New Spots and Old Friends July 18th & 19th, 2026

We'd been doing so well with new (to us) places lately that I had become eager to check out another one on this overcast Saturday morning. I had a late evening gig but wanted to get up and out into nature, then back home in the afternoon for a disco nap. I researched a place that is only a few miles from a tried and true (and sometimes tough) place already in out rotation in Middlesex County. If this new one sucked, we could always go to both spots. And that is what we wound up doing.

The sky was smoky again and rain was imminent. The air quality was terrible. Still, we moved forward and got to the new spot in the late morning. True to form, I chose the wrong parking area and it was a couple of miles to the river and pond area. It was a lovely walk but we saw no critters. Until the river. Oops. But then, we saw some Painted Turtles who were also denying the fact that the sun wasn't shining.

That was all we saw on that entire hike, except for some birds flying over the all-but-dry pond area. We moved a few miles down the road to a more familiar spot, a nature refuge. This place also had a low water level but the Yellow Lotus flowers were fully in bloom and that made for a spectacular sight.

We started to realize how lucky we'd been to see some turtles at the other spot because the places here where the water was deep enough to be of interest to turtles was well off the beaten path. A usually good spot for Painted Turtles was low enough to be a good spot for a Water Snake that Andrea spied.

This place has been a bit of a heartbreaker for the past few years. It used to be a major frog spot and a stronghold for Northern Leopard Frogs but something happened a few years ago (treating invasive plants?) that has made it so we see just a couple of frogs, mostly Bulls and Greens, here in a season. On the bright side, we'd heard some Leopards calling on a visit in April, so we kept that in mind. We watched a Common Yellowthroat (#69) calling for a while.

We walked out to a grassy area where Leopards used to be all over the place but scared up nothing. Heading back, we stopped by the river and sat on a bench and had the pleasure of watching a Killdeer foraging along the water's edge and getting within a few feet of us. A rare treat with such a skittish species.

We were walking back to the parking lot and I kept checking for more Water Snakes or a Snapping Turtle or something when this hopped in front of me...

Being a little in front of Andrea, I dramatically said, "Don't ever move again!" She knew exactly what was there.

Now, I know I sound like a madman, but this is incredibly significant to me. The last Leopard Frog on this blog was from April 2024, from Norfolk County. The last one seen at this particular spot was from August 2020. That's almost six years without seeing one at this spot where we used to see dozens on a single hike. We've been lamenting the loss of these beautiful creatures ever since. This was a beautiful, big adult and yes, I'm posting three pictures because it means that much. Hopefully, future hikes will increase the counts and we'll be back to the numbers that used to thrive here.

This made our week.

Yes, I played that night and did OK, despite not going on till almost midnight. I'm too old for that shit. Knowing we'd be sleeping in, we decided to plan on our Green Snake spot for Sunday morning. We'd been there at noon-time before on hot days and done well, but it wasn't in the cards this time out. No snakes. We gathered some sea glass as we walked along, then decided to visit our local cemetery on the way home to see the turtle gang. Our old friends.

From the road, 50 feet away, we could see this massive Red-ear catching some rays. A brute!

At the opposite end of the size-chart, this small Painted Turtle had a prime basking log to himself.

Care to see that face a bit closer?

You're welcome.

This Painter kept hovering about 20 feet out from the shore near us, perhaps waiting for a handout? I'm happy to see that most of the turtles aren't begging this year. It has made me nervous for their safety in the past.

The Snappers were there, but they they were behaving like turtles instead of dogs. That's a good thing.

The resident Yellow-belly is doing just fine and is seen here basking with another Red-ear.

This Red-ear has the big stump all to himself! Lucky turtle!

Another Snapper. It blinked as I snapped the camera. 

This Great Blue Heron was standing perfectly still and straight the entire time we were walking around the pond. That deserved a photo.

We ended on a perfectly gorgeous Red-ear swimming in the rain-stirred water, looking resplendent in their beautifully designed skin. A released pet saying "fuck you, I live here now too" and loving life.

And that was our weekend. But Andrea still had a couple of days off, so we're not done just yet...