Home Cookin' March 25th, 26th and 27th, 2022

 While we had a great time in the 'Glades, we've been missing our local critters at the most important time of the year. Things are waking up and getting ready to start their 2022. 

Friday, March 25th.

While I was out running my errands in the morning, I decided that it was warm and sunny enough (low 50s) that there might be some knuckleheads looking for sun at the local dens. I grabbed Andrea and we spent her lunch hour walking our local trails. Our first encounter was a big Redback.

Evidently, I walked right past this squiggle of a Garter.

Redbacks were plentiful. Tis the season! Here are a few more, including our first Leadback of the year. Lots of different colors here.

We could hear loads of Wood Frogs quacking from the vernals but couldn't lay our eyes on them at all. The occasional Peeper was peeping as well.

We took a closer look walking back through the Valley and saw another Garter.

Then, hiding at the bottom of a ditch, we saw our First of Year Nerodia! Water Snake #1!

This little mudpie will be a beauty once it washes up!

We didn't have much time but wanted to head back to the Cottonwoods. When we got there, we were happy to see another Garter enjoying the sun.

Then, much to our surprise, we saw another species coiled up... A juvie Racer! Not only is this the first Racer we've seen at this spot, but it is our first Suffolk County Racer!

Some know-it-alls have said that Racers are the first ones up in the Spring and the last ones to bed in the Fall but in our decades of doing this together, this is the first time we've seen one this early in the year. A real treasure for us.

Not a bad 40 minutes on the trail.

Saturday, March 26th.

The sun was making a valiant attempt to shine through the clouds in the morning. I checked the weather and saw that we had a couple of hours before real rain was expected. So, we headed to a nearby spot in Norfolk County where we can usually see our first Spotted Turtle of the year.

Guess what our first sight was? Yep- FOY Spotty!

We walked the long, flat trail for a mile or so in, enjoying the quiet. It was pretty cool when the breeze blew and the sun was intermittent so we thought that any curious snakes wouldn't bother this day. We did flip a Redback on the trail, not a common occurrence at this spot.

We got over to a secluded spot on a cross-trail. I decided to look for Wood Frogs. We'd been hearing them for much of the walk, as well as the occasional Peeper and some Leopards at the beginning. After "looking for Wood Frogs", Andrea called me back and pointed out two Garters in snuggle mode.

Hot times in the old woods tonight!

Not far from that coupling couple, another pair were entangled, though likely just about finishing up. Cigarette time.

This beauty wasn't far from them. Voyeur.

Well, it looks like we were wrong about snakes not being out. Here are a few more folded, coiled and scattered Garters that we saw on the way out.

Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday. Unplanned hike pays off... news at 11.

Sunday, March 27th.

Sunday was supposed to be crappy, but the sun was making a weak attempt in the morning so we threw caution to the wind and headed up into Middlesex County to a spot where we have had great success photographing horny Wood Frogs. Yes, I drove an hour for a frog, but this place has a lot of turtle possibilities as well, with Painted and Blanding's both present.

We got there mid-morning and knew it was going to be damp and muddy. From a distance, we saw our first Painted Turtle of the year, but getting a shot wasn't going to happen. See?

Actually, getting to the trail at all wasn't goping to happen. It looks like the beavers have been working overtime.

The sounds of clucking Wood frogs teased us from afar. But we knew another way in.

We finally got to the vernals where the Woodies are the easiest to photograph. Unfortunately, they got quiet when we got close. Still, they were there; you just had to look. First of Year local frogs!

They were all in Ride 'em Cowboy pose!

Mission accomplished.

Beyond that particular flood, the paths weren't horrible so we went on for a bit. This is where we got a decent look at our real First of Year Painted Turtles.

The path did eventually flood up. I snuck a bit further out than (the sensible) Andrea and was rewarded with this rusty dusty folded coil of a Garter.

I learned that Nuthatches peck. This guy drove me crazy but I finally got enough of a shot to call him #57, a White-breasted Nuthatch. Yes, he was pecking like a woodpecker.

Here's another angle of those Painter stacks that I got on the way back.

The Woodies were still at it when we walked back by.

I had band commitments so our time was very limited but we'd made the most of another day when we might not have gone out at all.

One more attempt. Distant Painters are better than no Painters at all.

So, that's not a bad weekend. 5 FOYs (of course, we haven't seen much at all yet) and that Racer is big news for us. Hopefully, we'll be getting out and trying new things this year, discovering new places and seeing lots of beautiful animals.

I hope so, anyway.

