The Turtles of Spring. March 26th, 2023

It was going to be a little bit warmish with off and on sun. Hey, we don't ask for much. Seemed like a good day to go to our Spotted Turtle place in Norfolk County and see if any knuckleheads were up yet. There were.

Now, I know this is cheating in a way... they're always here this time of year. But it's still fun to 
officially get your FOY Spotted! And more.

This skinny Garter was right there, too. We watched him crawl into a small hole in the ground and disappear. Our timing was very good... he was our only snake on the day.

A few more Spotted Turtles in the distance...
    

Walking along, we were enjoying ourselves, listening to the quacking of horny Wood Frogs at certain points. We finally got a shot of one.

A nice healthy mass of Wood Frog eggs.

Ride 'em, Cowboy!

A nice, flipped Redback made four species on the day!

We'd been hoping for a Painted Turtle or Water Snake along the walk but struck out on both. This sexy Common Grackle (#58) almost made up for it. The first we'd seen this year.

Almost back to the car, we peeked in on the area where we'd seen the first Spotteds... there were four there but only two by the time I snapped a picture.

We'd only walked a few miles so we decided to go see if any Painters were up in our local Suffolk County cemetery. When we got there, we could see distant Red-ears in the pond but I decided to hold off pictures until we got a little closer. We did see a dead Snapper and, with horror, realized it could be Whitey. The mud was far too deep for me to get out to it to try to give it a more respectful resting place. We didn't see Whitey or any live Snappers on our walk along the pond, so we're hoping he will be greeting us later in the year, happy and healthy.

Here's a big ol' Red-ear! Not the FOY as we'd seen one in February.

This is, however, the first Painted Turtle of the year! Andrea spied him.

There were two but I only got the picture of one Robin taking an adorable bath.

A Red-ear determined to bask.

This guy is likely the same Red-ear we'd seen in February. He was in the exact same spot. Yes, he was very much alive and pulled into his shell as we took pictures.

Another gorgeous Painted Turtle. Just think how impressed all of the jaded "herpers" would be if Painters were rare. They are gorgeous animals!

Two more Red-ears, one of which is deep into yoga!

We had to get going but I was glad to get this shot before leaving... a Wood Duck, a Canada Goose and two female Hooded Mergansers, likely a lesbian avian couple. Well, maybe!

I declare the 2023 Season officially under way!

Post 'Glades Home Cookin'. March 17th- 23rd.

 It's always tough getting back from a warm trip in March but it hasn't been too horrible up here lately. In fact, on Friday the 17th, it was pretty darn nice and it just felt like snakes would be poking their heads out, despite the overcast sky. So, when Andrea's lunch hour hit, we headed over to the dens. It was in the mid-50s, temp-wise.

It was fairly cool with the breeze and when we got there we started to doubt our decision, but then Andrea spied this clean Garter catching some UVBs in the Valley.


Towards the back of the Valley, we almost stepped on this young Northern Water Snake, our First of the Year.

Over at the Cottonwood Den, this pair was woven together, poking out from the ground.

Then, we saw our fourth Garter. Not a bad half hour!

Two days later, Sunday, the 19th, we went to a Toy Show in Franklin, MA and looked for a spot nearby to hike afterwards. We chose a trail that goes around a pond in hopes of doing some birding. It was a raw 35° and our hopes for reptiles or amphibians were low.

The place is beautiful. The pond is filled with tall, straight trees and many of the tops had Heron nests.

It looks like it will be turtle-crazy, too! Lo and behold, we did flip a plump Redback, our First of 2023.

We got lost trying to find our way out but we'll definitely be checking this place out again.

Apparently, no real salamander movement has happened here in Massachusetts yet, at least nowhere near us. We decided to head out (after band practice) into Bristol County on Thursday the 23rd to see if anything was up yet. Our friend was going to be there and she said that Wood Frogs and Peepers were very noisy. Good enough for me!

Sure enough, it was noisy in the woods. The rain had stopped so we figured that the chance of salamanders moving was slim. Our first animal photographed was this plump American Toad, our first of the year.

While we were looking at him, a horny Wood Frog tried to mount him but the toad shook him off. Our first Wood Frog of the year, with the pissed-off  toad in the background.

A couple more ride-'em-cowboy Woods.

Another lovely American Toad.

Yee-haw!

It's always a treat to see our favorite freshwater crustaceans, Fairy Shrimp.

We were attempting to go deeper into the hike but our headlamps and flashlights were failing. I'm pretty disappointed with the crap I spent some decent money on... they can't hold a charge or they're just stupidly difficult to charge at all. At any rate, we had to turn back before seeing our friends, who were way out there. On the way back, we saw a couple of Redbacks on the crawl. That is always such a great sight... Business Redbacks.

No Ambystoma for us this time but we'll keep trying. The season is just beginning.

On the way out, we were marveling at the abundance of earthworms in the field. Some massive ones, too. Here is a pair doin' it. Bow-wakka-bow-wakka...

'Glades Day 3. 3-10-2023

Well, wouldn't you know it. We fell back asleep and got a very late start. Eh, no worries. We'd already had a great trip.

We started out by checking out of the hotel. We said goodbye to the hotel Agama Squad.

After grabbing some chow, we drove deep into the park to a hike that was very good to us last year. Maybe we were too late or maybe things just weren't moving but the only critters we saw during the whole walk (1.8 miles in, 1.8 miles back) were some Brown Anoles. They were very active. Here are a few of the bruisers.

Rather than grouse about our lack of snakes and birds, we decided to be happy that we were sitting alone in the sunny Everglades and enjoy the beauty that was around us. Like these shell imprints on the limestone boulders that we took a rest on...

And the Nickernuts in their pods.

From there we went to the marina since we were right nearby. Why not check on the Crocs? There was one out floating on the saltier side.

The real excitement was with the Manatees. It is a little early for mating season but there were at least a dozen of them frolicking; nuzzling, tails up and just general Manatee fun-times.

A kiss!

A hug!

A trio frolicking!

We watched them for quite a while, enjoying every minute.

From there, we took another walk that was very successful for us last year. The same path we'd walked the night before. Unfortunately, it was very quiet again on the trail. We finally saw a Garter head peeping out from the leaves.

We're guessing that he looked roughly like this when you could see all of him.

They sure grow their Garters pretty down here!

We made it to the end of the trail but saw no Pigmys. We did add a lifer bird to the list, though. I'm calling these Short-billed Dowitchers (#57, Lifer #202).

Again, 1.8 miles in, 1.8 miles back. We definitely got our steps in that day.

And that was that. The last photo from this year's Everglades adventure. We didn't kill it this year but we did pretty well and saw plenty of things that we'll never forget. It will take me a few months longer than usual to pay this trip off (work isn't going so well) but we will regret nothing. 20 reptile and amphibian species and 25 bird species photographed. Worth every penny.