Well, with the sun behind clouds, it was about 44°, not exactly good weather for reptiles and amphibians. We went to a nearby spot just to flip a few logs and look for salamanders. We got lucky pretty quickly with a super-fat Redback, full of eggs.
It's not really egg time on a normal year so this further illustrates how fucked up the season is already.
Being who we are, we did meander off of the path to look at known snake den spots and it paid off this time. Right next to the opening of a den in the Vally of Nerodia, Andrea got to see her first Northern Water Snake of the year.
Being 44°, I suggested she "boop" it to remind it to get back underground. (It had probably come out earlier when the sun was still shining.) She did and got no response. So, she pet its back. It was awake now and it struck at her pretty quickly, pink mouth all a'flyin'! Pretty damn funny.
The only other herp we encountered was another lovely Redback.
We saw a White-tailed Deer grazing as we drove out.
The next weekend was Patriot's Day, traditionally a great Spring weekend for us weather-wise, plus we get an extra day to hike. Well, not in good ol' 2018. It was supposed to be cold and rainy for much of the weekend. The only exception was a short window on Saturday morning when it was going to be cool, but sunny. One hitch... we were both sick.
Figuring fresh air was as important to our recovery as anything else, we picked a nearby, easy walk where things might be out trying to get some rays. We lumbered in on the trail and our first sight was our main target, one we'd missed here the month before by mere seconds... a Spotted Turtle.
That shot won't win me any awards but at least we got our first Spotted on the year.
Better still, right where we stood to photograph the turtle was a Garter Snake den and its denizens were popping up all over to warm up in the sun.
A meeting of the mindless.
Nothing takes your mind off of how miserable you feel like watching snakes being snakes, poking around and sometimes swaying their heads... I think some of them were feeling randy.
Another pleasant surprise was our first Green Frog on the year. He was big and very dark, probably having just come up to get some sun and air.
We continued on enjoying the slow walk and fresh smells and sounds. Luckily, this hike has ample sitting spots for the ill, old and weary. We got to a cross-trail and went up one side, thinking we knew where another Garter den might be. We never found it but did see one wee Garter who seemed glad to warm up in Andrea's hands.
The other branch of the cross-trail had a lot more action. Garters were numerous on that side.
Hey, wait... that's a Water Snake, not a Garter!
A beautiful one, too, and the first we'd ever seen along this particular trail.
Lousy shot (I really need to get another decent camera) but this illustrates very well the perfection of natural beauty. Just a perfect swish of movement and art.
We sat down again on some rocks, completely surrounded by nature. I said, "we could herp while just sitting here, I'll bet." After a short sit-down, we got up to go just a bit further and saw that next to our seat, on the side we weren't facing, this beauty was flattening out, grabbing some Vitamin D!
Next up was a perfect cow-flop coil. Again, nature's perfection.
A tree had fallen over the path. It was easy enough to step over but I started to go around it first. This guy was already there, though...
So, over the tree we went. First come, first served.
At the turn-back point, I flipped a log and saw this wee Redback poking out of a broken off chunk.
Heading back, we saw plenty more Garters. They were really keeping us happy. I actually got a decent shot on this one.
As we passed the sitting rock, we saw a few more Garters poking around there. It looks as though there are some holes around the rocks that they were coming and going from. We'll have to keep our eyes out there in the future.
A couple more Garters that we'd missed on the way in...
^ Look at that white stripe!
We got back to the beginning, to what we now call Spotted Turtle Den, and saw no Garter noggins. The sun had started to retreat so we weren't surprised. But as we stood there, heads started to appear. This shot has three that had just popped out.
On that sirtalis trifecta, I will close this missive.
We're still trying to get over our illsnessess and it's no easy feat with the shitty weather. I drove to work this morning, April 19th, in sleet and snow. We have low hopes for the weekend but plan on getting out as long as there is some sun. I mean, as badly as we want to get out, those that hibernate underground are probably super-anxious to get out and eat, screw and bask.
Sounds like a pretty good life. Let's hope they get to do it soon.
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