Picta This! A Day in April. 4-12-2026

Despite being out (gig) and up late the night before, we wanted to get to a spot in Middlesex County at a reasonable hour and try to find our first Water Snake on the year. It was supposed to be as nice as the previous day though when we got there, we discovered that a breeze was going to be keeping it cool. That's OK... we were there, we would hike. Blanding's are possible here, too.

I finally got the camera on a Red-winged Blackbird (#35). It was right there next to the path, ignoring us as we approached.

We walked up the deck, keeping our eyes peeled for basking Painted Turtles and saw a wee one warming up.

We watched a pair of Muskrats frolicking. Love is in the air. The chase was relentless and they made adorable squeaking sounds.

This distant Muskrat (or Beaver?) wasn't interested in frolicking, just napping. So like me.

Moving on, we saw a hatchling Painted Turtle swimming out in the open. Not a bright move in a place inundated with massive invasive carp. He must have overwintered in the nest and just come up. We watched in fear for a while and he eventually moved to the safety of the reeds.

An Eastern Comma. Evidently, this is the first time I've put one on this blog.

Andrea found a Painter with a deeply tannined plastron on the path. I'd post a pic but it turns up later and I got a better photo.

We went as far as we could before hitting private property. At the furthest point, I got a nice Painted Turtle shot.

Heading back, there was another turtle on the path. We ran up and thought it looked fairly familiar.

This is ol' tannin plastron!

Two things worth noting. It was pretty clear that we weren't going to see any snakes, Water or otherwise. It was just too cool. But... we heard loads of Northern Leopards calling and that is excellent news. This place used to be filthy with them but have been completely absent for the last 3 or 4 years. If they are making a comeback, I couldn't be happier.

We proceeded up another path that went along the river and noted how flooded that area was. That was also the secret Painted Turtle place where they could bask, unencumbered by passing humans (unless you know how to look). The first pic is a twelve-pack, our best on the year so far. (Remember, we just saw our FoYs two days ago!)

Another Painter crossing the path.

I finally got my eyes on a frog. Not a Leopard, but a fine looking Green.

A Muskrat was munching on reeds with it's little hands holding tight.

Two more Painters crossing! This was at the far-point of this path so we watched them go into the drink, then turned back.

Back on the main path back to the car, Andrea spied this proud looking fella basking on the reeds. His face made us laugh, prompting Andrea to say, "If you don't want us to laugh at you, you shouldn't be a turtle!"

Back on the deck, the small Painter count had doubled.

This adult was sitting right on a support beam, hidden in plain sight.

The last Painter of the day.

We ended things up with Bird #37, a Great Blue Heron.

It's funny, only two species of "herp" but we still call this a good day. The Leopard noise certainly helped but just being out seeing things, hearing things and getting some vitamin D into our systems (I even got a little pink on my nose and forehead) felt really good. Just Painters and a Green Frog but damn, that's enough to make us feel very good. 

Finally! April 9th, 10th and 11th, 2026

Some warm(ish) sunny days had been bestowed upon us and we made the best of it. Thursday the 9th sure felt good but when we went over to the dens on Andrea's lunchbreak, there were no snakes out and about. We did, however, score a pair of Redbacks... Lead and Red.

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.

Fools in the Haunted Swamp 4-1-2026

Hell, it looked pretty good to me. It was in the 50s on April Fools Day and it had rained much of the day so we pulled the trigger, grabbed a pizza on the way out and went to Bristol County, right in the heart of the Bridgewater Triangle, to look for amphibians by torch-light. We got there at about 8:30 PM and could hear Peepers from the parking lot. We considered that a good sign. As we walked across the field to get to the woods, hundreds of earthworms pulled back, away from our flashlights. Man, I do enjoy seeing so many at once. I was thinking of Jeff Lieberman's Squirm (1976). Some were pretty huge. This is my size 12 shoe. (I'm NOT squishing the one under my shoe.)

The Peepers were calling from every side. As we made our way along the trail, Wood Frogs joined the chorus. But we couldn't get out eyes on any. A few eyes glowed from 30 feet away but my camera wouldn't be capable of getting anything. I did flip a Redback right next to a vernal pool, starting our night off.

I finally got a ride-'em-cowboy Wood Frog about 10 feet out. It would be the only one I'd get a shot of, and it was our First of Year.

The Peepers were deafening. I scoured the edges of the pools, the low hanging branches and twigs, and the plants sticking up from the water, but I saw zero Peepers! I spent a lot of time trying. I did see some very small Fairy Shrimp. This guy, and the dozens more that I saw, were all 1/2" or less.

A new spider for us... I thought it might be a Fishing Spider as it's about half-dollar sized, but it is Pisaurina mira- an American nursery web spider. (Thanks, Jef and Aaron!)

We did our usual route, which goes a mile or two out through the Haunted Swamp and past the power-line cut and one thing became clear. Salamanders were not moving this night. There was no sign of eggs or packets in the pools, either, so we wondered if we'd just driven 45 miles for one frog and a Redback. Well, we've done it before so yes. It's OK if we had, but heading back, we saw a small Green Frog, our FOY, sitting next to the path.

I headed back towards some of the vernals that I'd scoured earlier, determined to get a Peeper shot. I mean, there were thousands calling. Surely I could photograph one! Approaching the edge, I saw a pale body doing ride-'em-cowboy and focused on another Wood Frog. Except that it turned out to be our FOY American Toad! He is up pretty early this year!

Just listen to this deafening racket!

OK, I was determined and I thought I saw some eye-shine about 20 feet out. I did. And a round throat sac. I took a dozen photos and this is my best one... our FOY mofo Spring Peeper. Damn, that was tough.

On the way out, we had another Green, a pretty big one this time. Couldn't get a shot without the blue eyes, but he's still a handsome bastard.

So, the salamanders were not moving but we made up for it with out first frogs (and toad) of the year. Four new species added, almost doubling our Reptile and Amphibian count for 2026. We're at a whopping nine! Oh well, it's been a weird year already and I don't expect that to change.

I entered the world of Annelid Porn on the way back to the car. Sexy.