JULY 20, 2019 AD: BEFORE THE FALL

It was going to be hot, hot, hot so we went west, young man. West to Berkshire County and the cold water of the Westfield River, to my favorite place in the state of Massachusetts. 95-100° in town means roughly 85° there, and that cool, cool water. Cool, man. We got there in the late morning.

Right off the bat, while looking for Wood Frogs, I found some unexpected Redbacks... here is one.

We don't expect to see many of these in this heat but there were a couple up.

We peeked into the river at a new spot and were immediately rewarded with some toad-poles. Some were almost ready to emerge.


Then, our favorite... a Dookie.


We went terrestrial for a while, looking along the edges of the woods and flipping some logs. We found this Dook a good 30 yards from the water, looking all redbacked and stub-tailed. Gorgeous color.


We got to the water and noticed some yahoos had inflicted their "art" on this salamander-heavy river. It was all returned to the water where it belongs.

With so much life under these rocks, it's a shame that "artists" have to use the animal's homes to "create". I mean... put it back as found. My lazy ass can manage to return a rock or log to the exact place it was after taking a peek. It ain't that rough.

The tadpoles were plentiful, mostly toads, I should think.


This big guy is most likely a Green Frog tadpole. He swam up to inspect my shoe.


This stretch of river is brimming with salamanders, including Duskies, Two-lines and Springs. Here is another Dook.


I was hell-bent on being Andrea's hero and spotting our first Massachusetts Spring of the year and was well ahead of her. But she called me back for this gorgeous turmeric colored American Toad.


Yes, we were cooling off. Hubba hubba!❤


I finally got a Two-lined to sit still long enough for a glamour shot. A really nice one, too.


It appears that the Two-lined seal had been broken.


A lovely Desmog, wallowing in the mud.


They used to be easier to find but this spot has been very good to us over the years with erithrystic Redback Salamanders, which is to say, predominantly red ones... not just the backs. It was a wonderful surprise and a gift to see this guy under a log along the side of the river. A spectacular example of the color morph.


Andrea made her way across the water to see the salamander. And fell.


Youch. We decided to make our way back from there, still hoping for a Spring. Andrea found this pretty larval Two-line along the edge.


This Pickerel made a majestic leap of faith from the land to this rock, then to the water. I was far too slow to get a clear shot but this frog impressed me. I gave him a 9.9.


Andrea wisely stayed up on land while I stayed in the river's edge. She flipped a gorgeous Two-line up there.


I finally scored our Spring, a small larvae.


A family had come to cool off in the river and Andrea stayed to talk with them for a while as I looked around further away. The kids had nets so I didn't tell them that I saw some Tiny Toads.



This guy will be on land in no time flat.


I found a seat on a fall and sat there, happily watching this Green Frog and the toadpoles enjoying a hot, sunny Saturday afternoon. I started thinking about what flavor ice cream I wanted to get.

Andrea caught up to me and we made our way back to the car, she on land and me in the water. I thought that if any Garters were around, they'd be nosing around the water, especially with all of those tadpoles.

Then, I slipped on a rock, instinctively protected my camera and put my arm down behind me and snapped my radius and ulna in half and shrieked as my forearm flopped like a second wrist. I eventually got to my feet. (Andrea had made her way down to grab my stuff but I wouldn't let her touch me.) Refusing to look at my arm, I made it up the river bank and to the car. We drove 13 miles to the hospital in Pittsfield, MA and they took good care of me.

Wednesday, July 24th, 4 days later, I had the arm surgically put back together... a long pin, and a plate. I'm healing rapidly, though the band had to cancel 3 gigs and I'm pissed about that. But life goes on, PT hurts and I learned a few lessons. Oh, and the $$ for the new vehicle is back down to zero.

Oh, well. Live and learn.