The temps were supposed to be in the mid-70s after a very cool night so we were in no huge hurry. We got there at roughly 9AM and we could see our breath. It might take a while to heat up. The ground was wet from some nighttime showers.
As soon as we hit the sandy path, Andrea said "I don't like this" and pointed to fresh tire tracks made by an off-road vehicle. The tracks were wide, too, and they crushed the foliage on either side of the path. We got to our flipping spot and most of our boards were still out, though again many had been moved. There was nothing under any of them, though, until the very last piece scared up a Pickerel Frog!
So we headed out on to the trails, still noticing tire tracks. I looked forward to the sandy area because that is always full of Fowler's Toads, in fact... this is the Toadiest Place on Earth®! But not this day. The "beach" was a mess, tracks all over, beer bottles and a still smoking fire.
This place of many toads just looked like a wasteland. Where we had hoped to find toads and turtle nests, it was just destruction, tire tracks and thrown sand. There were egg-shells among the sprayed sand, probably from predated nests that were driven through, and that added to my anger and pain. FINALLY, I flipped a charred piece of wood (some 50 feet from the fireplace) and this sleepy Fowler's peeked out at me.
I was livid walking the trails, all riddled with tire tracks. I was actually on the verge of tears. We were well into the hike, actually at our former "turn around spot" before we saw another toad. A chubby Fowler's who cheered us up.
He did not want to pose for an en situ shot.
A few more Toads were found, but a fraction of what we expected! (We actually put a photo-cap on toads on the way here, so prevalent they usually are...)
Sooooooon...
My second time scouring the pond edge (where the beach had mercifully been missed by the vehicles) I saw that two young Painted Turtles had hoisted themselves up onto a floating board. One skidded off, but this brave soul let me get my shot!
Andrea saw a Ribbon Snake shoot into the reeds... we looked all over but couldn't find it. I walked away and she said, "he's back- right here!"... then we both missed it again. As a consolation prize, we saw this Chinese Mantid.
We heard dirt bikes roaring along the paths around the pond, pissing us off even more. Andrea got a couple of shots of them as they blew past. We also photographed some bolt cutters and the vandalized beach houses. Things have been reported.
While I was poking along the pond's edge, feeling sad, Andrea chirped my name and when I looked up, I saw she had flipped a lovely Garter Snake!
This mellow guy, a good candidate for a calm, coiley shot, broke our week-long Garter drought!
Yay for Andrea! I'd walked right past the rock she found him under!
She also found this Asteroid Moth Caterpillar, which is stunning!
I finally saw some Painteds basking, as the sun had come up and things were getting warm. There are four here.
Walking along the path, Andrea said, "LOOK"! A Painted Turtle was on the edge of the path, far from the water.
Laying? No way... not the season and look at those claws!! This was a male!
And check out that coral red belly! It made us look closely...Plymouth Redbelly? No, a Painted, but what a belly!
We took him towards the pond because we were afraid for him with all of the dirt bikes around. Andrea carried him like a baby.
We placed him at the water's edge and eventually, he lunged in!
From a favorite spot high above the pond, I saw some more turtles and stealthily snuck down closer (seriously... me! Stealthy!) for some photos... there were 6 turtles on a log, but I couldn't get them all in frame and focus. These are the top 5, all Painted Turtles!
The remaining one looked like this.
I couldn't see much on my camera's tiny screen, but it looked different. I (not as stealthily... #6 slid in) went up to show Andrea the pic. The red on the back made us wonder... Plymouth Redbelly? What did that species keep coming to mind today? The pond we were at is on the border of Bristol and Plymouth Counties, but were doubted they were here. I mean, we photograph these basking spots a couple of times a month! Nah...
I went back down to take some more Painted pics.
About 50 feet further along the trail, we took our favorite path down to the water, where we always see more turtle basking perches. I got sidetracked along the way when I flipped a Pickerel who, try as I did... for ages... I could not get a great shot of. Andrea photographed my struggle.
The so-so result...
So, when I snuck down to see the basking spots, I got a big chuckle... there was a massive Snapper up basking among the Painteds! I chuckled to myself... Andrea will love this!
Say... even on my tiny screen, I can see that is not a Snapper. We froze. Ermmm... after two false alarms, it appears we really DID have a Plymouth Redbelly!
This guy was massive compared to all of the Painteds, which were all average adult sizes.
Andrea was wise enough to take a "turtle vista" shot, so you can see how large the one is!
Of course, upon putting the pictures onto the computer when we got home, the questionable guy above also turned out to be a Redbellied Cooter! Lifers, sort of! (I had head started some over the Winter in the mid-90s...)
Andrea was so happy to have found these guys that she spent three solid hours popping Touch-Me-Nots!
I flipped a Redback and couldn't get him out of a little hole. He dropped his tail on me.
We got to another part that has been good to us and saw a few things... a huge freshwater clam!
The first Bullfrog of the day! (There were no tire tracks over here, so the animals in this spot weren't terrified.) Small, but he counts!
A flexible young Pickerel!
And the most put-upon Fowler's of the day!
He just gave up... threw in the towel.
The Sunfish were enjoying some Pop Corners with us.
A log which is usually good for a basking Painted had five!!
They all scurried in when a very loud Rosanne-sounding townie woman walked past yell-talking.
Heading back, tired, elated and with anger-hangovers, we saw the last Pickerel of the day.
And the bog was good, as it usually is, for ending our day with some Green Frogs.
From left to right- Noggin, Skinny Mini, and Lubbatard.
So talk about mixed feelings. We have made many reports since, both good and bad. It turns out that the state knew about this population, but it is a new one to them too. We have provided photos and coordinates for them.
As for the vandals and dirt bikers. I can only hope the for the worst possible outcome for them. Oh, PLEASE catch them and put me on ther jury!!!!
Snake season diminished a week earlier than last year. This is snake count week and we ended the weekend with a poor showing... just three. Time to readjust our thinking for the next few weeks. It's not how many snakes can we find per trip, but can we find snakes!
Those lily pads you see in the water are good red bellied turtle food. So in a way, it's not totally surprising you would find them there, if you were going to find northern red-bellied turtles.
ReplyDeleteAh ha! I did not know that!! Thanks for the info!
DeleteI only popped Touch-Me-Not pods for FIVE minutes, tops!!!!!
ReplyDelete