Our first sighting was in one of our "secret" spots in this busy park. It's an easy off-path spot next to the stream. Our First of Year Pickerel Frog hopped into out way and posed beautifully. What a stunner!
A bit further in at the same spot, a Garter was poking around looking for something to munch on. The Pickerel was 20 feet away and far too big for this olive beauty.
This shot looks like it was taken in a terrarium!
Further on the main path, we turned on to the peninsula and this large female Water Snake was basking as inconspicuously as possible.
It was definitely hot but we were fine. We kept on the main path while checking out vernals off to the side. One of them had a large Green Frog pondering what to do for the afternoon.
Another one had a similarly sized Bullfrog doing the same.
I believe this mighty Redback was found on top of sirtalis Hill.
One good this about this park (for old duffs like me) is that is has plenty of benches. Considering my night, I sat for a bit on one and noticed a Painted Turtle out in the pond in front of me.
That's seven species with no repeats! Well, it was time to start repeating so Andrea flipped this Redback with a broken tail that has started to regenerate.
We were at the waterfall and since our secret place there didn't have anything, I decided to inspect the open area closely. A family was there and the guy asked what I was looking for. I told him Water Snakes and he recounted where he had seen one earlier. Just then, Andrea called me... there was a small one in the water, crossing right in front of her. This presented us with a good teaching experience.
I grabbed it and let the kid touch it (they all did) and told them a bit about the species. I got a little nip at first but overall, it was a nice, calm specimen. No musk... that's all I care about.
Moving further on, we added another pretty olive Garter who was hanging out next to the path.
I saw a turtle in the path and did my stupid turtle-run (which will end my life one of these days) and got a shot of this ambitious Painted Turtle crossing the path. He had a stone barrier to contend with a few feet off the path but I'll bet he figured it all out.
Out in the field at the end of the first half, this bumblebee was enjoying the multitude of small purple wildflowers.
Taking a rest a little further on (another bench!), I thought I'd heard a Towhee's "threet" and jumped up to get a photo but it turned out it was a Great crested Flycatcher (#46) instead! Learn something new every day!
Walking back, Andrea spied this Water Snake just off the path. She really had her Nerodia eyes on today.
There were plenty of distant Painters basking way out in the pond but I can't hold the camera quite so steady anymore for the long shots. I balanced it on Andrea's head for this one. She makes a serviceable tripod.
We were pretty toasty by now but were determined to do the whole walk, which is about 6 miles. We didn't see a lot more critters but this big Redback came through in the clutch.
Out in the man-made pool area, tadpoles were plentiful. Tiny and new, we figure they must be Wood Frogs though I didn't get a close look at them.
That was that and we called it a good day. We'd hoped to see a Snapper that some lady was talking about at the beginning ("he looked burned!"... obviously covered with drying pond muck) but it had obviously moved on by the time we got to where she'd described. All was well, though, when on the road driving back to the highway, a big ol' Snapper was lumbering across the busy road. I pulled over and threw on my hazards to block it from traffic behind me while he finished his journey.
So, 8 species on a day that the forecast suggested that we might not get out at all. I'm certainly happy that we made it.
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