Eleven Species on an October Day. 10-1-2023

 Up and out early, we were. It was going to scrape 70° this day, with sun even, so we headed to a favorite spot in Plymouth County. The place where Andrea broke her ankle in April. All "looking for Wood Frogs" would be done with severe caution. We got there and decided to hit those very same woods first. Near my "Wood Frog" spot, I found some Redbacks under a tire. Off to an excellent start


Andrea found a few as well.

We're still not sure why we haven't been seeing so many lately, but it should be noted that these woods were full of them and we saw no Crazy Worms.

Of course, we always do a quick sweep for Box Turtles since we saw one here in 2020. Well, tenacity paid off with this, our first Box in two years.

After comparing shell-markings, we have determined that this is the same specimen that we saw 3 years ago. So, is there a population here or is this the Lonesome George of Plymouth County? We shall continue to search the area.

Up on the sunny trails, we walked along the bogs but saw nothing except one Painter diving into the drink and a huge Bullfrog that startled us in the grass, but no pictures were acquired. Then Andrea saw this Pickerel in the sandy path.

The sun was warming the path so small black squiggles started inching on to it from the grass. Three dark, young Water Snakes in a row.

This Spotted Turtle was doing his best Water Snake impression.

A cluster of baby Bullheads.

A Water Snake periscoping.

Finally got the camera on a Painted Turtle.

Classic Bullfrog face.

Painted glory.

Another Pickerel, trying to hide.

It's always a treat to see a Snapper on land. This guy was small-dinner-plate sized and took umbrage with our walking near him.

Another nice Pickerel, this time with some gorgeous copper colors.

Down on Painter Island.

Another Bull doin' its thing.

Obviously, Pickerels were plentiful. This chubby guy was the biggest on the day.

A short stack of Painted Turtles.

Nerodia face. This guy was toughing out a windy patch.

The main pond was an October vision of beauty. I love late in the season when every Painted Turtle on the planet knows what is coming and grab as much autumn sun as possible!

^^^ Just what the hell is going on on the far left there?!

We watched this Blinded Sphinx caterpillar hustle across the sand as we sat and rested.

We had to get back up and move before we started to look like this sleepy Painter.

Some more Painters catching some rays.

Didn't realize it in the field but that guy on the left is a Red-belly.

We hadn't done a turtle run in a long time but a black rock in the distance was crossing the trail, so we both did our best and got to this smallish Snapper before he got to the grass.

Andrea was in heaven.

This was a distant Painter in the field. Again, it's a Red-belly. Shitty shot, but a cool turtle, so there you go.

An American Copper gave us a colorful thrill.

This Water Snake almost got away with no photo but I grabbed him. I haven't handled too many snakes in a while so it felt good in my hands, even though I got a bite on the knuckle and a mild musking.

Having seen me handle another, this Nerodia sat still for a photo. It didn't want any filthy human hands on its beautiful body.

An even copperier Pickerel!

A pointy headed Water Snake.

A Snapper in the water. What a concept!

Submitted for your approval... some more Painted Turtles.

Another species! A Green Frog. It was actually the 10th, but we thought it was #9 at the time.

One more small Painter for the road.

Last, but no way near least, a chubby American Toad under a rock. He might be dug in for the year's end already.

So, we thought we'd had 10 species, but it was really 11! Double digits at any time in Massachusetts is a very good day. This was perhaps our best day on the year, alongside our Ponk trip with our friend Justin.

Not many days left. And we likely will not be doing second season sea turtle walks this year with the trouble our feet and ankles have been giving us.