Our Summer Vacation. Days One and Two... July 5th and 6th.

Back in the Spring, Andrea made arrangements to stay in a "cabin on a lake" in Western Massachusetts. It was to be my birthday present (which was coming up at the time she was booking it). Needless to say, we'd been looking forward to some peace and relaxing for a long time and when the time came, we were very excited.

The cabin is on a lake just outside of Pittsfield, a town I hadn't been in since I broke my arm and had it set there. That said, it means we'd be in Spring Salamander and Wood Turtle territory so those were our targets for the 4 days we'd be there. But first, I wanted to see the Stegosaurus.

My earliest memory is seeing the dinosaurs at the 1964 World's Fair in NY. My favorite was the Stegosaurus. I wanted to be one when I grew up. The studio that made the dinosaurs for the fair cast one extra Stegosaurus at the time and it had been in Cleveland before coming to the Berkshire Museum in 1997. This is the closest thing to an actual reunion with the very thing that inspired my love of dinosaurs and, probably, reptiles in general. 

I will one day try to see all of the World's Fair originals, which are scattered around the country, but this was a very happy moment for me. He had just been refurbished by the studio that made him, too.

15 minutes later, we were pulling into the driveway of our house for the next few days. We were early, but decided to poke around outside for a while. We saw our first critters of the day out there... some Redbacks...

And a Tiny Toad. Not a bad start.

Since we were actually running an hour early (when does that actually happen?) we decided to take a trip to a nearby Sanctuary that Andrea had studied up on. Even though it was raining a little, we felt good about our chances because it has lots of water and, according to a 30 year old field guide, it has lots of turtles and frogs. Yes, the sandy river bottom and open fields look good for Woods.

Our first sight of the water was of this large Snapper crawling through the shallows.

And not far from that one, another was up.

Because of the rain, there were no Painted Turtles up. But they were there.

Andrea spied this massive brute of a Snapper, the King of the Pond, on the other side of the bridge.

Painters? Yeah, there were a few.

What of the frogs, you ask? Here's a couple of stunning Greens!

And a big ol' Bully.

It wasn't raining super-hard (yet) so we walked the place, hitting the boardwalks and wooded trails. We saw no Wood Turtles but saw hundreds of Amber Snails, which are very interesting.

Bunnies were plentiful, too.

Oh yeah, I had thrown my back out on Sunday (peeing... welcome to my 60s) and it was starting to bother me. We had reached a turning back spot but I wanted to sit and rest for a bit before heading out. There were a couple of nice seat-sized concrete slabs right there for a good sit. Mine, however, was ocupado. This Green had beat me to it.

We shared for a bit, then we headed out. Our recon had been successful. We saw some critters and decided that it looks excellent for Wood Turtles (which have been seen there, historically). We enjoyed some berries on the way back and saw plenty of Chipmunks on the walk.

It was now late enough to get into the cabin.

Pulling into the driveway, we saw a Fisher running across the lawn. No pictures, but it sure made it a mammally day. We got into our cabin and then went out to enjoy the lounging area down by the lake. Luckily, it was covered because it started to pour. Still, the view of the lake was wonderful, the woods and the cabin... all beautiful and just what the doctor ordered.

The next morning, it was still overcast but it was supposed to clear up. We'd slept well and were anxious to lounge next to the lake.

The rain had brought out this lovely, big American Toad.

We went back up to the cabin and made some breakfast which we enjoyed sitting on the back porch, just watching the greenery. We were very fortunate and got to watch two fledgling Robins learning how to fly. They would take tentative steps, jump and fly a bit, then make a quick landing.

It really was a privilege to see this happen.

Before we left, we noted that a few more American Toads were about, both Tiny and medium.

Using the 30 year old guide books as our reference, we decided on a place that looked good for Wood Turtles again. The problem was, we couldn't find the place, then we couldn't find a trail-head, then we couldn't even see water! But never say die, we searched the (supposed) area anyway.

We did see a Garter at the top of the hill, but he slipped into some foundation before we could even take a lens cap off.

From there, we said "we need water". That led us a few towns away to a State Forest that had plenty of lakes and streams. We went first to "North" lake and the edges had plenty of Bullfrog tadpoles. This bruiser was easily 5" long!

There was plenty of beautiful scenery.

Those chips on my camera lens are starting to be a problem.

There was a stream that fed into the lake and that's where we found our FOY Dookies! First up was a (Northern Dusky Salamander) larvae, almost ready to go.

Then a stub-tailed adult.

When you get Dooks, you get Two-lines. I always enjoy their golden beauty.

We drove off in search of a dam that is there but with sketchy roads and closed roads, we never made it to our target spot. We did see another Fisher run across the road. Again, no pictures.

That sent us to a campground. We had to park outside and hike into it through a wooded trail. No problem. It was there that Andrea flipped an erythristic Redback, not an uncommon sight in this part of the state.

I countered with a normal one, but then joined the ery club.

The trail opened up to "South" pond.

Well, the FOY Dookie earned us ice cream, so we headed out and indulged. We got back "home" and headed straight to the lake. As hoped, some Painted Turtles were up.

Then we really hit our stride.

Off of that dock, there were dozens of baby Largemouth Bass that could only have been a couple of weeks old, recently released from Dad's supervision.

It was time to take the kayaks out. It was Andrea's first time and my second time. She took to it like a pro.

The water is super shallow... those basking spots are trees that had been cut down and massive exposed roots would sometimes scrape against the bottom of the kayak. We heard Bullfrogs and Green Frogs out there. 

After we were done, a Painter decided it was safe to come up to bask.

We assumed our positions for the next couple of hours.

I lay in state in a lounge chair, just watching the water reflect on the leaves.

Eventually, I went up to the car (and saw a corpulent Groundhog on the way) and gathered up all of my to-shred old bills and stuff and had a good ol' bonfire.

Eventually, we went back inside for dinner. From inside the kitchen door, we saw that our chubby pal was back.

That was it for our first two days. No targets seen, but plenty of beauty. It's really hard to put into words just how much this meant to us. I mean, this is what I want from life. I don't know when or if it will ever happen for us, but it's a very tasty carrot at the end of a (very long) stick. I'm ready right now.