April, Go She Will 4-28 and 29, 2018

Forecast: Decent day Saturday, shitty Sunday. We decided to try to peep some Copperheads on Saturday. We asked some friends if the wanted to join us but everyone was otherwise engaged. Good thing too, really, because Andrea was sick, nursing the stomach bug I'd had the previous weekend. Still, she wanted to go out, just not on hilly terrain so we headed over to a spot in Norfolk County to try for Green Snakes, a species that has been harder to see in Massachusetts than Copperheads have been.

We got there and, sadly, there was a bunch of people visible from the road. That is strange for this place. When we passed them, they explained they were shooting a film up there. The funny thing is, not 15 feet from where they were set up, some Garter Snake love was going on in the woods. I shot my own film.

I doubt theirs is as good.

Those weren't the only horny snakes we saw, in fact our next sight was a trio of Garters trying to get funky.


There were plenty of other Garters poking around this area that my camera was having trouble capturing. Andrea got these two (from the trio above) getting ready to get it on.


This little perv was watching.


I'm not sure if I startled her but this very eligible female came out of nowhere and struck a pose. Beautiful olive head... she made up for the Greens that we never saw.


We headed in the same direction, but on different, parallel paths. Mine was closer to the edge of a bluff and Andrea's was easier. Remember, she wasn't feeling well. She saw a DeKay's Snake go shooting  from the path into the grass and stop at the base of a tree. It stayed there and waited patiently while I tried desperately to get an in-focus shot. I eventually did.


I went back to my path. I had no snakes on it but there was a large Red-tailed Hawk sitting on a branch that went right over the trail. I snapped pictures as I approached. I soon realized, it wasn't going to go anywhere... it was the boss bird. So I got a shot from right under it, stink-eye and all.


My path ended with a short climb up a steep, rocky incline. Right there, almost ready to slide off the cliff, a Garter was sitting. With not many options (and the hawk right up there), I picked it up and put it into my pocket. I got musked and that's always pretty bad here... the Garters have a predominately seafood diet and the musk is extra pungent. Andrea was resting when I got up there and I asked her to reach into my pocket. The contents made her smile and that always makes me happy.


Andrea continued to rest and bask for a while so, like she did last week while I took a break, I looked around the area. I saw some movement in the grass but no snake. Was there a Green? No... it was a shoestring Garter enjoying his first Spring. I put my hand in old dogshit while trying to photograph him. I grabbed him and gave him to Andrea while I went down to the water to wash up.


While that wee one was drinking spilled water in Andrea's camera bag, we saw another shoestring up in the rock she was sitting on.


After putting the little guy back, we walked around for just a little while longer and saw plenty more Garters, though we weren't able to photograph them all. They were warmed up and moving quickly. This guy was a flip... this is as found.


I had mentioned that I was surprised we hadn't seen any Redbacks when all of a sudden, we flipped this one inch of lead-backed Plethodon fury.


The last Garter was seen in a spot near the road. I shall call him noggin.


Andrea hadn't really eaten for 36 hours before that morning's breakfast so she was getting hungry and I'm always hungry, so we stopped at the world's worst Papa Ginos for some pizza. (Good pizza, abominable service.) Then, we went over to a newish spot (to us) to see if we could see any Racers or turtles. Having struck out on Greens (a common occurrence) we hoped for some Racers or a first-of-year frog or two. Well, we did see plenty of Painted Turtles, though they were all in the distance.



^ Spider-Turtles.


I was also able to add 4 more bird species to my year's bird count, including a favorite, the Killdeer (#63).


So, no snakes or anurans (though we heard plenty of American Toads calling and an occasional Pickerel Frog) but considering Andrea was ill, we did pretty darn good.

The next day, Sunday, was going to be cloudy, rainy and cool. We had nothing planned except staying home. It wasn't pouring out at noon and I had some errands to do. I asked Andrea if she wanted to join me. She said no until I said I was planning on going to Ringneck Hill in Norfolk County to see if any knuckleheads could be flipped. She got dressed and off we went.

Almost immediately, I started prexxing, which is to say, my blood sugar was low and I got all wobbly and shaky. We still managed some nifty Redbacks.



In a reversal of the day before, I found myself needing to sit my ass down for a while. I drained my water and cursed myself for not bringing a granola bar. Andrea looked lovely, as she always does, in a beautiful setting.


