We started things off on a very good note when we saw a chubby American Toad right next to the visitor's center.
What a handsome fella!
The was some glamour photography going on near the stream but I made my way back there anyway. No snakes or frogs, though the photographer and model had seen a "big black snake". Ah, Nerodia heaven. We saw none, but I got my own glamour shot of some Marsh Violets next to the stream.
The was some glamour photography going on near the stream but I made my way back there anyway. No snakes or frogs, though the photographer and model had seen a "big black snake". Ah, Nerodia heaven. We saw none, but I got my own glamour shot of some Marsh Violets next to the stream.
About 10 feet from the model, I saw a good sized Water Snake slithering into the rocks. Missed it. That gaffe was more than made up for when I got to the edge of the pond and photographed our First of Year Pickerel Frog!
Not far from him (watch out!) was a pretty red Water Snake.
Out on the archipelago, there were more frogs! Another Pickerel and two Greens!
The Barn Swallows (#50) are nesting again in the little stone cabin.
We needed a Bullfrog to complete the Big Three Frogs here and this monolith turned up, only our second Bull on the year! He might have to count for more. A beast.
S is for Salamander. A curvy Redback.
A rain-drain culvert that often has Garter neonates crawling in it during the Autumn months came through with a last-year's-model who was in the blue.
No Ringnecks but this stump covered with Termites was cool. And it gave me some frissons.
We did the high-road/ low-road thing and the only cute thing I was was on the low road!
Once we joined up again, we got a good shot of a Yellow Warbler (#51), my first in a couple of years.
We finally got to a better spot for turtles. Many of our usual turtle photo spots were either underwater (the ponds were pretty full) or close to humans so when we got to the far side, we finally saw some shootable distant turtles. The first shot was of a group of Painted Turtles with an absolute unit of a Red-belly, our First of the Year.
That guy is just massive!
A guy walking his dog stopped so I could get this handsome Water Snake's portrait. Thank you, sir.
Another pair of Painters.
Back towards the front, we started seeing Water Snakes aplenty, usually not far from oblivious humans. I'm glad we know how to look.
We ended the hike with one last Bullfrog, doubling our previous best Bull-day on the year (which was... one).
So, we ended the day with nine species. I'd told the parking guy earlier that we were hoping for double digits but I can't complain at all. Plus, three birds were added. (My Gray Catbird shot isn't worth sharing.) We left sweaty, tired and filthy, just how we want to be after a good hike.
A+ day.
A+ day.