A Sunday Quicky. 4-7-2019

Saturday had been quite nice, but they said Sunday would be even better! Well, they might have exaggerated but it was pleasant. Cloudy and high 50s. We went to a favorite Norfolk County pond to try our luck with Water Snakes. Surely some would be up by now.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers were the first animal we heard on the trail. This guy was being belligerent to another one, thus attracting my camera to his hole.


We didn't see any reptiles or amphibians right away but this vernal showed us that Wood Frogs and Spotted Salamanders had been there recently.


We were nearing the halfway spot before we saw our first scaley pal. Two Garters were coming out of a hole... we're not sure if we interrupted anything or not. This small, colorful guy was very active, poking around and exploring. The other one disappeared into the brush.


We started to find Redbacks and continued to for the rest of the hike. What a wonderful animal to have in such plentiful supplies!




At one point, I saw a short stack of Painted Turtles through some bushes but they saw me before I could maneuver to a working position for a photo and they skedaddled. No turtles for me.

Next up, Andrea saw this speedy Garter that was rapidly escaping from the oncoming thunder of a family coming down the trail.


We went to explore a fairly hidden vernal to see if there was any action. About 100 yards into the woods, we could hear Wood Frogs going at it but this little pool on the outskirts was empty... or was it? This very young Green Frog looks like it might have just woken up for the season.


It was much colder than we expected so we decided that we probably wouldn't see any fossorial snakes, but we flipped a few stones anyway, thinking of salamanders. Much to my surprise, this First Of Year Ringneck was indeed above ground.

We'd promised ourselves ice cream if we saw two FOYs and the first find gets treated. Mmmm... half way there.

At the same moment I found the Ringer, Andrea had spied this perfect pile of Garter coil, trying to get some sun despite the clouds.

Absolute perfection.

We were just about done with the hike, in the last stretch, and we knew any turtles and Water Snakes were pretty much a no-go. Still, we had a lovely stream to look through on the way out and look for some Two-lines. We weren't the only one poking around that stream This gorgeous Garter wasn't put off by the icy water at all.


Two-lines were seen but I'll be damned if I could secure one for a photo. I didn't have a net or dish so the few larvae and one adult I saw went undocumented. I did, however, wake up this Pickerel Frog, our first of the year.

Maple Walnut for me, thank you!

Not a horrible trip... two more FOYs and a lot of beautiful animals. We were talking with a guy in the parking lot about cameras and Water Snakes (he says there's a 5 O'clock Charlie on both sides of the pond) and we all came to the same conclusion. We're ready, but not all of the animals are yet. But we're getting in shape for the big days that will be coming up and enjoying nature as we do it. That ain't too shabby.