Windy Days and Sundays. 6-7-2020

You mean the forecast lied?

Obviously, we never have any idea what it's supposed to be like when we head out the door. We went over to our new favorite spot in Plymouth County to see turtles and had no idea that there would be a frosty wind. We got there late morning and it was still cloudy and windy and raw. Whatever. There was a Green Frog in a mud puddle next to the parking lot so not everything was bad.


We walked quite a while, wondering where the turtles that are usually all over the place here were. And frogs... other than that first Green, we saw no others along this usually busy path! Oh, we could hear them but they weren't visible. We finally got to that spot where there were like 200 Painters basking last month... and it was empty. But this small Snapper was on the path, throwing us a Chelonian bone.


Just up the path was another wee Snapper. This one is the ruler of the universe, I think.


Finally, a turtle dumb enough to bask on a cool day. It's a rare June Spotted Turtle.


Ah, the sweet sight of another Green Frog.


We got out to a big, open field and expected to see some nesting turtles but there were none. This young Northern Mockingbird provided a nice picture, though.


Then, we saw a Killdeer and it started going through the broken-wing dramatics... uh-oh, we were near a nest. We looked around to make sure we didn't step on it but couldn't see it. Then, the mother came running at me, scolding.

We carefully skidaddled, still never having seen where the nest was. That is bird #47 on the year, by the way.

Update... Dan N. informed me that the nest is right there under her and sure enough... IT IS!!! I was about 5 feet away from the nest when I took that shot!! Never noticed the eggs until Dan mentioned it... there they are, clear as day! Thank you!

We'd seen one small Water Snake earlier, but it had humorously backed up and away from our cameras. Andrea later spotted this massive gal, over 3 feet long and as thick as my arm.


There was a woman we'd run into before also scouting the pond's edge for snakes and she'd just found a nice Water Snake, too.


Some larger, stork-like birds that I didn't recognize were on a distant landmass in the big pond. After a dozen shaky zoom shots, we determined that they were Glossy Ibises, a new bird for us (lifer #190).

They help to ease the pain of not getting to Florida this year to see their cousins, the White Ibis.

So, yeah... we'd gone all day so far without seeing Painted Turtles. The weather was that crappy. Finally, we saw a few noggins to appease our picta needs.



Still, 6+ miles in this environment is better than staying at home, even when you don't have a big day. Every sight is a treasure (except when you see humans). This is the only human I want to see.