I did my part on Ringneck Hill, though I was still quite fuzzy. I gave up after a while and then heard Andrea yell "Ringer"! She had procured our First-of-Year Ringneck Snake!

Ever notice some Ringers have a John Waters mustache?


When the sun was out, it was pleasant, but it just wouldn't stay out for long. But this hour or so was a bonus and we got our main target. While at that beautiful stream, I wanted to try to see a Two-lined Salamander, too. They're usually pretty easy to find here but the water level is super high and I had no dip net with me. Still, it was very pretty.


I did, eventually, manage to flip a Two-line but it was far too smart for me and this is the best I could do.

Outwitted by a 2" amphibian once again.

Before heading back, we sat there enjoying nature's perfection.


That is called making the most of a shitty weekend.

Is It Spring Yet? 4-22-2018 (and4-24)

A second consecutive day with sun... on a weekend! Be still my heart. Unfortunately, I woke up with a stomach bug. Our plans of heading to Bristol County evaporated like a drop of water on a hot sidewalk. Eventually, I got myself into gear enough to join Andrea on a walk at a local Norfolk County place. Even feeling ill, staying home on a sunny April day would be just stupid.

It was after noon by the time we got there but things started right off. I was admiring the Fairy House that survived the winter (it still had a painted rock that I'd added last year... my daughter is a rock-artist) when Andrea saw a Garter sunning on the other side of the path.

Off to a good start.

While crossing a boardwalk, a man and his kid were coming back the other way. The kid excitedly told us there were snakes in there. I said, "Great! That's what we're here to take pictures of!" The dad explained... a small brown snake had crossed the path. Sounded like a DeKay's from his description. We headed up the path and sure enough, not too far in, a gorgeous DeKay's Snake darted across the path and into the leaves. I had to grab a handful of leaves and settle him down. Our First-of-Year DeKay is quite a looker!

We'd never seen this species on this leg of the hike so its nice to know that a few are in the area.

We got up to the place formerly known as Racer Alley (still haven't seen one since the path-widening/ train hill clearing) and checked the area closely. A sound attracted my attention. A Garter was poking around through the brush, trying to find lunch and avoid my camera. I proved to be too wily for him.


Next up was this interesting Redback, kind of a golden-Lead.


This Garter was hard to miss, though I did until Andrea pointed him out. Right across the path.


We didn't see anything for a spell after that. I had to take frequent breaks while Andrea scoured the area. Eventually, we got to a log where we flipped two of the fattest Redbacks I've ever seen. I picked one up and she almost popped her eggs into my face.

Lead-Orcas.

Andrea got this nice shot of mold. This is what it felt like in my stomach, complete with pillbug.


Heading back, a small shoestring of a Garter shot across the path and into the leaves. I made two failed attempts to corral it for a shot but it threw me a bone and stopped to strike a lovely snake-pose.


Me, trying to get that photo. If you look close enough, you can see the little squiggle in the shot.


That was our day. I didn't have much in me but I'm glad we got out. I started feeling better after a few days. Guess who is in bed with it now (5 days later)?

But for a brief moment during the week, we both were relatively healthy. In fact, Tuesday we were fine and the weather was, too. We made quick plans to meet after work and head over to our local cemetery to see if the snappers were up yet. (This is the place with the overly-comfortable and always hungry Snappers). It had cooled off significantly by the time we got there and the gates would close in a half hour so we didn't have much time to waste. We spotted a Painter noggin in the water right away.


Over by a rock in the corner of the pond, we saw a big Snapper shell above the water... bingo! I went over to snap pictures.


I lay on the rock, camera focused, waiting for her head to pop up. I kept commenting on how huge she was. Finally, a head emerged.


Andrea and I switched spots and I stood on land behind the rock as she went to watch the turtle. "You know, I think your 'she' is a 'he'... there's another shell below this one. Sure enough, this massive brute was a male trying to get in some Springtime lovin'. This blurry shot reveals two tails. They're not too close together, either... he wasn't as successful as he was hoping to be.


As I stood back on land, Andrea exclaimed that he'd just pulled his head in and jetted away. All of a sudden, the bottom turtle, a female half the other one's size came running up on to the shore and running right towards me!

One look at the big mammal with a camera in front of her made her turn back and she slid back into the pond. Damn, stupid males everywhere!

