We were almost there when Ryan texted Andrea the word "marbled". One of the target species at the top of everyone's list was Marbled Salamander. Ryan scored one before anyone else had even arrived yet! We hurried along and met up with him. Steve and Matt were right around the corner. I high-tailed it into the woods and started flipping! I started out with some Redbacks and Leadbacks, many of which were too fast for my camera!
We would find dozens of these guys and most were of the Leadback phase, but you wouldn't know it to look at my photos! Perhaps they're a tad faster than the standard Reds!
Another herp that we saw dozens of... Wood Frogs!! Here's my first, found by Matt.
Always a treat, some Red Spotted Newts, one in Eft stage and the other changing and getting ready for his aquatic golden years.
They seem to be cuddling, which I like a lot.
Ryan got to the log under which he had found the Marbled and revealed the beauty to us!
This is the first Andrea and I have seen since 2008! A lifer for Matt and Ryan! What a thrill! Already worth the 2 hour drive!
It is breeding season right now and we hoped to see other specimens, but this was our only Marbled! Thank you, Ryan!
So, yeah... Redbacks...
Efts...
and Wood Frogs. This one of which is sitting atop Andrea's middle finger. A frog-bird.
This guy has terrible depth perception. Just one eye, and it looks as though it was born that way.
With all of the frogs that we see and all of the horror stories in the news a few years ago about pollution and frogs mutating and the like, I'm happy to say that this guy is a real rarity to us.
Ryan struck again next with the first snake of the day... an absolutely stunning Garter!
It was still pretty cool and he just sat there for his pics.
How do you like this mid-way-between eft and aquatic newt? I don't recall who found it, but it's a beauty!
Ryan again with the next snake, a wee garter as we started up the mountain!
We concentrated on climbing for a while and got up to the top pretty quickly! Luckily, my old man heart didn't burst under the pressure!
(Of course, I took this trail...)
What a view!
Andrea found these Redbacks way up!
We were so high up that the birds were almost at eye level!
What's that, about a 10 mile view? Who knows?!
It seems that we had lost Matt somewhere along the way! We called for him but heard nothing. We waited and looked around... thinking that we were on the right path for finding the very elusive Massachusetts Copperheads. We must have been close!
But we never did find one.
Matt turned up (after we had said aloud that we were worried that he might have fallen to his untimely and bloody death) and said he'd seen a large Racer! Well, that's where we wanted to go! We headed back in that direction, but took a wrong turn and found ourselves in a different great spot! Andrea checked in with a small Ringneck!
She then did the impossible and flipped a bat!!
He was pissed off and disoriented and crawled under another rock.
Matt got his Peeper eyes on and found this fattie!
This was my first Wood Frog that I found all by myself! I'm a slow starter!
Matt earned the nickname Matty Peepers with another find!
We were still up pretty high, on the other side of the mountain. The Connecticut River was right next to us.
Matt had no sooner said "I hope I find a Gray's" than he did find one!! A beautiful young Gray's Tree Frog!
I countered with a brick-red Wood Frog!
Matty Peepers strikes again!
We were walking around trying to find our way back to the path when both Ryan and Matt recognised where they were. In fact, this is the place Matt had seen the Racer. In fact, it was back out and Matt found it again! Matt stood in the snake's path, between it and its hole. While it was facing him, I picked it up.
Now, there's two reasons that I like to pick up Racers, despite knowing I'll get bitten. #1, they always make very dramatic faces which translate to exciting pictures. Secondly, I just love holding them; their strong, smooth scaled bodies are just gorgeous. I fucking love Racers!
But, yeah... they bite.
We put him down for a couple of "nature shots" before he slipped into a tiny hole like a person slurping in a strand of spaghetti!
Man, I love Racers.
Walking down a rocky path, Matt again saw movement and we thought he just found a Ringneck slithering along! But those back-stripes... that super dark belly... he'd just found his first-ever Redbelly!!
OK, now we were cookin'!
This side of the mountain also had Redbacks!
Late as I often am, I finally found my first Eft!
While Andrea found one at the same time!
Ryan and I were concentrating on a rocky hillside about 30 feet from the others. He flipped a garter, but it slid into the rocky hill. But within a minute, he found another! This guy kept me company while I took a rest.
Steve had flipped a Milk Snake, which got us all very excited! Unfortunately, we couldn't get a picture because this small snake had started down into the rocks and we could have hurt him trying to extricate him. So Steve made the decision to let him go. Wise choice, I think. He found this new Garter soon after.
