Ending July... the 19th, 21st, 27th and 28th.

July is never the best month for us out in the field. It is usually too hot, even for reptiles. This July was a very busy one with the band so we didn't get out on days that we might have. And, as mentioned, it was pretty darn hot.

We squeezed in a quick hike on Friday the 19th after Andrea finished up work. That made it about 3:30 when we arrived at a near-local spot in Norfolk County. It was a bit overcast but still fairly warm. We saw nothing for most of the hike, then on the Alley, we started seeing some critters. There were dozens of Eastern Amberwings flitting around. They weren't familiar to me but evidently, they are common this time of year.

We got down to the river for a sit-down and were surprised to see two Great Egrets hunting along the mudflats.

They were upsetting a trio of Killdeer, at least one of whom must have had a nest there. We'd never seen more than one Killdeer at a time, so this was weird. And noisy.

As Cheap Trick said in the song 3D, the more you look, the more you see. While resting there, I started to notice distant Painted Turtles up for a bask.

A closer look at that fella in the background...

Andrea became overcome by heat and dehydration on the way back, so we had to take a short rest in the cool of the tunnel. You never know when shit is going to hit you. We got back on our way, heading back to the car. We saw a small Green Frog poking his head out of the water under the boardwalk.

The next day was Saturday but I had a band thing that took all day. Just as well, it was hot, hot... hotter than hell. The next day was going to be hot again and my only thought was getting Andrea to some swimming water. We hit our favorite pond in Norfolk County.

We had a couple of miles to hike to the swimming spot so, of course, we looked for stuff along the way. Peeling back some bark, we saw this interesting caterpillar of a Great Oak Dagger Moth (thank you, Teá!)

At the Hobo Camp, we looked for snakes, but it was pretty hot up there. That made it all the more weird that the one critter we did rustle up there was a large Spotted Salamander!

Those are False Bombardier Beetles at either end of him.

While searching Ringneck Hill, I was surprised to see a small Wood Frog.

We got to the swimming area and heard some bittersweet news... no lifeguard on Sundays anymore due to budget restraints. But that only meant we could swim with no kids around! Yeah! There were some adults floating around (literally at times) but I went in for a wade and Andrea took a swim. I spent some time poking around on land and spied a neatly folded Garter Snake.

While sitting on the stone steps into the pond, a large female garter slid up near me to enjoy the dappled sun.

As cute as that is, nothing was cuter than wee Andrea's bobbing noggin!

A smaller male joined the female next to me.

Before we left, we saw another clean and well-folded Garter in the area. Too bad my camera focused on leaves rather than snake.

Hey, four Garters on an intensely hot day ain't too bad!

Saturday the 27th, we went into Plymouth County to have a look around. Obviously, we hoped for snakes because there is such variety there. It wasn't super hot but we got a late start then hit Cape traffic and didn't get there until after 1 PM. Our chances were pretty slim. We started on a familiar path but then  crossed over to explore a new hike. It worked last time. We started off with a single basking Painter.

We made our way down to a pond off the new path. Approaching the water, we heard a lot of squeaking frogs jumping to "safety". After a while, some came up again. Here are two small Green Frogs.

One thing we'd noticed along this new path, we hadn't seen any toads. That all ended when this large, beautiful Fowler's Toad hopped onto the trail.

That path again met up with a more familiar path and we started seeing plenty of Fowler's Toads, mostly small this-year's-models.

We went over to the station for a last ditch effort to see a Racer or some more turtles. We did get a few of the latter... Painters again.

Another snakeless trip to Plymouth County. Oh well...

We stopped by Andrea's garden down the street from our house to water the plants on the way home. As I do, I looked under cardboard and boards and stuff there. It was there, less than two blocks from our front door, that we finally saw a snake...  a large, plump DeKay's.

The next day, Sunday the 28th, my band had an afternoon show but we wanted to take a quick hike and look for Racers and whatever Coppery things might be present in the Blue Hills. We had a lovely walk but I didn't take the lens cap off of my camera until after more than 2 miles when we were almost back to the car. I photographed bird #56 on the year, an Eastern Wood Pewee..

Right after that, this Chipmunk was posing so nicely, I had to snap a shot.

And that is where July ended for us. It's unlikely we'll do any evening hikes over the next three days. Maybe Andrea will find another Deke at the garden. Who knows. I'm ready for August!