Andrea's Not-So-Big Adventure 9-26-2019

I had covered for a co-worker for over two weeks, and decided that I deserved to take a couple of days off. Mike could only get one of the two off, so, on the first day, I went to a local spot and did some solo nature sticking.

It was a lovely day!

I wasn't seeing any animals right away, so I kept myself busy taking photos of pretty things.

While heading towards a field where I know turtles have nested, I saw a skinny garter getting away from me. I knew that I hadn't a chance in catching it, and I barely caught it on film.




My walk through the woods was uneventful. I avoided the vernal pools because of potential mosquito activity (although Boston has a low risk of EEE, it has a moderate risk of West Nile Virus). I'm sure I could have found a few salamander metamorphs had I gone into the muddy, partial dried pools and flipped a few logs.

In passing over a couple of footbridges, I noticed that one area was low and the other was flowing. I saw some movement under the water, but couldn't see anything, even though it was clear.

I ventured out to a more open and sunny area. As it was a work day, there weren't too many people around, but there were a few people jogging or walking their dogs. A few bees were busy in the asters.



I suddenly saw a familiar face in some dead leaves.



It was a lovely northern water snake, playing peekaboo.



It didn't stay visible for very long; slowly pulling its head back into the leaves.

I began to regret not taking Mike's camera with the zoom lens, as i was not getting great photos. I did start to see some animals, however.






Just trust me on this - there is a large bullfrog in the upper picture and a turtle in the lower one.

I ventured down to the river in the hopes of seeing some turtles. I was not disappointed.





I took a few "scenic" shots, such as the train tracks going over the river. I knew that, if I could cross that bridge, I would be in an area where I know at least one snapping turtle nest had hatched. I also know that there was no way my cowardly ass was going to walk across that bridge, though.



The river has receded a bit, discarding some of the logs that turtles could bask on. There's even a sand bar with some Canada geese on it.



I decided to make my way back. I had a couple of garter snakes disappear under rocks and leaves before I even realized they were there, so no pictures there. I did manage to see another turtle.



Once back in the woods, movement caught my eye, and I saw a decent sized toad go under a bush. I tried to reach in after it, but it was too deep in there, so I went for this shot that says, "yes, it's a toad, all right!" It's the best I could do, under the circumstances.



Back on the street, I looked into the brook and saw one turtle up! My day wasn't over yet!



At this point, I was getting fairly tired, having had only one sit down in the past four hours, so I headed towards the bus. I got home about ten minutes before Mike got home, and I should have written this up right away so I could have more of a story to tell.

Stay tuned to Mike's next blog entry, which will be so much less dull than this one!