I Am a Camera. 8-4-2019

I'm still on the mend but improving every day. We didn't get a chance to get out into nature on Saturday, which was a pretty hot day, so we made sure to get some time in on Sunday. Again, it was super hot. We chose a decent, flat spot in Middlesex County for our first real post-fall hike.

This day's development... I could lift my camera, so I was eager to see some critters and capture their souls on "film". The very first picture I took was of an amazing display of American Lotus in bloom.

We had both thought that the Lotus here was invasive but a little research showed us that we were wrong. We'd never seen this sight before and it was a lovely start to the hike.

My first photographed animal was this small Leopard Frog. We figured we'd see a ton of these this day, and we did. Most of them were too fast for photos, though.


My snake eyes were on point, too... I saw this in-the-blue Water Snake hiding in some plants in the edge of the pond.


Another beautiful Northern Leopard.


With all of the Lotus in bloom, the high pond-edge reeds and the blazing sun, we knew that turtles would be a bit tough but this Painted Turtle was visible, happily munching on duckweed.


Hey, it's anoth... nope. Andrea spied this Pickerel Frog in front of us on the path. This is a good chance to compare the two species and note their differences.


Dozens and dozens of small (this year's) Leopards were bounding off of the path so we considered ourselves very fortunate to get the camera on any.


Andrea lunged... she'd seen a black shoestring slither into the brush. Is it possible that there's some baby Garters born already? This year has been crazy so we're prepared for anything. A little further up, we did see another Garter... a momma just about ready to pop.

Pretty gal.


Not to be outdone, this Water Snake is even more ready to pop. She looks like a stocking filled with oatmeal. When Andrea pointed this innertube out to me, I actually laughed. Dayum!

(Of course her stub-tail makes her look even more obese.)

I'd been looking forward to this distant pond and this log. We've seen 30+ turtles basking here before. Just ten Painters this time, but I can't complain about that!


There wasn't anything on this pile of roots... until I uploaded the photo.


Back into the woods, Andrea spied another Garter speeding away from us. Voucher shot...

Hell of a vivid dorsal stripe.

From the vantage point on the way back, we had a better view of various basking spots but as it was so warm, most were unoccupied. Two perches each had a tenacious Painter on them, though.



Heading back, we walked very carefully through the area where Andrea had seen the newborn Garter. Her close watch was very necessary because she didn't step on- and actually managed to pick up this tiny guy!

No doubt about it, this guy has very recently come out of Mom's vent and a blob of goo. We took his pic and released him, wishing for a long, healthy life.

Probably got eaten by a frog within minutes.

Here's one more new Leopard Frog, as yet uneaten by the little snake's mum.

It's a tough world out there for all baby animals.

We'd seen a bunch of orange and black butterflies flitting about and since we'd seen some milkweed, we figured at least some might be Monarchs. We saw this one settle on to some Purple Loosestrife, definitely an invasive plant, and it is indeed a Monarch.

That was a nice way to end this trip.

So, we didn't do the whole walk. I'm still building up my stamina. But with camera in hand, I got to walk with Andrea and see some of nature's miracles. That is what makes me happy.