Monday Tour of the South. 7-20-2026

Andrea was still off and the weather was supposed to be perfection. We got up early and headed to Plymouth County for some Musk Turtles and (hopefully) some snake-flippin'. We actually got there at a good time and took to the water's edge to see if any baby Musks were present. I didn't see any but Andrea noticed that the place was hopping with Tinies! At this size, it's hard to tell which species we have here, but there were plenty of them!

Up on the path to the mill, I found a small Garter in a rolled up tarp.

Evidently, I broke the seal on Purple Martins last week. Here is a matched pair that was on a wire with a long chorus-line of Tree and Barn Swallows.

Walking towards a spillway next to the mill ruins, we heard a massive splash. Evidently, a turtle (or gigantic frog) was sunning in the grass and took a 5 foot leap of faith into the water below. Luckily, it didn't land on this small Bullfrog.

We flipped a snoozing Garter. We replaced the board without it ever waking up.

This Garter was very much awake upon flipping. It musked and pooped on me. 

Hey- triangle head... must be pozzniss!

This guy shocked me. For a Bullfrog, it was massive. But when I noticed it was a Green Frog my mind was blown. Gotta be the biggest Green I'd ever seen.

Large Bulls were representing as well.

This small Painted Turtle represents the species for the day. Our only specimen.

From there, we went across the street to look for Musks and Water Snakes. I'd made the mistake of saying, "I feel pretty good about seeing Water Snakes." So, we saw none. We did, however, notice that the water was filled with small River Herring that were in schools all along the edges. Looking down at them, we noticed a colony of freshwater bryozoans, the closest thing to coral we have around here.

White Perch were going nuts over the Herring but a few Musk Turtles were poking up around the edge of the dam. Too damn cute.

White Perch on the hunt...

A Musk was foraging under a sea of Herring.

Finally got his head up for me...

On the other side of the dam, there were no small Herring and it was all much quieter. These two adults were there, however, and they were swimming in a tight circle. I have been told this is a breeding behavior but since it is so out of season, I'm wondering if they are just confused.

Back up on the path, I was attracted by an Eastern Red-cedar Tree's "berries". They're actually tightly packed cones and a treat for birds.

A lovely Bull in a bog.

The last shot from this stop is a young Bull that looks like a muppet.

From there, we drove to a place a few miles away, again in hopes of a Water Snake. Nope. But we did have a snapperiffic time there. First, we saw this behemoth of a Snapper walking against the tide toward the open water. I'd never seen one so black before. It almost doesn't look real.

In a duck-weed covered, still-water spot, another Snapper was relaxing in privacy.

Looking down from a boardwalk, we could see two Snappers under the water. This is the best I could do on one of them. Luckily, it's skin was lighter and looked orange so I could see it.

While I was struggling with that shot, Andrea had stayed put, looking down from a different bridge. I knew she had something. She sure did!

You really never see Snappers in this small size, maybe a 3" long carapace. We watched as he slid into the drink.

So, at this point we'd seen four or five Snappers, a half dozen Musks and one Painted Turtle. Weird.

We got some pizza before heading over to our last stop in Bristol County. Yes, we were weary but since we were there, we might as well go for it. Our plan was to go flip some picnic tables and see if anyone was home. When we got towards the spot, we started seeing more Tinies. This well-fed Tiny is likely a Fowler's, which 95% of the toads at this place are.

I confessed my weariness but if you need photographic proof... here it is. The Garter is quicker than my reflexes.

That was our last snake. Heading back to the parking lot, we saw dozens of Tiny Toads hopping off the path. One was very dark. Could it be? YES! A new translucent Black-eyed Toad!

We're so happy to see that this gene is still being passed around this population! They'd been absent for a few years, then we saw a few two years ago. We'd love to find an adult one again!

Our last sighting (as we dragged our tired legs towards the car) was a Bullfrog in a puddle.

That's a pretty fair way to end a pretty darn good trip. A Happy Monday.

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...