We both had four day weekends! Of course, the beginning of the month was rainy and cool but we were promised two days (Sunday and Monday) of decent weather on this weekend so we were happy enough. Imagine our delight when Saturday turned out to be less shitty than forecast! Due to all of the rain, we headed over to a good salamander spot in Norfolk County to see if any Ambystoma were present.
It was in the mid-50s but rain was going to be light. We got there at about 11 AM and hit the trails. Salamanders were tougher than expected, but finally nabbed a couple of Redbacks.
Being as cool as it still was, I was quite surprised to see a little striped tail scurrying through the grass when I went to sit on a log. The tail belonged to a much larger Garter than I'd first expected to see. Gorgeous specimen, lots of bright yellow.
We enjoyed seeing a few birds and other things before we left that spot. We decided to hit a nearby reservoir in the same reservation. A Common Loon (#18) was cruising around.
Last year at about this time, the water was trilling with American Toad calls but we only heard one this time! We guessed that we were too early. But on the way back to the car, we saw these two fellows heading towards the drink. First of Year American Toads.
Yes, we were early, but only by a few hours it seems!
Why not get some lunch and head over to one more spot in the reservation? We did get some lunch, but it started raining pretty good. Oh well, we ate in the car. While Andrea was finishing up, I went over to a nearby stream to look for Two-lines. I saw one very bright adult, all golden yellow, but couldn't get him. I had to settle for a larvae, still our first on the year.
The rain stopped for a bit but it was still very cloudy. The third stop was our second best Spotted Turtle area but none were up. We were delighted to see a dark Northern Leopard Frog, however.
We were going to let the weather decide on how far we were going to hike but a flooded and washed out bridge made up our minds for us.
On the way back to the car, we saw this little Spotted Turtle peeking out of the water. This is the best I could do before he submerged.
Six species and a lovely group of hikes on a day that we thought we'd be stuck inside. I call that a good day.
The next morning, we got up at a reasonable hour because we wanted to head into Middlesex County and have another shot at seeing a Blanding's Turtle. We'd missed them earlier in the year. They usually emerge from their Winter slumber right about now so off we went.
The place wasn't too busy because it was flooded in many spots. We came prepared. Andrea brought boots and I decided that wet shoes would be fine for the day. A guy rode a bike in and wiped out in a water filled ditch... he had no idea it was so deep. Yes, we laughed, but not loud enough for him to hear. I was first greeted by an Eastern Phoebe (#19) who was trying to keep me away from the nest.
The place was 90% water covered. There was about enough path in most spots for us to carry on but it was a water-filled wonderland. Painted Turtles were enjoying it a lot, but mostly they liked the sun that was shining bright.
The river that runs next to the place was over the banks, making much of the wooded areas look like this: this IS the river!
It was bad, but not as crazy as
this day! We've also see this place dry as a bone during drought years. Give me flooding any day.
More Painters.
^^ Oops, last guy slipped!
We headed up the path, which went a bit uphill so we stayed out of the water for a while. On an elevated part, we saw our main target, a Blanding's Turtle, our FoY!
Peering down the hill towards a vernal (the one that was filled with Wood Frogs a month ago), we saw another Blanding's, this time with his neck stretched out.
Let's get a closer look at that derpiness!
There is a path that leads from the trail down to a railroad track where I can sometimes get a better shot from the other side of the vernal. I did not expect to see
this up on the tracks...
What to do? You see a threatened species just asking to get plowed over by a train. Play god and move it? Let nature take it's course? We decided that trains aren't a part of nature and got close enough to it to make it decide to turn around. As we were walking away, we saw him traversing the gravel.
We were both in need of a sit-down, so we sat on a concrete structure and had a snack. Right next to me, I noticed our First of Year Green Frog! And a big beauty it is! Second target achieved!
Another lovely Green was also there while we rested.
We went down a path that we knew we'd have to turn back from because of flooding, but we wanted to see as much of it as possible. This is when we saw our first Garter of the day.
A pond next to this path was extremely deep and most of the basking logs that we're used to seeing were under water. But it you looked hard enough, you could find the sun lovers. A Canada Goose joined a short stack of Painters.
Back in the distance, I found the popular spot. It was too far away to get a great shot but there are 24 Painted Turtles back there!
A wooded area that had a ton of puddles and pits and streams in it also had a couple of perfect Garter coils on the dry spots.
I spent a long while trying to get a shot of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a species I'd only photographed once before. It bested me at every turn. Fuck you! This is good enough for an ID... #20, dammit! Ruby-crowned Kinglet!
A Garter who had just emerged from his tannin-y den site.
Our hike was once again determined by flooding... the first bridge was underwater. Time to turn back.
It's just as well... the raindrops started to fall and we were about a mile and a half in. We saw this Green Frog on the way back. We'd really broken the seal on Blanding's and Greens!
We'd also seen that orange Garter crawling along on the way back... must have warmed up enough to look for some lunch.
This adorable Red Squirrel stood still long enough to get photographed.
The rain started getting heavier so we moved on faster, marveling at the tenacity of this Painter who had a never-say-die attitude! "I'm still gettin' UVBs, bruh!"
We went and had some delicious Mexican food after that. I call that an excellent Sunday. Only four species, but plenty of all of them.
And we still had another day off coming...
