The next day, Friday the 10th, I took a piece of audio equipment out to Hopkinton, MA for repair and I figured that, since I drove all the way out there, I'd check out a local body of water. It was really beautiful out. My hunch paid off and I saw my first Painted Turtles of the year. (I know, hard to believe this year has been so stupid that it took so long!) I photographed them and didn't feel too badly about seeing them without Andrea. I knew she'd be seeing some very soon.
Man, it sure felt good to see these mofos!
After getting lost getting out of Hopkinton and hitting some excruciating traffic, I still made it back home in time for Andrea's lunch. We headed right back to the dens. It was breezy but sunny. Again, we saw a Redback first. I snapped this shot just as it was heading down a hole and disappearing.
The Cottonwood Den came through with a Garter, the only snake we saw at a densite. Perhaps they have already woken up and dispersed?
The next day (Saturday the 11th) was supposed to be warm but overcast. We figured that would be good for our best Blanding's spot out in Middlesex County. They usually wake up when the vernal pools are filled with Wood Frogs and Salamanders. We got there fairly late (we're not used to nature hikes yet this year!) and headed in. As expected, Andrea got her FoY Painter almost immediately. And then some!
We went towards the vernal pools that we've had a lot of luck with before but it was quiet. No Wood Frogs quacking. Evidently, we were late. The pools were smaller than expected (the ponds are massive, but that is partly because of Beaver work) but we did see some salamander eggs in one of them.
I could see a few Spotted Newts swimming around in that vernal, as well. They do enjoy eating salamander eggs. I couldn't get a photo of them.
Walking past the next pond, I heard a familiar slithering sound in the dry leaves. I saw it was a Ribbon Snake, our First of the Year. It wasn't letting me get a decent shot so, figuring I only photographed ONE in each of the last two years, I made the old-man-lunge and safely procured it for a couple of shots.
I'm not sure what has happened to make them so scarce in the last 4 or 5 years but it breaks my heart to only see one or two during a season where we used to see dozens. But this guy certainly made up for our missing the Blanding's emergence this year.
The pond itself had some Painters up, including this guy playing King of the Hill.
We ran into a pair of birders. We mentioned turtles and they said, "Oh, I just photographed one crossing the path!" She showed me the photo. Blanding's. She said it wasn't far but scour as we did, we couldn't find it. Then, further up the path, we ran into a couple that was hiking. The guy told us about the Snapping Turtle in the the path ahead. Well, we haven't seen one of those either! We kept our eyes peeled. I was looking for frogs (for real, not taking a leak) and when I got back to Andrea, she was holding up her hand and pointing. Why was she pointing at that hiker coming towards her on the trail? Well, she wasn't. Sher was pointing at this guy on the trail.
We watched it going to the water, filming all the way. I made a movie.
Andrea suspects this was that guy's "Snapping Turtle".
Well, that was certainly exciting and it informed me that yes, they have dispersed (or are still dispersing) into the various bodies of water around the place. I decided to try my luck at a hidden pond that I have had luck in sometimes. I didn't have to go far in (thankfully, due to no leaves on anything yet) to get a distant glimpse of a Blanding's and a Painter sharing a perch.
There were at least a dozen Painters and at least one more Blanding's back there but after not-too-stealthily tromping back for a closer look, there was nothing left but empty logs. Still, I can't complain.
So, including Painters, Andrea was three for three with FoYs! Let's make it FOUR. We both got our FoY Bullfrog along the river path.
There were a bunch of fallen trees going into the river. The Beavers were really going to town and I have no doubt that they're thinking about damming the entire Nashua River. Gotta admire that!
We passed another vernal pool but I could see no eggs. Lots of little frogs jumped in but I couldn't see them long enough to ID them. This good sized Green Frog stayed put long enough for me to enjoy it.
We ended the day with another pair of Painted Turtles.
Gotta call that a good day! 3 FoYs for me, 4 for Andrea. And we made it home in time for me to catch a catnap before playing that night. Twas a decent day overall.
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