Our friend and herp mentor Kyle often hosts Herping get-togethers for members of the North American Field Herp Association, a group of herp enthusiasts. We were lucky enough to have an invite to the meet-up this year and we readily accepted. At the time, we had no idea just how amazing it was going to be. We were happy just to go to meet some good online friends face to face!
So, Kyle invited us to his cottage in North Central Pennsylvania for the weekend and we departed here at 5:15 AM, ready for a killer, long drive... expecting about 7 1/2 or 8 hours (or longer, considering my peanut bladder and need to stretch my freakishly long legs). We were making OK time, but I needed to herp every rest stop, and found nothing.
We got close, but saw Ricket's Glen and decided to stretch our legs there. We were very glad we did! First off, it looks like this (at Adams Fall)...
First flips made us feel at home... Redbacks!
(The one on the bottom appears to be expecting bundles of joy!)
Before long, we flipped a new salamander to us...
And more!
And... was this a crazy Redback with a spotted head?
More!
It turns out that they were all Mountain Dusky Salamanders, displaying great variation of patterns and color! Lifers!
We arrived at Kyle's cottage and flipped a rock (before we knew we shouldn't! oops!) and saw our first ever Northern Slimy Salamander!
So, we met Kyle and Tom, another herper, and we took off for Rattlesnake Hollow to look for... guess... salamanders! This was another beautiful place!
Kyle (in orange) was generously sharing his herp hot spots with us! Andrea and Tom (check out his turtle tats!) and I dug in! We saw a few more Mountain Duskies...
Then Kyle showed us the majesty of Spring Salamanders!
These big beauties became an instant favorite! We found two at this spot.
Working our way up a hill and away from the water, we started seeing fewer Mountain Duskies... though we saw a few...
and started seeing many Northern Slimys! These guys seem to be much spottier than the Atlantic Coast ones we saw in NC.
Then, much to my surprise, I flipped a tiny Ringneck!
He was unwieldy and squirmed a bit, so I loosened my grip and lost him. I felt badly that Tom couldn't get a shot (and ours looked like crap) but Kyle assured me... there would be more. He was right!
We departed and hit what we called Gray's Run. It became evident that Ringnecks would indeed be found again... immediately! In all sizes!
To be honest, I was starting to get a bit confused! I'm in the habit of photographing every animal we encounter, but with 4 of us herping and there being such a multitude of snakes... I got overwhelmed! Tom and Kyle flipped some Redbellies...
We all flipped more Ringnecks!
I flipped another Slimy while Kyle got us one of our target species for the trip... a Red Salamander!
We were happy! Very happy indeed!
Add a couple of Garter Snakes and this spot was aces!
Traveling to the next spot got us shots of our only turtles... a pair of Painteds... I assume they are Eastern but there's a possibility of Midland.
By this point, I was just having so much fun that remembering everything will be impossible. So bear with me. Next up was a powerline cut in Tioga County. There were some lovely reddish Garters there!
Next up was what we have labelled as "Foundation"! At any rate, it was a good flipping place and I got my first (and only) Redbelly of the weekend! And a Garter!
Tom's Redbelly was more impressive!
This massive Garter was found here too, one of seven in this spot!
Our last stop was Beck Road... I found some Garters...
While Andrea and Tom flipped the weekend's first Milk Snake!
What a day! Something like 70 herps! We went back to the cottage and relaxed for a bit. Kyle had brought Andrea a Gray Tree Frog, probably a Copes, to enjoy... we had never seen one! That's another example of how nice this man is!
We relaxed out by the stream in back by a campfire... I had my first ever Smore... which was made with a chocolate mint cookie on top... we called them Smore or Lesses.
Suddenly a porcupine ran across the lawn behind us. Kyle valiantly (with beer in hand) ran ahead of it to corral it for pictures! It worked!
We went out in the 'hood to see what was up after dark... hoping for some light rain that never came. Still, a flip produced another Mountain Dusky.
A nearby pond that was loud with Peepers had some ominous Bullfrogs...
And Kyle found us a Peeper worthy of our cameras!
Herpers gotta herp!
On the way back, I flipped a nightcap Ringneck!
Rhonda, the resident eastern Pheobe, wished us a fine night.
So, wow... what a day! Exciting, tiring and fun! Kyle really outdid himself, sharing prized herp spots, putting up with us and always being a gentleman! What treasures would the next day hold?
It was my pleasure really!
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