He tied himself into a knot on Andrea's hand!
Ryan, while eating a sandwich, flipped the Twins of Evil!
The in-the-blue one was a little more evil than his sibling...
Next up, somebody flipped a Spotted Salamander! This guy is all noggin!
This is my only solo snake find of the day... a formidable, man-eating, neonate Garter!
Steve had found another baby Garter but unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of him.
We were on a wonderful rocky hillside (yet another one... this place was amazing!) and the clouds got thick. Rain was coming. I flipped some Redbacks... a Golden phase and a Leadback.
Ryan flipped a rock and had found the flipper's nightmare... a very active and angry bee's nest! They came out fast at him and he got a sting on the arm. I called after him "are you OK? Are you allergic?". He said he didn't think so. *whew*
I had just flipped an adult Spotted Salamander, as big around as my thumb and probably about 6 inches long, when I felt the first sting on the back of my head. Fuck... the bees had found me! I ran as fast as I could, batting at my head as they got me again, and again! 3 fucking stings to the head! I ran and screamed like a banshee and, unfortunately for the bee-allergic Matt, right in his direction! I finally got out of their range and sat down while my head throbbed. I think I could actually see the pain. I'd lost my mossy green hat, too. Damn... a favorite.
Oh well, I got back to herping before too long because, hey... herpers gotta herp and this place was great! Steve found a tiny Eft and I had a quarter to put next to it for size comparison.
I took the picture, but I couldn't tell if it had come out. FUCK!! I'd lost my glasses too! My expensive ones!
We all wasted a lot of time trying to find the spot where the bees hit me. (I really wanted to get a shot of that Spotted, too!) We couldn't find them. The rain had started to come down pretty hard now too. It felt good on my burning head, but it made us put our cameras away.
Ryan had started having a serious allergic reaction to his sting. He was breaking out all over his forehead and getting serious itches and discomfort. He went ahead on the trail to get to the cars sooner. A pharmacy and some Benedryl was needed.
I took out the camera for this small Spotted.
Efts were awakened by the rain and were all over the place! TMTC! Andrea got a nice shot of this guy heading up a tree.
So, we all went for lunch (Amy's Place, in honor of Steve's wife) and regrouped. Ryan was in better shape with some antihistamines in him and I was hungry. I couldn't read the menu, but Andrea kindly helped me out!
Steve and Matt had to head home after lunch. We other three had to go back to the mountain at least to get Ryan back to his car, so we decided to hit one of the creeks to look for salamanders. It was now 5PM and the gates locked at 6, so we gave ourselves a half hour. It was all we needed.
We wanted to get Ryan a lifer Dusky and I desperately wanted to find a Spring Salamander (they're reportedly here). We found the former right away. Andrea first...
Then me...
They were pretty abundant and Ryan found his lifer pretty quickly!
I flipped this Two-Line who cuddled up to my shoe.
A couple more Dookies...
A small Green Frog that I was able to pose like this...
A larger, more spiffy looking Green that Ryan had to assure me that the picture came out OK (I was blind!)
Andrea kept flipping Duskies! Look at this noggin!
A huge Pickerel Frog (the day's 15th photographed species) and I got along beautifully!
Andrea and I got some action shots of some Two-Lined Salamanders!
Hey... let's hear it for the last Redback of the day!!! YYYEEEEAAAAAHHHH!
Our last shot of the day was of this striking Dusky. A Spring Salamander wasn't in the cards this day.
Wow! What a flippin' day! Sore feet, sore heads, falls, scrapes, bumps and bruises... we herped the shit outta Hampden County! I might have lost my specs but what a great time I had! That's what herpin' is all about! Good times with good friends, all of whom are top-notch field herpers! I look forward to our next time on the trails! Thanks, all!
Exhausting! And in defense of insects everywhere, I have to guess that was a yellow jacket nest that caused all this trouble. They are notoriously cranky hymenopterans, while most bees are pussycats.
ReplyDeleteI can't blame them for doing what they did! There they were, all home and relaxing and all of a sudden their roof comes off! I hope they have use for my glasses, is all! ;)
DeleteWith the aid of Mike's glasses, the bees gained the ability to read and began to plot their uprising (which required reading).
ReplyDeleteRemarkable animals, they are!!
DeleteI think that big spotted salamander is wearing your glasses and your hat.
ReplyDeleteFucking hipster.
Delete