A November Gift 11-2-2013

So, it was supposed to be 65° and partly sunny... on November 2nd! Surely I could crawl my carcass out of my death bed and herp for a couple of hours! Besides, there could even be a snake! A November snake! So, I got heavily medicated and we headed over to Borderland to see what was up. We were going to meet our pal Matt and his folks, Mike and Sue.

We got there 11:30ish and started right in with a plethora of Plethodons!

Not a bad start.

This is a picture of a sick man desperately trying to find some November Turtles.

Was it a fever dream? Is there two turtles here?

Hell to the YES! Two Painted Turtles basking in the November sun!


November reptiles... that'll make one feel better!

Andrea found this robust Leadback next.


At the waterfall, it looked as though Water Snakes would not be making an appearance. These frogs were still up, however, and that made me happy. I thought they were all Greens but that first guy has me confused... there's a leaf covering the most important  part and its coloring suggests Bull, but with the pointy nose, I guess I'll stick with Green. The other two definitely are Greens.


At least a five-pack of Painteds, jockeying for position in the sun...

Here's a look from the other side... who knows how many turtles are basking here?!


Two more, basking above the painted water...


We chose this place for a couple of reasons... one: we love it and two: Matt wanted to see a Four-Toed Salamander. It would be a lifer for him. We went up to the area where we have seen them here before. Some of our carefully placed cover had been moved, which didn't thrill me, but we soldiered on. Andrea found this Redback who very much lives up to its common name.


A had a Peeper in my sights and got this picture...

but coughed him away before I could get a better one! Blargh!

I had a four pack of Redbacks on a good flip...



Andrea had a one-pack... a lovely one!


We were coming up snakeless and 4-Toed-less, but it was dawning on me that we were racking up a pretty good species count! I finally contributed a good find with this large, chubby Spotted Salamander!

Very photogenic was he!



Andrea immediately trumped me with our target... Matt's first Four Toed Salamander! It was completely bonkers and tough to get a good shot of, but with patience and a lot of work, we got a few.




It was Sue, however, that came up with the find of the day... an extremely beautiful and photogenic Gray Tree Frog! Forgive me if I put up a lot of pics!


How is it we always miss them?


We wanted some shots where you can see the bright yellow thighs, but were having trouble. Until Matt put it on his face! There's that yellow!


What a beauty!

So, we were going to wind up snakeless, but we were at what... 7 species now? Then I saw what I thought was a Pickerel! Eight!

In the field, with the naked eye and camera screen, I was having some difficulty positively IDing it as a Pickerel... we had seen a Leopard here this year, one that was colored a bit like this one. Matt came to the rescue and took one for the team... he slogged through the muck and water and caught him. Yep- up close it sure was a Pickerel... bright yellow crotch and all!



Matt then flipped a good sized Green, who he showed us butt-first!

FREEZE, or I'll pump ya fulla Frog Butt!

This is how the rest of the frog looked...


On the way out, Matt took us to where he had encountered some Two-Lined Salamanders before we got there. Yessiree! We saw a few ourselves!


So, that was great! Herping with some great folks and finding nine species on November 2nd! Whooda thunk?!

I was definitely feeling it on the way home, but we still thought we should hit our friend's backyard before going home... to see if we could find a Dekay's Snake... Their wall is full of 'em! Sadly, the stones were cool to the touch. We had waited too long. But we did find a few more Redbacks!




So I call it a good day. Though we saw no snakes, we saw nine species! I didn't keel over! We helped Matt find a lifer! We met the most personable Gray Tree Frog of all time! And best of all, we had a good time with some cool people! That's what it is all about.

Now, I'm goin' back to bed. Andrea and the Gray Tree Frog will see you out...