What is Important? June 15th, 22nd and 23rd.

The times, they are a-shitty. The country, the world... the state of humanity is in a very bad place. Andrea and I do what we can but there is so much ignorance and one-sided arguing that there isn't much joy left in the world. We love our quiet time in nature but to be out in the world is to be at risk of seeing shitheads or getting pissed off by things humans do; things I have no control over. I'm at the end of my rope with the world.

With that frame of mind, we took a quick walk on a sunny June 15th through a place that has been absolutely destroyed over the past few years. "Progress" by Eversource consisted of flattening nature and encroaching into the largest uninterrupted marshland in Norfolk County. For some masochistic reason, I wanted to see how it was coming along this year. Parking was closed for the place, so we parked across the street and hiked in. The good news was, we probably wouldn't see other humans.

Of course, when Andrea spied the first Garter Snake in the path, she stopped to photograph it and a couple of bikes came barreling along, so she had to pick it up to save it.

We walked along the edge of the marshlands. The planks and heavy machinery has been removed for the most part, but the damage is done. But nature can be tenacious and greenery was trying like hell to come back. In a puddle surrounded by broken reeds, a female Mallard scooped for something to nibble on. Best of all, an intrepid female Painted Turtle said fuck you to Eversource and their destruction and was heading up to nest.

Hope springs eternal, even when the humans in charge don't give a shit.

We didn't get out again for another week.

One of the shitty things of late had been our feline daughter Ellie's declining health. A mass had been discovered in her stomach recently and that helped explain her slowing down. But things became really bad and she was just in too much discomfort. She passed over on the morning of June 22nd. We are devastated and we miss her terribly.

We decided that, rather than sit at home and cry, we'd go out on a hike and try to occupy our hearts and minds. We went to a new favorite spot, again in hopes of seeing turtles. It was thundering and the skies were dark when we got there... I guess maybe we should have checked the weather. We started in, saw a Racer, then headed back to the car to wait out a passing storm.

After a few minutes, we headed back in. No Racer this time, but we saw this Painted Turtle up crossing the path. Coming from nesting?

A teeny Greeny.

With the cloudy skies, breeze and off and on rain, we knew we wouldn't see as many turtles as usual. But they were there.

We tried some new (to us) paths and saw lots of beauty. Much needed beauty. We saw a beautiful white-striped Garter but didn't get a shot and didn't try to catch it. Leave it be. The next thing we saw was another Painter up and about...

The rain was off an on. Andrea got this spectacular shot of the sky, which tells the weather story better than I can.

Best of all, other than three young folks fishing, there were no humans at all.

We saw a few Snappers on the day but got no photos. Andrea saw another Racer, too. Hey- here's a basking Painted Turtle.

Andrea spotted the next animal and it was an extraordinary sight. This was our first Fowler's Toad of the year and it warmed our hearts to no end.

We realized while watching this toad that Ellie will indeed live on. This toad, with her stripes, lack of grace and low-key personality, is the very essence of Ellie. Tears happened, but smiles did too.

Finally got my camera on a snake, or at least part of one. A Northern Water Snake.

I was watching the water and a section of lily-pads looked like a truck was going through underneath. Such a commotion! I waited patiently to see whatever could be causing such a ruckus.

After sitting out a few rain bursts, we were heading back. Hey- this nesting Painter wasn't there before. Or was she?

She was rocking and pushing and hopefully being very successful.

A large Bullfrog, just hangin' out.

Not much basking going on but the Painters were there if you looked.

Andrea spotted some floral beauty.

This was a massive Bullfrog. Still is, I'll bet.

This is one of two uncovered nests that Andrea found on this day. She gently covered them both.

This one appears to be Painted Turtles.

I took this shot of a Painter and didn't realize until I got home that a big cowflop of a Bullfrog was in the shot, too.

A little Pickerel Frog hopped into the path.

You can't really tell from the picture but that top Painted Turtle is in mid-launch right here.

So much tannin in the water.

Another path Painter and another testament to the joy of nature. We watched her walk along in a very Ellie-like manner, then just walk into the grass and disappear. Perfection.

Almost to the car, we saw this little wisp of a Garter in the path.

Probably last-year's-model, he gave a lasso tongue demonstration and proceeded into the grass.

We went back into the wooded area for an unsuccessful look for Gray Tree Frogs. But, Andrea spied something special... could it possibly be tiny toad season already???

That little Garter was no dummy at all.

The last thing we saw was another adult Fowler's, who avoided the camera by hopping into the brush. But he didn't know who he was up against.

I got a pretty cool shot, too. And a tick on my belly.

So, that was us trying to make the best of a very shitty day. It helped.

The next day, we decided to go back to the same general area of the same county and look for a place we'd seen a sign for the day before. Why not see some new terrain?

The downside.... it was nice and there were humans present. But we kept to ourselves and explored this new spot, sticking close to the water. We didn't see any animals until we flipped this Goldtop Redback, the first cinerus we'd seen in quite a while.


The pond was big and a bit choppy and there wasn't any real basking spots. Finally, in the distance, we saw some Painted Turtles up enjoying the sun.


While sitting on a bench doing what I do best... watching water... I saw a sea creature swimming against the waves. This must be a huge Snapper! Makes up for the ones we couldn't get a shot of the day before.


We saw another rare summer Redback. That's right... it's summer now.


We went around to another spot there before leaving. I was flipping stones at the bottom of a dam, looking for Two-lines, and actually flipped a Ringneck! Aqua-Ringer swam off with no picture. Andrea wasn't as quick.


A little Pickerel tried to give me the slip but I captured its soul in this photo.


Before leaving, Andrea spied a little piece of perfection at the water's edge... a wee Painted Turtle.

