Finishing Up February. 2-24-2018

Of course I felt bad about seeing animals on Wednesday without Andrea. So when Friday night called for rain, I took her out for expensive pizza and we hit a place in Bristol County to look for Wood Frogs (literally) and possible salamanders. When we got there, it was way colder than expected... hovering around 40°. We heard one or two peepers but it was too cold for any knuckleheads to be out. We had to content ourselves with loads of Fairy Shrimp.


We woke up the next morning a bit late. We both had gigs Saturday night (Trainwreck was a last-minute replacement for the opening act at the Jerks gig) but when we saw sun outside the window, we knew we had to take a walk in Norfolk County. We chose a long, straight, flat path where we might see some early turtles.

Well as it turns out, Andrea did see a small basking turtle plop into the water as we approached the trail. As we stood there looking around at the water, we noticed two small Garter Snakes in the sun. One slipped into a hole quickly but the other stayed around for a photo.

Andrea's First of Year.

It was going to be so easy today!!!

Except the sun almost immediately tucked itself behind clouds and pretty much remained there. We walked about 2 miles in and at our furthest point, we finally flipped Andrea's first Redback of the year.

Nice Fu Manchus, brother.

On the way back, some hikers said they'd seen a turtle and by their description, it sounded like it was where we'd seen the plop. Nobody was home when we went back by. Better luck next time.

It was around 60° so despite the lack of sun (holy shit, I'm having amazing deja vu right now), we chose to take a peek around the dens in Suffolk County. Our chances of Ambystoma were better there, too. Andrea struck first with a burgundy backed Redback.


The dens had no Garter garland strew about but we did manage to get Andrea's FOY Blue-spotted, definitely the same specimen I had seen last Wednesday.

She got a much better photo than I did.

That was it but we got in over 5 miles of hiking and saw some critters. I only "owe" Andrea a Water Snake now and I'm no longer in the dog house. It felt damn good to do an actual nature walk.
Our gig was fun that night, if not particularly musical.

I'll Follow the Sun. (February Doldrums)

Boy, does February ever drag on. For being the shortest month, it sure feels like the longest. So when the temps get all the way up in the 40s, we get giddy and get outside.

On Saturday, February 10th, we took a walk around a local pond to look at birds. It was a balmy 44°. We didn't get any new species on the year but saw plenty of avian activity. We decided to go over to the local stream to look for some Two-lined Salamanders. I must say, it felt good to get wet and dirty in the pursuit of salamanders.


We wound up with a cupful of larval Two-lines. Not a bad 10 minutes of dipping.


After a couple of pleasant days during the week, we decided to get crazy and drive to Worcester County to look for Dusky Salamanders on Saturday, February 17th. I decided not to go alone on Friday because I didn't want to see things without Andrea. Well, the weekend was far colder than the weekdays (familiar story) and it was pretty darn chilly at the stream.


But water was running, so we flipped many a stone looking for Two-lines and Dooks.


In the end, we found none. Though both species can be found in icy water, we didn't get lucky. A photo of a frozen waterfall would have to suffice.


Being New England, the chill wasn't going to last long. In fact, by mid-week, it was supposed to be warm. Tuesday the 20th hit up around 70° and Wednesday was going to be even nicer. I made my apologies to Andrea and declared my intention of talking a walk by the local dens after work on Wednesday to see if anyone was enjoying some winter sun.

February 21st, 2018... I got to my spot at about 4 PM, after work. Wearing no coat, I went to check out the known hibernaculum sights. Much to my delight (though not really to my surprise), a lovely Nerodia gal was about 3 feet from the entrance to the underground, coiled up into a warm pile of snake.

First snake of the year... Northern Water Snake.

The next couple of den areas were snake-free. The shadows were getting longer so I suspect that any Garters that might have been out had returned to their underground resting spots. Speaking of spots, a log flip revealed this beautiful Blue-spotted Salamander.


The Rock Wall Den (®) had one Garter catching the last rays of sun on this warm day. (It was about 74°... just gorgeous.)

