Ba De Ya, Turtles in September. Sept. 15 and 16, 2018

The weather was going to be decent (for a change) but overcast, so we felt good about going to Cape Cod to meet our friend Tim and take in a program about Diamondback Terrapins, as well as celebrate the 60th (!) year of the sanctuary. We were honored to have been invited to the shindig. Our plan was to get out early, maybe hit Plymouth County on the way out, get there and look for Boxies, then enjoy the Terrapin talk. Oh well, between a late start and shitty traffic, we got there in time for the talk.

After the presentation, we met some of the turtles that would be released soon. This adult had had some medical treatment and was now ready to go. (Tim and our friend Maureen would be releasing her within the hour.)

These hatchlings were, I believe, from a wild/ unmonitored nest that everyone was surprised by. They would be released the next day.

Egg-toofies!

We were having trouble locating Tim, so we looked around a bit, seeing some nice Bullfrogs and a couple of Painted Turtles. I also added a couple of birds to the year.

That Painter on the left will be dressing as Freddy Krueger for Halloween.

We finally hooked up with Tim, right there in his Box Turtle field. We'd looked around a bit but it was hotter and sunnier than expected and we saw nothing. Old Warrior, our true chelonian friend, still hadn't been seen. But hanging with Tim is always a pleasure and just as we were heading to the celebration together, there was a call for a "turtle person"... another undocumented "wild" nest had been spotted. Tim, Andrea, Maureen and I all went along with the person who was going to document the nest. 5 heads are better than one!

The nest had been spotted by its exit hole. Andrea did the honors of carefully digging out the chamber to see if any eggs or hatchlings were still present. Just egg shells... a successful nest!

There were fragments of 17 eggs in the empty nest. That, my friend, was a big batch o' terrapins!

We enjoyed the rest of the party, spending time with Tim and eating some fine grub. We decided to hit Myles Standish State Forest on the way home to cruise in the dark but nothing was up on one pass, so we headed home.

We woke up Sunday morning and decided we wanted to see some snakes. We decided on a Norfolk County spot where there are plenty of snakes but also turtles, frogs and salamanders in case the slithery set wasn't cooperating. We got there before 10 AM and our first sighting was an all-head Pickerel Frog.

Ridiculously cute.

In keeping with the small animal with massive noggin theme, I present you with a baby Redback!

That's the metric side of the tape, Franklin... this is a teeny-tiny salamander.

Walking over by the woodpile, we were hoping to see some snakes warming up. One Garter was, but I was too slow.

Mercifully, she came out the other side. 

She periscoped and looked to be hunting (waving her head and stuff...). I wonder if she caught our mammalian scent and saw the movement of the Yellow-jacket right there. It was a pleasure to watch her do her thing.

This little Painted Turtle gave absolutely no fucks that we were standing there photographing him. He had a good spot and wasn't leaving it.

This Great Blue Heron was the master of all he surveyed.

There was still a little bit of water in the popular vernal pool. This little Pickerel was down there, hiding in the leaves.

So was this Green Frog. I love the look on his face... looks like he just walked in on something that he wishes he could forget!

Finally, out by the waterfall, we saw a distant Painted Turtle stack. A twelve-pack.

Then we had this day's heartbreak. Andrea saw this Water Snake in a patch of sunlight. We weren't sure if it was alive until it moved its head. It was, but it wasn't looking good.

I gently picked it up (and he bit me really good... a good sign) but I noticed that the second half of its body was hanging limply. I took it about 10 feet away to a secluded sunny spot so it could die in peace. It didn't have long. I was surprised to see that it moved pretty well, crawling quickly into position. But dragging its second half.

They are building a new bridge at the waterfall and while its still being worked on, there is a footbridge going over the large puddle there. We're guessing that the snake was hiding under the footbridge when someone walked across it, pushing the uneven bottom rail into the ground... while the snake's back half was laying there.

Sad, but an accident. But let me tell you, this snake is more badass than you, I or anyone will ever be. It had obviously been in this condition for a while and was still feisty and knew it had to get some Vitamin D from the sun for its wound. Doomed, yes... but still a complete badass.

A bit bummed, we moved on. This new Green Frog was hanging out nearby.

We checked out a known turtle nesting area and saw nothing until this fat Wood Frog hopped into view.

If it was March or April, I'd have thought this frog was full of eggs. In September, I can only assume its full of lunch.

Our Sunfish friends came up to us, expecting food, but we had none. 

We did send a family over a bit later with some crackers.

This large Bullfrog was our 8th species (if we count the Nerodia... I was on the fence).

We had a little dry spell for a while, which we always do during that particular part of the hike, then we broke it up with a pretty Pickerel. 

Pickerels have been plentiful this year. Its good to see one species that has made a very good comeback since the drought two years ago.

This was fun to watch. Three Painters on a log in the pond, with one more approaching from the rear-left.

Needless to say, he upset the apple-cart. He slid off first, then they all did.

I will stop taking this exact same photograph when it stops being so beautiful. 

An extraordinary thing happened when we went back past the waterfall. That dying Nerodia had crawled back, 10 feet over rocks and water to get back to his preferred sunny spot!! I helped him the rest of the way and apologized for my lame attempt at helping him out two hours prior. Nature knows what it wants. I was dumb to try and interfere. 

Back toward the front of the park, we were delighted to see a massive, very healthy and very full Water Snake catching some rays. This gal is over a yard of Nerodia.

Baroop?

One more little Pickerel.

And one last peek under some tarp revealed a snoozing Garter.

Not a bad Sunday, but marred by the sad sight of an injured and dying animal. Before anyone takes me to task about not putting it out of its misery, that is not for me to do. I do not play god in nature. I couldn't take a life, even if I thought it would help. So just shut up.

Since I'm ending on a somber note, Box Turtle Tim emailed us this morning informing us that our Box Turtle friend, Old Warrior... good ol' #64, had passed away. His shell was found and identified. We will all miss him terribly. He was always present and beautiful and was probably older than any of us. My heart especially goes out to Tim who had been working with him for many years. He was a magnificent animal and we'll all miss him.

Rest in peace, my friend.