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...
i loves all the turtles ( and everything else) the birdie was a wonderful photo
ReplyDeletei'm glad you folks are getting some good weather