We strolled through the woods on the way to the bogs as before although this time, we had no animal sightings. It wasn't until just before the bogs, an hour in, that we saw our first Painted Turtle.
The bogs themselves had plenty of Bullfrogs and Painted Turtles but unlike our first time here, we were having a lot of trouble photographing them before they disappeared. Here are a few successful shots.
Sadly, this place too had been cut back since our last visit just a few weeks ago. The shrubs and bushes all along the side of the bogs and ponds had been hacked as if by a giant weed-whacker. I pictured that beheading machine from Caligula going by and decimating the foliage. The open sight-lines made most of the turtles and frogs dive in as we neared the water and looking for snakes was pointless. Still, we had a lunch bet going on "first Nerodia gets a free lunch". Turtles were few and far between and ones that stayed put were rare. These two stayed up for us, luckily.
Gotta photo-shop that back guy... he's standing on two legs!
It's Pickerel season and they didn't let us down. Even the shorn grass was good enough for my spotted friends.
We went in the opposite direction from our last visit in hopes of seeing places we hadn't seen before. Standing between two ponds, we got our only Snapper glimpse of the day.
A walk through a previously unexplored wooded area turned up nothing so we went back out and decided to head towards the far end of the second pond. It looked like the foliage pruning was at a minimum down that way. This Painter pointed us in the right direction.
Sure enough, down where there was more pond-side shrubbery (and less hikers), the turtles were up in force.
There was a sitting area in the shade (and the sun had become quite hot) and all of these next photos were taken from a picnic table bench.
Needless to say, this was the best part of the day.
Last shot before heading back.
On the way back, Andrea took the pond side, while I took the bog side.
She called up to me (I tend to get way ahead of her sometimes... long legs) and she said she thought she had a snake. She'd snapped a picture unsure if it was a stick but when it slid into the water, she knew what it was. I got to her and asked what kind. She found the picture... zoomed in... found the snake in the frame and said "Lunch."
We'd only seen Racers here the last time... it was good to see a Water Snake, even if it cost me lunch.
Almost to the parking lot, we got to a "high road/ low road" spot and Andrea took the upper path. She quietly said to me through the brush (that miraculously still stood), "I have a deer grazing up ahead..."
She slowly approached it and even when it saw her, it was cool. A Cooper's Hawk (still a need it) flew off unphotographed. I went around to the front of the path and saw the deer deciding there were too many humans around. It slowly walked off.
Thus ended the hike. No hatchlings. We went for lunch (my treat, of course) and headed home and I got a nap in before going to play that night. The next day was going to be "helping Mom" day so we had to wait until Labor Day to try our luck with baby turtles again.
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