He looks very pleased with himself, doesn't he?

I headed back, picking ticks off of my pants as I went. I had about a dozen on me, all told. I flipped some logs and rocks, hoping for a Redback or Spotted Salamander, but came up empty. I took the path up the hill to Robles' Den (®) site and "looked for Wood Frogs (®)". After zipping up, I noticed something on top of the mound... a small (12" or so) Garter was up there. He had obviously followed the shifting sun to grab all of the rays he could before retreating. The lighting was tough but I finally got a voucher shot.

I swear as I walked off, I heard him singing "Tomorrow may snow so, I'll follow the sun..."

By now my time had come, and so my love I must go. But I stopped by Old Faithful (®) and finally flipped a wee Redback Salamander, the first of 2018.


Not a bad hour's work. Four species. I know other people in the state had seen some turtles this day, too. I hope all of these knuckleheads made it back underground by nightfall, as it got pretty cold. (The Water Snake had started heading home when I walked by on the way back.) And in fact, the small Garter was right... it did snow yesterday. Winter hasn't abandoned us yet but this small respite was much needed.

Live Nude Turtles! 2-3-2017

Though we never actually needed to drive any turtles from the Cape to the rehab hospital in Quincy this year, we were still invited to take a tour of the facility with other drivers. For the last two seasons, we would drive up, drop off turtles, use the bathroom and leave. Though we got to take a look around in 2015, we eagerly accepted the offer to take a guided tour now that the season has slowed down. (There are only 38 turtles left on the premises.)

Though we knew much of what was done there, we got it in detail and, as always, learned a lot. Our tour guide was a very smart and capable turtle care specialist. We had seen these temperature controlled bins in use before. They're used for swimming and taking a quick first look at incoming patients.


This is where the staff takes the most needy patients first, for examination and medicine, should it be deemed necessary.


The main room holds large tanks, occupied by Loggerheads and Kemp's Ridleys.

(I got scolded by our tour guide for peeking in at a hungry Loggerhead... I was supposed to wait. But he was flippering at me!)

The people on the tour were told of particular turtles that they had found or brought in, what their status was. Andrea's turtle (#245 from our November 26th, 2017 post) is now at the Sea Turtle Recovery in New Jersey. "My" turtle, #244, was dead. Only "my" turtle had died, everybody else had their beautiful success stories. (I was pretty sure #244 was dead on the beach... I was shocked when they said it had lived long enough to be transferred to the hospital in the first place.) It was to prove a point that despite their hard work, they still lose some.

Or maybe she was pissed that I peeked at the Loggerhead. But loooook!


Soon, we all got to go look into the tubs while the staff of volunteers fed the turtles and cleaned the tanks.




Next, we went back into the inner sanctum, a spot we'd never seen, where X-rays and further examination is done. Here are some X-rays, the first of a Loggerhead and the second of a Kemp's with pneumonia. (They told us the Loggerheads often poop during X-rays... the more you know!)



Our last stop was a peek into a borrowed pool where more turtles were being kept, including the two Green Turtles in house. The Greens were not only beautiful but hilarious... they knew humans standing there meant food and they gave us all kinds of attention. #194 is a Green and #089 was the most eager Kemp's of the dozen or so in this pool.


Green scuffle!


The Greens never went far, they always came right back to where we stood, often colliding with other turtles.


Cute little Kemp's #089...


A Kemp's/ Green tag team... hey! That's #194 again!


The tour was over but we were allowed to look at the main tanks some more. Obviously, I took every possible moment to do just that. Admittedly, my photos are all pretty crappy but after having seen so many dead turtles during the stranding season, just seeing them  alive was a huge deal. By now, after lunch, most of them were resting near the bottom of their tanks.



The last thing I got to see was this little Kemp's waving to me from a far tank...

That was a very rewarding morning. Tears? You bet.

The next day, Sunday the 4th, we'd planned to do some birding, but the rain started and we cut our hike very short. I added two species and got this shot of a Red-tailed Hawk munching on some lunch, then broke my camera.


Oh well, you can't win 'em all!