Plymouth Rocks! 6-20-2025

Another weekday that we could be together! Yeah! We made an early break to go try to cross Musk Turtles off of our "not yet seen" list, so we headed to the spot we call "Musk Turtle Place" in Plymouth County, getting there at about 10:30 AM. There is also an abandoned mill there with tons of boards for flipping. I hoped we'd be there before everything was on the crawl. I did miss a couple of Garters that took off upon being flipped so I decided to grab the next one I saw, which was this lovely musk-machine.

Well, I did say I was going to look for Musks. It would be a day of stink. It should be noted that I did see a Snapper in the pond out front but it retreated unphotographed.

The next couple of Garters I was able to shoot as flipped.

I was very happy but not the least bit surprised to see a Ringneck, the first one we'd ever seen at this spot.

We ran into a couple who were also exploring the abandoned property. The guy showed me a Box Turtle he'd seen nearby that morning. Damn! That gave my exploring a new twist! Of course, we didn't see one (it was hella hot by this time) but it gives me hope for the future. Cool place, at any rate.

We went over to the most reliable Musk Turtle spot and there was, as usual, some folks fishing. But they were nice (mostly kids) and never questioned why I was looking so intently in the water and the rocks. (This is also a great Water Snake place.) I had to get in and go through the reeds and plant clusters individually and finally saw a wee Musk basking on a twig. He fell in upon seeing my massive bulk.

It was about 30 minutes of hard work but mission accomplished!

Andrea retreated to the car for some AC while I went back to the spillway which was now clear of fishing folks. I saw a Nerodia poke her head out of the wall, then pull back in. I laid down on my stomach, held the camera low, a couple of feet above the water, and tried my best. Got a decent shot while clicking almost blindly.

From the other side of the spillway, I could see another Water Snake who must have been pretty much just below where I'd laid down for the other shot. It looks to be in the blue.

I didn't want us to get overheated like the day before but Andrea said she had enough gas to look at a nearby old mill-site. It is usually pretty good for turtles. In fact, after we got there, we saw a Painted Turtle right away, enjoying a lunch of green stuff.

There is a series of spillways there and there are sometimes turtles in those. The first one had a small Painter swimming about.

Andrea noticed a full grown Musk off to the right of the Painter, basking and dry.

The next spillway had a small Painter taking a super aggressive shower. He stayed there for a while.

After moving, he promptly got himself wedged between a rock and a hard place.

I was ready to jump down and give him a hand but after a while, he wriggled just right and fell through.

While that drama was unfolding, I noticed another, smaller Musk had pulled up to bask in the previous spillway.

That gave me a rare chance to photograph two Musks basking at once, a rare sight for me, a mere mortal.

The little guy fell back in shortly after I took the picture.

Andrea looked off the boardwalk and spied a massive Water Snake crawling through the brush. An absolute beast, this is the only shot I could muster.

We were hot but satisfied so we headed to the car. The green-eating Painter was now up basking.

I'd planned on hitting another spot, over in Bristol County, but Andrea was toast and to be honest, getting home to the AC and some lunch didn't sound horrible. But we'd seen our target, thrice. It's always a good day in the field, especially when you're seeing turtles!