Surfing on a Heat Wave. July 3rd and 5th, 2026

Heatwave! Over 90° and pushing 100° a couple of days! Well, Andrea had that Friday (the 3rd) off so we planned on getting out early before it got too hot. Even getting to our spot in Norfolk County (that I picked because we always sweat up a flood there anyway) a little after 8 AM, it was already over 90°. Whatever. Let's walk and see what we can see.

We hit the restrooms first. While I waited for Andrea, I went around the side of the building and saw a small Garter race under a board. I waited and we flipped over the board together and saw the little fella who looks like he's just had some breakfast. A worm perhaps?

We walked on but it was oppressively hot. There were no animals out. Besides the little Garter, that is, and I'm sure he was staying put under the cool board. Turtle spots were empty. Our secret shaded spots were empty. Finally, we saw one sturdy Painter up basking for a bit.

He was gone when we walked by less than an hour later.

So yeah, we gave it a try but inevitably decided that it was just too hot to see anything. Plus, the biting flies were relentless and I'd had enough. Two bites on my hands, right through bug spray, are still itching. All hail Sweet Fern which held them back for a while.

We saw an American Toad on the way back to the car, so we were pleased with that.

Except the Sweet Fern fell out of my hat when I scrambled to see the toad...

The 4th of July was too hot to go out. Lesson learned. The next day, Sunday the 5th, was supposed to be cooler so we made plans to visit a new (to us) place.

Due to gas prices, I've been hoping to find more nearby places to add to our rotation. I found a spot only about a half hour drive away (in Middlesex County) and made plans to visit on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, we slept in later than planned but still got there by late morning. It's an Audubon place so we got to skip the entrance fee, being members.

Right off the bat, the trail goes to a marshland habitat and Painted Turtles were everywhere! On the sightings board in the visitor's center, some kid had written "so many turtles" and within 15 minutes, I agreed with that count. Our first was a small fella.

Andrea spied our first Bullfrog of the weekend.

But it was Painted Turtles. They were all over; basking, swimming, foraging and eating.

There are a lot of cool plants there as well, as you'll soon see. Like Buttonbush, the Pinhead of the plant world.

At the end of the boardwalk, I got a glimpse of a small Water Snake. Most of one, anyway. It disappeared quickly and was the only snake seen that day.

Off trail, we got a good look out at the water and saw... more Painteds!!

Trail maps in hand, we headed away from the water on some paths that went along the side of some big fields. The trail was nicely shaded by overhanging trees so we got to enjoy the splendor of the open fields in relative coolness. (It was about 83° by now) My guess is that had we arrived sooner, we'd have seen a handful of Garters along this path.

We did see another Chipmunk (there were dozens) that stooped to strike a pose that I, once again, just couldn't resist.

What a camera whore!

Our maps were leading us toward a bridge that went over a brook that I was interested in seeing. Once we got there, guess what was up catching some rays...

The trail back stayed near the brook and, again, it looked super Gartery but we saw no more snakes. Wildflowers and plants were plentiful and beautiful along this path and I concentrated on those.

This is Daisy fleabane with a Syrphid fly on top.

Deptford pinks were plentiful.

There were dozens of fruitful Tatarium honeysuckle bushes.

Back to the boardwalk, we'd hoped to see some more Bullfrogs and Water Snakes. We got the former.

I missed it, but Andrea saw this guy make a giant leap into the air, legs flying, probably trying for some lunch. By the time I saw him, it was all "nothing to see here, folks".

I ended the hike with one last Painter photo. Among the hundreds we saw, this guys face sums up how much I enjoyed the day... with a smile.

It's good to know that this place is pretty close for days when that "I need to see some turtles" feeling strikes, which is quite often. Also, we heard birds singing for the entire time we were there, which was over four miles of hiking. We hope to check out more new-to-us place this summer and hopefully, we'll find more close-by walks that we'll enjoy.

And So Ends June. 6-27th and 28th, 2026

Good weather was predicted and I had a hankerin' to see a Wood Turtle or two. On Saturday, we got up early, ate on the road and got out into Middlesex County shortly after 8 AM. Yay us! Surely the Wood Turtle Gods would be smiling on us this day! Well, maybe not. But even if they didn't, we had some exploring to do.

Heading in, I kept my eyes open for things to flip because we'd had a Redbelly Snake here before and we were still on the search for our first of 2026. (So weird, in the middle of New York State, where I grew up, they were everywhere!) The flipping paid off when I got a Spotted Newt, our first ever at this place. Efty Efty Efty!

With gratification not quite as instant as last week with the Green, I found a Redbelly under some bark. We tried to tame it (unsuccessfully) in Andrea's hat.

The obligatory in-hand shot where you can see the belly.

First-of-Year!

