Put a Little Plastron in Your Heart. July 1 and 2, 2018

With the heatwave in full bloom, we didn't get out Sunday morning. Having played the night before, we opted to sleep in and take a quick walk that night at dusk through a nearby Norfolk County spot. Our typical Friday night walk. It was still pretty hot when we hit the boardwalk but the breeze was nice and birds were singing.


Just being out is always a treat. Seeing animals makes it that much better. We didn't see our first amphibian until we got to the sandy bike-track. Around and under the plywood ramps were three daredevil American Toads.




The part of the trail formerly known as Racer Alley was pleasant with the sun setting and a breeze coming off the river. Andrea saw this orange wooly-bully, a Spilosoma virginica. (Thanks, Teá!)


We finally saw a snake, even though we really didn't expect to. Under a tire tucked away beneath a shady bush, we flipped this thin and beautiful Garter.


That was it for herps but there were plenty of other things to enjoy. Like this bunny...


This sunset, that matched Andrea's hair.


I sat and watched swallows swooping the water for a pre-bedtime snack for quite a while.


Before going home, we stopped by a friend's house to check his DeKay's population for the first time this year. Everything is as it should be, except my photography.




We'd planned out our Monday with a trip to Bristol County to check out a few turtle places but received an email on Sunday that some sea turtles were being released and we were invited to attend. 8:30 AM on Cape Cod. Needless to say, plans changed, alarm clocks were set and we hit the highway by 6:30 AM Monday morning. We should have left a bit earlier but we made it JUST on time, just as the first of five Loggerheads were headed home after a winter of rehab.


The second release wasted no time getting back home.

As you can see, the media members thought they were entitled to get in the way.

So much so, in fact, that #3 was confused on what direction to go. The Paparazzi were pushed back.

He found his way.


I was well out into the water so I wasn't in any person's or turtle's way. My new camera made it easy to shoot them from a distance.



The last Loggerhead to go home on this day was lowered to the sand...




That's what it's all about, kids. Though these weren't any of our personal rescues (no Loggerheads for us this year), we take extreme pleasure in seeing the fruits of our and, especially, the amazing crews at the aquarium and sanctuary's labor. Nuthin' left but the tracks.


While we were there, we caught up with some of our friends at the sanctuary and decided to go over there (since we were practically there already) and take a walk to look for nesting Terrapins. We were also told that our friend Tim, keeper of the Box Turtles there, had not yet encountered his (and our) favorite individual of the population, Old Warrior. We headed up Route 6 to give it a shot.

Hitting the trails, we noticed dozens of small squirrels in a Mulberry Tree, munching on berries and giving no shits about what they looked like.


A small man-made pool had the usual gorgeous Bullfrogs and a bonus Painted Turtle.




I'd only ever seen large Crows here before but this massive Raven (#78 on the year) flew in. I thought it was a vulture at first.


We walked for a little over an hour, checking the sunny, sandy spots that we knew Terrapins preferred for nesting, but saw none. We could see Terrapin trails...

And plenty of protected nests.

But no Terrapins.

Back at the sanctuary, our friend Maureen showed me a thirsty hatchling they had found. Andrea was indisposed and missed it as the wee one was on its way to educate some young campers before being released.


We spent about an hour before leaving taking a look for Old Warrior. Of course, on a 90° day, Box Turtles are scarce and we saw no signs of anyone. Funny enough, last July with the same temps, we walked through Tim's woods and saw just one Box Turtle... Old Warrior. Not as lucky this time. We join Tim in hoping he's all right.

We hit the road to go home in the early afternoon. Since we'd be skirting Bristol County, we decided to hit a couple of the places that were in our original Monday plans on the way. Andrea dialed it into her GPS and Gladys guided us to our destination. On the way there, I pulled over to "look for Wood Frogs" at a spot we'd pulled over at before. I found a nice secluded bush and started looking for Wood Frogs. I looked to my left and saw this.

I wasn't as alone as I thought.

Andrea came over to see her and the little Painter gal perked right up, walked between Andrea's feet and went about her business.


We got to our destination, a good Musk Turtle spot and were disappointed to see a family fishing there. So, we checked out the water on the other side of the road. Andrea noticed some noggins way out and my zoom lens showed us they were Red-belly noggins.


We decided to get in and stroll through the reeds in the shallow, warm water. That is when we scored our target.. an adorable Musk wearing baggy jammies.

Check out the gauntlets and spiked codpiece. Ready to battle. But too cute. All hail the Stinkpot!


We noticed the family packing up and leaving (and heard it, what with the screeching melt-down and all) and went back over there to look around. I flipped a rock just at the water's edge and found a pretty, young Nerodia. I grabbed it just as I started sinking into the sandy bottom. I was up to my crotch in water before I righted myself for a snake photo.

I opted to hold it for the photo because that cement was hot enough to fry an egg on. Yikes. Burned my hands.

So, that is how our vacation was going through Monday. Not too shabby, if you ask me. Plans change, and they will continue to, but we make the best with what we've got and if you ask me, this was a pretty fulfilling day.