We didn't show it to any of the humans that were about. They didn't deserve to see it.

That's it.

Stuff we saw June 8th and 9th.

Obviously, I'm tiring of writing this blog.

We went out in hopes of turtle nestings on Saturday, June 8th. We went into Middlesex County, to a very turtle friendly place. It was warm and sunny. We got there mid-morning and I feasted my eyes on a tarp around a work site. It had plenty of puddles on it, showing me it had been there for a while. My thoughts went to in-the-blue snakes. What I didn't expect to flip was a hatchling Painted Turtle.

Andrea had seen a Garter slip out when I saw this guy but we never recovered it.

We wanted to get this wee one to the water's edge, which was a pretty good walk from here. So, we moistened a washcloth and started our journey.


We saw a couple of Garters along the way but had a top priority in our hands. He was getting really active, too. We got to (what we considered) a good spot and put him down into his new world.

Hopefully, a frog didn't eat him right away.

So, that was a fun start. Now, where are those Garter Snakes now that we have free hands?

Beauty.


We could hear plenty of Bulls and Greens but this is the only frog, a Bull, that I could actually see.


Next path... a turtle on the move! This Painter wasn't looking to nest, just passing between ponds. I removed a leech from his shell.


Though there were no great stacks of turtles basking, we saw plenty of one-off logs with Painters, and a few more Bullfrogs, too.







We got to the wide-open nesting field and saw signs of nesting and predation. Here is a Snapper nest that has been dug up and eaten by mammals.


This looks to be a recently laid nest that hasn't been destroyed yet. You can see the tail dragged across the loose soil. Also, a deer stepped on it.


This field has great sun exposure but maybe too much sometimes... we have seen dead turtles that had succumbed to the heat up there. We were happy to see this Painter heading out, having finished her business.


We decided to go no further in after this. We figured we'd hit another spot on the way home. On the way out, we passed by the ponds again. This Bullfrog was visible from about 50 yards off. Big 'un.


Staring at the water produces some fun results... a wee Painter noggin.


Andrea finally scored us a photographable Garter, and a stunner it was, with a vivid white stripe.


Then she spied an American Toad that I had walked right past.


Before leaving, I wanted to peek into the tarp to see if the Garter had returned. Yup.


Andrea found another little guy who made snarling faces at her.

As expected, both were in-the-blue.

We headed back home, stopping off at the other spot. Marsh Wrens laughed at my inability to get a shot but a pair of Mallards had no problem standing there while we photographed them.


The sun had gotten a bit low and we saw no turtles or frogs (though we heard some Greens calling). We figured if we were to see any snakes, we might have to flip some stones. There is one spot there where we can do that and almost every stone had a tidy little (or big) Garter coil under it. This surly chap is the only one we got a picture of.


We didn't stay long. On the way back to the car, Andrea saw a pile of Nerodia.

I couldn't see her until I saw a twitch... looks like she's not alone. There was some hanky-panky goin' on.

Boomp boomp... chicka-ch-haa... oh yeah.

That was a decent way to end up the day.

The next morning, we headed deep into Bristol County to try to see some nesting turtles again. The place was less crowded than it sometimes is but it was still pretty annoying. I have decided that I really do not like sharing my natural places with humans. But most humans are oblivious asswipes so these two Garters that were right there next to the visitor center went pretty much unnoticed.



By the water, we saw a giant pickle that was in fact a Bullfrog.

We showed it to a couple of young girls and their mom.

They kind of followed us to the next spot, where we'd found a pretty Water Snake.

They were cool and the snake was a good demo-snake. Not real snake fans, they were open minded and enjoyed seeing how beautiful this one was. They'd mentioned the cabin (which we had walked by due to humans) and nests.

We went back to check out this year's batch of nesting Barn Swallows. There were dozens of nests.



A couple of Painters spaced out enough to make for a shitty photo. Thanks, guys.


A cool sight... a small vernal was teeming with tadpoles, presumably Wood Frogs. There were thousands in there.


Painter. I've taken this exact same photo countless times. But it's still a good one.


We weren't seeing much so my eyes and ears started going to the trees. I heard one familiar call but realized I didn't know what it was. I got a shot of the culprit. Looked like a Phoebe to me but the call was wrong. With the aid of my pal Bob, we sorted it out and I found the call on You Tube... this is an Eastern Wood Peewee, Lifer #186 and $90 on the year.

I'm very proud of myself... first ID by call!

We started to tire but went on, making our way back. Quitters we ain't. We finally got to a spot where Andrea saw a Water Snake take off into the water.

A family was there... some of the kids took a look and the dad got my patented lesson on how its not a Water Moccasin. He was dead stupid and his Boston accent made him sound even dumber.

But his wife really frosted my balls. She had already passed  us, but felt the need to come back and go into her histrionics, twitching and fake gagging, to show how much she hated snakes. Seriously... fake gagging. By ignoring her, it made her get closer to make sure we could see her showboating. I just had to walk away.

Know what? If you hate snakes so much, how 'bout not walking through their home? It will save you lots of gags and maybe even some pulled muscles from your pathetic overacting.

Needless to say, that put me into a mood that hasn't really even gone away yet. I'm tired of trying to enjoy myself but having to share the world with humans. I'm tired of my species. I'm tired of trash and noise and other people's ignorance. Yeah, this has made me not even care enough to continue the blog. I have so much shit always hanging over my head. Why add more pressure on something I supposedly love.

Yeah, I'm in a weird place in my head and heart right now. Thank god Andrea can put up with my mental scribbling.

And bless her soul, she found a pretty olive Garter before we reached the car.


I dunno. I might feel differently after our next hike. I'm a fucking mess.