We think the male was thrown off by the female who really wanted a breath of air. We're not positive, but she sure made a break for it when she got the chance.

At any rate, that was two days in our life.

I am Curious (Plastron). 4-21-2018

The forecast was calling for weekend sun. Weekend sun... what a concept. We had a couple of places in mind that we wanted to visit and we chose a Refuge deep into Middlesex County for our Saturday romp. The temps weren't going to be very high but the sun would be out. That meant turtles.

We got there in the late morning. We took our time getting ready and on to the road figuring the sun would be taking its time, too. We expected to encounter some flooded paths and we got that right away. And fallen trees.


The ponds were swollen, of course (right over the path in spots), but we could see happy pond-dwellers through the trees and twigs.


After sloshing through mud and jumping over trees and puddles (and running water), we finally reached higher ground. At one point I said, "I want to see a big, fat adult Spotted Sal!" because, well... that's just what I like to say. I flipped a log and got my wish.

It wasn't huge but it was certainly Orca-like.

Still obscured by trees, the Painted stacks were getting more extravagant.


Our main target at this place is the rare Blanding's Turtle. This spot is a rare stronghold for them and we've been keeping an eye on this population long enough that we've learned some of their habits and needs. We headed to an area that we've seen them at before (an eating spot) and sure enough, a big beauty was up on shore next to the water.



From the rare to the common, our next find was a small Redback Salamander. Being common doesn't make them any less desirable to me.


We walked along an opening that went by the water and from across the way, we saw another Blanding's on shore.

Even though I was roughly 30 feet away, he took exception to me taking his photo and strolled back into the drink.

Hell of a cute face, though.

We got back onto the main paths and we could see the real advantage to having the sun out... distant Painted Turtle stacks.



We went down a side trail to take advantage of a bird blind, in hopes of getting  a closer shot at some of the turtle stacks. As I took the stairs up into it, a bird shot out of the window. It seems there is an active nest in the blind.

It was an Eastern Phoebe who had exited so quickly and she never went too far away. She kept to the trees right in front of us, waiting for us to leave. I got her in my camera and snapped... but she'd just taken off. She probably gave me a better shot than I would have gotten otherwise.

She is #58 on the year.

Sure enough, you could see the biggest of the Painted stacks better from this angle. There's roughly 25 here.


Here are a few tenacious Painters who didn't drop into the drink when we walked past. Hey, they ain't givin' up a good spot!



But where were the snakes? Finally, we saw a fresh-to-the-surface Water Snake catching some rays.


We walked by this Garter not long after that.


We got over to a spot that we can sometimes see Blanding's up basking but access wasn't really there due to the high water levels. While I had my binoculars out, Andrea looked down and noticed that we might have been near a Garter Snake den!





Heaven must look a little like this.

I was adamant about getting to the other area that overlooks a pond so I did my Indiana Jones impression to get over there.

Andrea yelled to me, "If you fall, don't let the camera get wet." That's love.

I only saw one turtle up basking out there, a small Painter.


Our forward momentum was cut off along the river. Swelling ponds will flood the path enough to get you muddy and get a soaker but the river side was looking pretty impassable. We'd thought about going back to the Blanding's pool on the way out anyway, so circumstances made our minds up for us. We doubled back, enjoying the Painter stacks in the big ponds, seeing a few more Garters emerging along the path and listening to birds. Eventually, we got back to the spot and there were 3 Blanding's up. One slipped into the drink unphotographed. I think this one might be the same guy from a few hours earlier. He was only a few feet from the same place.


The third wasn't as easy to see.


Andrea approached from a different angle. You can see how these two were situated.


Not wanting to wrestle with the mud, flood and fallen trees on the way back to the car, we went a different way and walked along some train tracks. This got us a couple of additional sightings. A Redback was first.


Then, a small Garter who didn't let our presence disturb his hunting.

Garter Serious©.

So, six species made us feel nice. First-of-Year Blanding's, even. We didn't get home until after dark (a family visit) and when we did, we went up the street to our friend's house to see if any of his Dekay's population had emerged yet. They might have during the daytime sun but there was no sign of them now. His Redbacks were present, though, including this beauty.

I shall call him Slughead.

With a second day of *gasp* sunshine in the forecast, would we get out two days in a row?? We left it in the lap of the gods...