Case in point, this blue-eyed Garter was curled up in some plants.
We often see Pickerel Frogs in January, as we usually disturb one while its sleeping. Luckily, we haven't done that in a few years. Still, you'd think that by the end of May, we'd have seen a few. But we hadn't, until Andrea spied this large adult up on a tall flower bed. First of Year.
We'd looked around and flipped plenty but the few Garters that we got fleeting glimpses of had escaped our cameras. But the magic hour was upon us and they started to appear.
We'd broken the seal... here's another Pickerel. Check out those racing stripes!
Here's one more Garter. I took about 52 shots of him, trying to get him in focus. Luckily, this was a very patient snake.
We went a while without seeing anything, but enjoyed the sopping hot day. We got back to a vernal that was filled with tadpoles, presumably Wood Frogs.
This large Green Frog was waiting for us to leave.
This small Bullfrog showed me his butt.
We moved on to the big vernal which is still very full. This Green sat there as I went to stand next to him, acting as if I wasn't even there.
Back at the river, I saw a very small Snapper in the sandy, shallow edge, but he was moving out quickly. I ran in after him so Andrea wouldn't miss him. I got him in time for a photo.
I'm not going to lie... my cold feet felt great.
Inspired by my wet feet, Andrea sat down to take her shoes off and take a dip herself. Right next to where she sat, this Pickerel was sitting in the shade... about a foot away.
Heat relief!
While she cooled off, I watched the Pickerel. It wiggled over a few inches, scritched in, then did it again, repeating until it had achieved optimum snuggle comfort. I'd seen this species do that once last year, too. Interesting behavior. A frog after my own heart.
Back on the trail, I saw a Garter scoot into a rusted out car.
This usually turtle-centric place hadn't been too Painter-filled this day, so we were glad to see one up in a quiet part of the river.
A Garter slid away from me, disappearing under a log. I got it into my hands and tried to calm it down for a photo. It didn't work. This is the only shot we could get before it showed me who was the boss.
Another Painter on the river, with a Swan family moving in. There goes the neighborhood!
Back by where we'd seen a camo-Snapper on our previous visit, we saw a Bullfrog.
We did see an expired Snapper nearby... a massive one who might well have died of old age. I don't know if it was Camo-Snap or not... it looked bigger. No bullet hole. RIP, Snappy.
Another fearless Bully from the river.
We headed back to the car but took one more walk past the Garter Garden. This guy greeted us on the lawn.
This guy scooted up a hollow tree!
It was still fairly early, so we drove out to another spot in Bristol County, maybe about 15 miles away. It was a little more humany than we like, but we were interested in the shallow waters at the edge of the lakes. Our goal was First-of-Year Musk Turtles.
My first encounter was a large Water Snake that came out of nowhere and startled me. Just look at those colors!! Must have looked like a Milk as a juvenile!
The reedier side of the lake had no Musks, so we went over to the rockier side. There, we saw a Water Snake orgy.
We walked the sandy edge but saw no teeny turtles. This clam made a pretty cool path design, though.
Heading back and rechecking a grassy edge, I dug through some wrack and found our First of Year Musk... and another!
Yes, that's a penny the one guy can't quite cover.
Andrea then found another penny-sized one... the Third Musk-eteer.
Mission accomplished.
On the way out, we were talking to a woman who had seen some snakes and turtles and was asking about them. She said how she often just sees noggins up (we do, too) but hadn't seen any that day. I looked about 30 yards out and saw a tiny noggin bobbing around. She saw it too. I got a picture.
Hmm... not a Painted Turtle... that stripe suggests a Red-belly! After uploading the picture, I conferred with a couple of knowledgeable turtle friends and they agreed with me. Cool! Our 9th species on the day!
Not a bad day... two FOYs and loads of fun and sweat. We had earned ice cream. And got it. When we got home, this bunny was lounging in the yard.
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