It's Turtles! It's Mania! It's Turtle Mania! 4-14-2019

We had made plans to visit Andrea's Mum this Sunday afternoon but as the weather was shaping up nicely, we first wanted to hit a place in Middlesex County for the first time this year. We wouldn't stay long... I promise!

We got there mid-morning and it was pretty nice out. As soon as we opened the car door in the parking lot, we could hear Northern Leopard Frogs calling. Nice... we hadn't seen any yet. While Andrea checked out the porta-toidys, I busied myself with flipping a couple of lovely Redbacks.



As soon as we hit the water, the magic started. This Leopard Frog was calling away without a care in the world. Well, one care...

We stayed and watched him for quite some time, pointing him out to (evidently vision impaired) people and talking about the species.

Only a couple of feet away, this Bullfrog was unnoticed, except by us.


About 3 feet from the Bully, another yellow chin was up. It took me a moment to figure out it wasn't another Bullfrog but a Blanding's noggin poking up.

Not bad... and we were only about 20 feet up the path.

We eventually moved on. Beaver dams and Muskrat lodges were all over. We finally got our eyes on a swimming Beaver.

This Canada Goose has claimed this lodge as her own. Woe to anyone who disputes it.


Way out in the distance, I saw a Snapper snout poking up but dared not call First of Year since Andrea missed it.


A few Painters had slipped into the drink unphotographed but I finally nabbed a few.


This little fella was enjoying the warmer weather.


More Leopard Frog tomfoolery...



A good sized Pickerel was floating somewhere between those two Leopards, probably trying to test my field eyes for spotted frogs.


We could hear Leopards from one end of this place to the other but the most conspicuous animal was definitely the Painted Turtle. They were out in force! Heaven.





Bullfrogs were very much present, as well.



I'd held off photographing Grackles thsi year until I had a good opportunity. It came, making this #72 on the year. Sexxxy.


We were a little surprised by our lack of snakes but Andrea finally settled the score and saw a coil of Garter.

This place is usually Nerodia-heavy but we hadn't gotten lucky yet.

Some more Painted Majesty.




Hey- I saw this Snapper noggin and Andrea might have seen it too... can we count FOY yet?


This Painter gave me the side-eye and said "no".


We saw this Garter foraging the water's edge, going in the opposite direction as we were. A snake on a mission...


Not one to besmirch the birch, this wee Painter was ridin' high.


OK, Andrea was standing right over a culvert and there was a large Snapper just under the surface. Can we finally call Snappers for 2019?


I'm gonna say YES! Andrea got this haunting shot of his face underwater.


This small Garter was on land right near that culvert. Watch your "step", wee one.


Then I saw a Water Snake, orange with tannins, slide into the pond ahead of us. I fished around in the underwater leaves but came up empty!! Damn! Denied!

We went out to a road where we could see another pond... Painters were plentiful out there, too.




Andrea stayed up on the road while I took a quiet trail between two ponds, hoping to see where that Water Snake had gotten off to. I didn't see her but some Painters were up in there.



In the distance, I heard Andrea yelling, so I headed back up to the road. She had just chased down a Painted Turtle crossing the street. We got to take a good close-up look at him.

A survivor... some chomp-marks on the carapace and more on the plastron.


We turned back rather than going forward. In truth, we wanted to look for the Water Snake and more turtles rather than the things we might (or might not) see if we kept going straight. Andrea photographed a tick NOT embedded in my abdomen!


Going back the way we did paid off because up from the leafy depths, our tannin stained friend was up and she was gorgeous.


Yay! FOY Water Snake!

Our Snapper pal was gone by this time so we moved on. This stack of Painters was something we didn't see on the way out. Right shuffled, they are.


Some women were hiking by and we were talking about the animals we'd all seen. It was one of them who first said Turtle Madness, thus naming this post. We told them where the Water Snake was after pointing out this Garter that was at our feet.

We walked along next to this snake for about 20 feet. It never stopped poking along the edge of the pond. Hungry? Horny? We didn't realize it yet but after comparing photos, this is the same Garter we saw on the way out, the snake on a mission. That means it had crawled, presumably all along the water's edge, including along a large part that juts out almost like an island. It must have gone about 200 feet! Impressive.

We picked up our pace because it was getting well into the afternoon and we still had plans. Even walking hurriedly, we saw animals, like another Bullfrog and a Painter.



We passed by a young man who was birding and asked if he was having any luck. He said he'd just had a rewarding encounter with a Virginia Rail. He explained their stealth and how tough it is to see them, when one came out again! It turns out the call we'd heard but couldn't identify was one of these. The guy left but some other birders had come by and we all watched for the silent water bird. There, between the reeds, we saw one.

Virginia Rail, #73 on the year, Lifer #185.

We'd been at 9 species of reptile and amphibian since the Water Snake but we were having a hell of a time trying to get double digits on this April day. We'd heard Peepers and American Toads but didn't see any. Almost back to the car, I went over to the water's edge for a final peek. Another Bully!


Before turning back, I noticed right at my feet, our tenth species of the day, a Green Frog.


Hot digglety damn! 10 species (3 of them FOYs), a Lifer bird, some mammals, and we still managed to fulfill our family obligations. This is one of the good days this year.