then there was a crash, sounding like a tree falling right next to us. Some ass-hat truck driver with a forklift or something on a flatbed snagged the wires about 50 feet away and pulled them and a few poles down. We were scared shitless, but the wires fell about 10 feet away and we were able to sneak past to safety. There had been a lot of trucks driving through the park that day due to a closed road. It was bound to happen, I guess.

We relaxed out on the peninsula, enjoying a cool breeze. A distant Red-belly had hoisted up to bask, too.

We made it out of that spot, being waved through the melee by cops and firefighters who all agreed that the truck-driver was a tool. Our next, and last stop was a wooded walk. We were getting pretty tired so we weren't sure how long we'd last. This big, male Bullfrog urged us on.

Some basking Panted Turtles across the pond added to our joy.

Funny... they don't look British!

We hiked on for a while, just enjoying the sights and smells of a hot summer afternoon. Then, we finally broke the seal on Fowler's Toads. We'd only seen one this far this year, but we saw a half dozen on the way out. Here are some of those beauties.

Summer can sometimes be tough, what with animals hiding in the shade to keep cool and us being ready to get back to air-conditioning, but this was a pretty great weekend. Toads make everything better! The 15 minutes we spent at the bog just watching animals be animals was so satisfying and rewarding. That is what nature walks are all about. Over 7 miles in the heat and we lived to tell about it. There just may be hope for us yet.

Slipping into Summer. June 19 and 20th, 2021.

We decided to try something new. The hiker that we were talking with the previous week said he'd seen his "lifer" Blanding's Turtle at a place not far from where we were. We decided to try our luck and look at a new place (to us) in Worcester County.

Well, we saw a pond and we saw some wetlands but it was all posted, so we took the big trail that wasn't posted and it was a long, dry hike. It was beautiful and we had a good recon mission, but our animal sightings weren't as hot as the day was turning out to be. We talked for a bit to a birder who was excited about Grasshopper Sparrows but we weren't able to photograph any, despite hearing their calls.

I'm going to guess this place is a big shooting range.

Since we'd left the house very early (to beat the heat), it was still early(ish) after we'd hiked for a few miles, so we headed to another spot that we're familiar with that wasn't too far away (into Middlesex County). It was super-overgrown and it looked like nobody had been through in a while. Once we could finally see the water, we got instant Blanding's gratification.

I even saw him yawn.

A couple of Painted Turtles were up as well.

This is why I love being around the water. The giver of life, the home of turtles.

We walked on, not planning on doing a full hike since we'd already done pretty much a full day at the other spot. An odd little bird was running around squawking and teasing us. I couldn't get a decent picture and still have no idea what it was. It totally beat me. Seeing past the foliage was tough and even seeing turtle basking spots was a chore. Every now and then, we scored.

You never really expect to see snakes on really hot days so this Garter was a very welcome surprise.

It was hot and we were running out of gas quickly, so we turned back. Luckily, the new sight lines gave us a few more Painters.

The next day, Sunday, was going to be just as hot and it was the first day of Summer. We managed to get out fairly early again and got to our Plymouth County spot a little after 8 AM. It was already pretty warm but not horrible. We took straight to the trails and our first sight was a Spotted Turtle pulling itself out for a quick warm-up.

A few Painters were starting to stir as well.

Not to mention a Snapper.

We got to a very duck-weedy part of the hike and some of the Painted Turtles were comically covered in it. One ducky Bullfrog was present as well.

We finally got to a less duck-weedy pond and saw some much cleaner Bullfrogs.

We tried to get off of this path but this guardian made us wait.

We'd been reluctant to commit to hiking out to the big pond as it was already in the 90s, but there was a pleasant breeze and we were feeling fine. Our decision paid off right away when we saw a Red-belly up basking with some Painted Turtles.

That's our fifth turtle species on the weekend!

Did I mention Painters? There were stacks of them! Glorious stacks!

Turtles were on either side of the path. It was great.

I added another fish to my count. I tried to ID it myself, but I was wrong. This is a Pumpkinseed, not a Redear (which aren't in Massachusetts).

We saw a family all kneeling down photographing something. We knew it would be a turtle, and it was. A Painter was crossing the path.

Right after that, another (even smaller) Painted Turtle was crossing. I tried to get a Painter/ Gamera shot but all I see is boobs.

I spent some time trying to photograph a Common Yellowthroat, almost not noticing this Green Frog in the drink in front of me. I wish I'd tried harder on the frog!

The bird pic came out pretty good, though, making the Yellowthroat # 74 on the year.

A couple more Snappers were peeking up. That second one is a beast!

Some more Painters from the big pond.

We got to the magical Painted Lilypad area... there were a dozen turtles up on the pads, half in the water, half out. Pretty smart move on such a hot day.

A noggin was poking out of the pond... this one was a Redbelly!

We sat down to rest before heading back to the car. The heat was starting to get oppressive. To us, anyway. This small Painted Turtle was being fabulous in the sun!

On the walk back, on a secluded trail, we saw another turtle up, this time a Spotted Turtle. She is heavily notched so Andrea took pictures of the notches and sent them to her Spotted Turtle guy.

We took the wooded trail back to the car, which was about 10° cooler. We finally got our snake of the day, a shoestring Garter who was in the blue and resting under some AC. We apologized and went on our way.

Hot summer days can be tough but we're pretty happy with our finds this weekend. My sunburn was glorious, too. Mmmm... laying in front of a fan while my legs and arms sizzled. Heavenly.