Hit Me With Your Nature Stick: It Be August. 8-1, 8-7 and 8-14.

No time to write these things anymore. We haven't been seeing a ton of things and August has been super busy, but here we go.

The first day of August was a hot Sunday and we had a busy day, but we hit a nearby Norfolk County spot just to begin the month. Things started off nicely with a plump American Toad, spotted by Andrea.

From the boardwalk, we saw our first snake since July 11th, a slim Garter who didn't stick around for a better photo. I'm glad to see my legless buddies still exist.

Out on the main Alley (formerly known as Racer Alley, then Ribbon Alley...), I took a side trail to "look for Wood Frogs" and I came out and Andrea was standing, unmoving, next to a mud puddle. She had found our First-of-Year Northern leopard Frog and didn't want it to hop off before I got the picture.

It's about damn time! We usually see lots of these guys by now. Weird year...

Speaking of weird...

I went into the tunnel under the train tracks to see if I could spot any animals cooling off in the shade on this hot day. I saw a melted candle that looked pretty cool...

I pointed it out to a couple passing through who told us of a "hobo camp" (my words, not theirs) that was up the trail (that I looked for Wood Frogs on) that had tarps, a platform bed in the tree, a rope ladder, rakes, a bike... a veritable home away from homeless. He had me at tarp, so we went up the trail for a while and found it. The tarp was covering full trash bags. The grounds were raked and there was a firepit and "treasures" all around... mirrors, candles, a box of toys... and bones. I picked up a backpack that was full of them.

Right around there we said fuck it... We're outta here! I yelled out a promise that I hadn't stolen any of the toy dinosaurs and we made an uneasy and hasty retreat.

It's likely the haunt of a homeless guy who doesn't want to be in a shelter on nice days and he has done a fine job of cleaning the path. We recognized some of the "treasures" from earlier hikes. But still, it was a bit unsettling... especially when we later saw a box of books hidden in a bush, topped off with a copy of Yoga Anatomy, with a skinless woman on the cover!

We saw no more animals that day and for some odd reason, Andrea didn't want to hang around.

The next weekend, August 7th, I had friends coming to visit in the afternoon, so we made an early hike to our favorite Norfolk County pond for a quick hike and to give Andrea a chance to swim. Another hot day was in store. This small Bullfrog set the tone for us, cooling in a stream.

We got there early and were just in time to see plenty of Water Snakes sunning themselves along the dam.

Nice...

A mudpuddle along the trail was the playground of a very small Green Frog, likely this year's model.

Hobo Camps. We love 'em. The Hobo Camp here is an old, falling-apart fireplace out in the woods. Andrea discovered it a few years ago on her own. It has been a place of untold animal riches for us since the discovery. How exciting was it that we saw a couple of Pickerel Frogs up there this time? Tough species for us to see this year!

A lucky double flip... Twins of Evil in the form of a Garter and a Milk!

We made our way to the swimming area. We got there before the lifeguard so we waited around so we could pay our day-use fee. This Garter was waiting, too.

She showed up (all 85 lbs of her) and we settled in; Andrea for a swim and me for a wade. (I'm not keen on leaving my camera unattended). This spot is fantastic because there are lots of snakes and the people there (mostly non-annoying kids) all respect them. This trio of basking royalty, a Nerodia and double-Garter, was sunning on a rock. They were best visible from the water.

I sat on a rock next to this Water Snake and she and I (and a charming young fella who is a huge nature lover) talked and watched Andrea swim.

I literally just sat with her, about a foot away, and sunned. Heavenly.

We watched the Ponk Ness Monster.

Some Cormorants were frolicking deeper out in the pond.

Before we left that area, we noted that another Garter had joined the trio of basking royalty overlooking the water.

On the way back to the car, we didn't see a lot more animals (it had become very hot), but having broken the Pickerel seal, it was only fitting that we saw a young Pickerel upstart for our last encounter of the day

The next weekend (August 14th) was another busy one. My band had a show Saturday night and were shooting a video on Sunday, so time was very limited. We headed to our new favorite spot in Plymouth County to see some turtles. We hadn't seen any in a few weeks. Oh, it was in the middle of a heatwave again. We got there early.

The trails were mostly empty... most humans were sensible enough to stay inside in their air-conditioned hide-outs. Not us. We hit the sweaty trails. Our first encounter was a deceased Luna Moth. I'm not one to post many dead things on this blog, but this is still such a beautiful specimen.

Bullfrogs seemed undisturbed by the early morning heat.

I had never seen a Great Egret standing atop a tangle of bushes before. Maybe they do it all the time, but it looked new and cool to me!

Of course, we came for turtles. But the sun was pretty hot, even for "sun turtles" but we eventually saw a few brave Painters.

We could see something in the path up ahead. I figured it was a stick or a leaf until I saw legs moving! From 20 feet out, it looked like the tarantulas we'd seen in Arizona. Nope... it was a Crawfish making it's way from one side to the other.

Another perfect Bullfrog.

We made our way towards a picnic table (that we hoped would be unoccupied) that would likely be in the shade. We planned on a rest before turning back.

The table was ours and we sat back and watched nature happen for a while. There were some distant Painters basking.

We watched some local birds, too... a Cormorant gaping to keep cool and a Kingbird that was flitting back and forth to the water, but also gaping when he rested.

The funniest thing that happened while we were resting at the picnic table... I saw something run across the sand. I thought it must be a large, brown spider or something. I got up to look at it and saw it was a toad! A Fowler's Toad at that; a species we'd never seen at this place before.

Now, I had never seen a toad run before but he did, and then did it again right after I snapped the shot. I wonder if the sand was hot on his toes and belly. Interesting.

It was super-hot by now and we had to head back. We kept our eyes open as we walked along the pond edge. We saw a few more Painted Turtles.