Everglades Day Three, March 20th, 2022

Our usual 3rd day in the 'Glades used to be Big Cypress. Andrea decided that she didn't want to spend the day in the sun there, so we opted to walk trails in ENP. Our hope was to walk up critters rather than road cruise, which had been a bit distressing the night before. We rolled out of bed before the Agamas, grabbed some breakfast and headed to the car. The Agamas were then up and getting ready for the day.

We decided to hit a trail in ENP suggested by our pal Bob as a morning walk. We got there a bit later than we'd have liked but it was fairly shady. It's a little over a mile and a half in. On our hike, we saw dozens of Brown Anoles skipping out of the path. Here is one that sat still long enough for a shot.

An interesting bit of flora... the Guilandina bonduc and the Nickernuts within the pods. They were all over. I tried to grab a pod to throw at Andrea and I got a pricker. Served me right.

It wasn't too long before Andrea said, "Here's something... a Racer!"

Shore 'nuff!! Look at that cute face!

Not much further in, she found another Racer! A neatly folded one, at that.

After the day we'd had on Saturday, with little sleep and a lot of sun, we took our sweet time on Sunday. We finally reached the end of the trail and rested for a bit. Some Brown Anoles kept us entertained.

We headed back, moving a bit slower since it was getting warmer. Andrea had one more trick up her sleeve... she yelled out, "Rat!"

Man, she was on fire! This was easily a 5-foot Yellow Rat Snake and pretty as hell!

I chipped in with another Brown Anole. :|

From there, we went back to the marina. It was the first time I'd ever been there when the Crocs weren't around. At least we'd seen some the day before. There was, however, a sandbar not too far out in the water, it being low tide. There were a bunch of Brown Pelicans (#54) having fun out there.

Our Scarlet Snake trail. We'd been told by more than one person that during the day, a certain spot was good for Pygmy Rattlesnakes. My friend Ryan took the trail during the day last month and said it is true. He made me promise to walk the trail in the day. I didn't think I could. I was already toast. It is the same length as the trail we'd walked in the morning... just over a mile and a half. I didn't want to do it.

Andrea did.

OK, I plodded on. It was the first time we'd walked that trail in sunlight. Oddly enough, the mosquitoes weren't present. It was a pleasant and beautiful hike. It did, however, seem to go on forever. I was fatigued. People coming back said we were getting close. Some also said "it's not worth it". But we went on. And then it started raining. We donned our little plastic ponchos, mostly for the cameras' sake.

When we got to the (very muddy) end, we sat on benches on the dock in the rain. This sad bird, that I couldn't identify, had a crab's claw stuck to his beak.

Turns out, he is a Yellow-crowned Night Heron (#55) and he is Lifer #198. He did get the claw off eventually. What a face!

The rain let up, then started again, off and on. We enjoyed the end of the trail... it was muddy and not as full as it usually is, but it was cool. We saw a Horseshoe Crab swimming. Then we headed back.

While I was carefully stepping through the mud, eagle-eyed Andrea struck again. "Lifer"...

She had just found us our first ever Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake. For the species, it was pretty big, maybe about 16 inches. He was poking his nose around, foraging.

Eventually, he settled into a nice coil to relax.

Well what do you know? Everyone who said that were right!

We hadn't gone on much further when Andrea saw a Florida Box Turtle in the brush. The rain had brought him out to look for snacks.

Then, another!

I finally chipped in with a snake when I saw this Drama Moccasin.

Dramoccasin.

I'm not going to lie... the last mile of that hike was very tough to take on our tired legs. I saw one Racer slide away but couldn't get a photo. We took our time and eventually got to the car where we rested our bones and drove back to the hotel, which was still roughly 45 miles away. There was a rainbow following us for a good portion of the drive.

We ate our leftovers from the day before and I, personally, was asleep by 8 PM. Road Cruising wasn't going to happen and neither of us were too worried about it.

So, we mixed it up by not going to Big Cypress but than seemed to really work in our favor. In all, we saw 22 "herp" species, with two Lifers (one native, one introduced) and added 27 birds to the 2022 count, including two Lifers. I mean, some could have been photographed up here, but so what?!

We usually booked a late flight for Monday so we'd have another half day to poke around but this time, our flight from Ft. Lauderdale was at 10:30 AM, so we had no time to fart around. My only photo of the day was a Brown (?) Anole that was soon replaced by an Agama.

On the way out of the parking lot, I saw some Myna Birds, a species that I couldn't get on camera earlier. But my camera was packed. Oh, well.

It felt great to get back after three years. Some changes were good, some weren't so good but the Glades remain one of the Earth's real treasures. There is nothing like them anywhere else.