The temp was about as predicted but there was a fierce wind that cooled us off. Much of the hike was with jackets on. We checked out the woods first because it was good Box Turtle weather but our friend wasn't seen. We did uncover a couple of Redbacks while in there, though.
We decided to not take the Spotted Turtle path, figuring that the last time we were here, it was dry and turtle-less. Not sure if we made a good decision or not but we did see a shoestring Water Snake cross the path we were on, so that was good. Little bugger avoided my camera, though. Revenge would be sought.
I was looking into a bog when Andrea called to me. She had just found a teenage Snapper! He was pretty chill, which is odd for that size!
A Bullfrog floating like so much duckweed.
I saw a Water Snake on the side of the trail. I got my camera ready but she moved on. Do I need double revenge? I looked around and she hadn't gone far so I brought her out to the path. Pissed? Yes, she was. I took a handful of musk. But revenge was sweet.
It was time for duckweed covered Painted Turtles. A few heads had disappeared on me along the walk so far, so I think these could be considered revenge turtles.
A Pickerel Frog added itself to my nemesis list. Revenge would be had. Here's another Water Snake from the path.
A Garter uncoiled and slithered out of sight. Another nemesis. It has become quite obvious that I'm not as quick as I used to be. A guy heard me say "Garter" and we talked about snakes and turtles for a while. He'd seen plenty of Water Snakes, a hatchling Snapper and baby "Milks" on his walk thus far. He told us where and it was a spot we've not explored much before. We decided that, if we had enough gas in us, we'd give it a try. It would add on another mile or so to this 5 mile hike.
Back on track, I scared up a revenge Pickerel. Sweetness.
Andrea found this good sized Fowler's that was really difficult to photograph. Not because he was slick and camouflaged or anything, he just kept hopping!
We decided that we had enough in our tanks to take the scenic route and took that left hand turn, with a whole lot of wetland trail in front of us. I saw something next to the path and couldn't figure out what it was... striped design... then it jumped. It was Pickerel Legs! Damn, I'm dumb!
Well, the guy was right. This path was filthy with Water Snakes. Some were massive and looked like they hadn't yet popped out their kids. Some went unphotographed but it was exciting to see so many.
Here's a plump Bullfrog that was enjoying not being eaten.
What's that in the path up there? What do you think?
Andrea corralled one of those "Milks" the guy had seen. I'm 99% sure he'd seen a new Water Snake.
Vengeance was mine... a Garter, caught on my camera.
All caught up on revenge species now. *whew*
I found a wee shoestring Nerodia of my own.
The area had been getting a lot of rain of late and there were plenty of puddles to inspect. None had paid off until this one where a small Green Frog made itself conspicuous by swimming under the water and stopping at Andrea's feet.
Don't look now, but we were at 9 species. Can we get a Massachusetts Ten?
We got out to the picnic table for a rest, coming from the opposite direction that we usually come from. I looked for Racers and Red-bellied Turtles but found neither species. Here are some Painted Turtles having a cool bask.
This guy cracks me up... king of the hill.
It had become quite cool by this time and the wind was pounding us in the face. We knew we wouldn't see much for the last couple of miles back to the car. Oddly enough, a shoestring Ribbon skedaddled into the brush, only the second of the species we've ever seen here. I wasn't going to seek revenge. The likelihood of another one turning up was just about nil.
I did see one more stripe in the grass on that cool and windy pondside path. I pulled it out, got musked again and bitten by this beautiful, decent sized stub-tailed Garter.
The flippin' rocks came up empty, leaving us at 9 species. Still, nothing to sneeze at on the first day of Fall. Would we have seen some Spotteds had we taken that particular trail? I dunno. It doesn't matter because we had a great day, hiked over 6 miles and saw loads of critters. All hail the mighty Northern Water Snake!
No comments:
Post a Comment