These Ebony Jewelwings were plentiful but I wasn't able to get a shot with their brilliant blue abdomens showing... they always covered it with their wings as I clicked. Still, a beautiful damselfly.

We weren't having much luck with turtles even though we were giving the woods and the dry vernal a pretty good sweep. I headed towards the river and scared up a pair of small Green Frogs.

We checked out a number of new (to us) paths and still had no turtles but at 963% humidity, we sure had sweaty clothes. We rested on a stone in the shade. A nice older (my age) couple came and sat with us and we talked for a while. They'd mentioned a part of the place where they always see snakes and told us how to find it. Funny... we've passed it a number of times but never noticed it. After our rest/ talk, Andrea and I headed over to this hidden-in-plain-sight area. We saw no snakes (the sun would be too high and hot by this time) but it looks perfect and I did see what appear to be Racer eggs under a log.

We'll have to hit this spot first on our next visit.

Well, no turtles at the first stop but we had more lined up. The second spot is fairly new to us and we were eager to look around. We had a lot of time to do so but still wound up with no turtles. We did, however, see an American Toad...

... and a Redback that posed for what might be my cutest ever Redback shot.

We had one more stop in mind but we got some pizza and drink first. Then headed to a spot we'd discovered a couple of years ago. We'd not seen Wood Turtles there but it looks perfect. So we headed in, not remembering the trails. Oops.

Yeah, we got pretty lost for a while but saw lots of great habitat and birds. We saw/ heard a Raven, and a Piliated Woodpecker but got no shots of either. Some cool plants too, like this Pipsissewa, not the coolest looking flowering plant ever but it sure has the best name!

While lost, Andrea pointed out a shine ("probably a mylar balloon") that turned out to be a Painted Turtle in the river... our only turtle on the day.

My last photo of the day is a head scratcher. This woodpecker was making a real racket about 50 feet away. Spot on tail... Downy. Chest spurs... Hairy. A little smaller than a Robin... Downy, but a big one. Hell, I could go either way. I posted in a Facebook group and got a split decision. I'm keeping it in Camp Downy. A female, either way.

So that was our Saturday. The good news is, we got home earlier than expected because of our early start. But it was another Wood failure on my part, though the Redbelly makes up for it. Six species (and a missed frog at one point) is pretty good, though, and we must have lost some tonnage with all of the sauna-like hiking we did (over six miles).

On Sunday morning, we were unsure of what we'd be doing. Due to gas prices this year, I'm only allowing us one longer trip per weekend and that was the day before. I wanted to see some turtles and chose a favorite hike in Norfolk County. We'd just been there a few weeks ago but it's such a beautiful place...

It was off and on cloudy when we got there. Our first sighting was a robust Redback.

I'd said on the drive there, "I want to see some Garter Snakes today." I guess I got my wish when we hit the dam... there was one on the other side of a bush but I couldn't get a good shot.

Many Water Lilies were decorating the pond's edge. Two different species here.

Water Snakes started showing up. Some of the big females were warming their internal babies up.

^^ That last shot is two snakes, not one massive one.

What of the turtles I wanted to see? Well, the place had overgrown a lot since our last visit so it wasn't as easy this time. I saw a big Spotted Turtle (the size of you average Painter) that slipped into the drink and didn't see any more until we saw some Painters amongst the lily pads.

A little turtle and a LOT of lily pads!

A small Spotted spotted in a spot about 30 feet away.

Last sight on the dam, another Water Snake. She had plenty of red but my shitty camera-work didn't capture that.

We'd talked on the way up remembering when we used to turn around after the dam. Haha... such newbies! But with the sun up now and the luck we'd had, we considered doing it this time. Plus, our legs were still rubber from the day before. But I made the decision to go for it... do the whole 4 1/2 miles. I wanted to see the Hobo Camp and Ringneck Hill.

It might not have been my greatest decision because we walked right past the path that leads to the Hobo Camp and I found zilch on Ringneck Hill. Some fartface had stacked some of the hill's best stones into a short stone wall, too. But persistence (stupidity?) paid off when we got back close to the pond and a big (over two feet) Garter gal sat there posing for us.

A pretty close-up. Looks like I finally got my wish.

Over by the swimming area (thankfully empty except for two teens cleaning up a bit), a bight striped Garter was in 5 O'clock Charlene's place.

That was our last critter but I did take a shot of this massive patch of what we call Corpse Flowers, but are also known as Indian Pipes, Ghost Plant or even Monotropa uniflora. They're cool because they have no chlorophyl and they are parasitic to fungus (I always thought they were fungus).

Another super-hot one for us and we headed home soaked with sweat but happy with the things we'd seen. We made the whole hike and felt pretty good about that. Showers and an hour or two in bed later in the afternoon also felt pretty good.