Buggin' Out! 7-25-2020

Once again, it was going to be too hot to have a very productive animal hike, but we set the alarm for 5 AM and hit the road to Plymouth County in short order. Grabbing some "breakfast" on the way, we managed to get to our destination by 6:30 AM, while it was still in the mid-70s.

While driving through the park, I stay very alert in case anything is warming up on the asphalt. All of a sudden, we saw what looked like an ottoman walking down the side of the road. When we got closer, we saw what it was...


Why this Snapper was walking down the side of the road on a hot Saturday morning is beyond me, but we took a few shots, then I moved her into the brush, where she was very angry for having her morning constitutional interrupted.

As far as we were  concerned, that already justified getting up so early and driving roughly 50 miles. That's good because on our first stop there, our only real snake-flipping spot, we didn't see anything to photograph. But we got our heart-rate up and prepared for the next spot, the bog. The bog is always good for frogs and while we heard Bulls and Greens, we only saw Bulls. Here are some of them...




Along the path, I photographed this Robber Fly.


I missed a shot of a wee lily-pad-basking Painter, who slipped into the drink while I fumbled with my camera, but here are some more handsome Bullfrogs.




The Eagle-Eye Award goes to Andrea for spotting this tiny Fowler's.


She also spotted this Ribbon Snake on the side of the path who had just had some lunch.


The heat was on by the time we hit our third stop in the park. This trail has been a good snake walk in the past, with Ribbons, Garters, Hognoses and even a Green in the past. It was shaded, so our chances were pretty good, though (SPOILER ALERT!), we didn't see any. We saw many beautiful Fowler's Toads, however. Look- there's one now!


A few Painted Turtles were up on branches getting some sun. When it gets this hot, sometimes they forego the bask, but these sun worshipers were up for a bit.




One way to see some Fowler's was to flip stones! They were buried into the cool soil under stones, beating the heat.


One way to enjoy yourself when the reptiles and amphibians aren't plentiful is to turn your attention to other wildlife that is present. This Northeastern Pine Sawyer is a big, beautiful and extremely cool bug. The antennae were amazingly long.


Before heading home (we'd been hiking for about 4 1/2 hours by now), we decided to look in to see if the reliable turtle area had any action (or rather, inaction). It was probably too hot for anyone to be up basking, but you never know. Not up, but this Plymouth Redbelly was swimming around.

That sunfish swimming toward him in the photo eventually ran right into him, causing a funny scramble from both animals.

Back to bugs... this Cicada Killer posed nicely for me.


Walking back past the turtle spot, our red bellied pal had another Cooter by his side.


Now, it was our time to cool off so we went to the edge of a secluded pond and dipped ourselves into the cool, sparkling water.


I just sat on the edge, cooling my tootsies.


Sitting there, I had a wonderful nature show playing out before me. This Variable Dancer kept landing on a piece of wood and dancing for me.


I was also sharing the water with dozens of tiny Water Striders.


Thus ended a lovely day and a happy and successful month of July for us. As I write this post on July 31st, I can report that for the month, we had 23 species of reptile and amphibian and I added 12 birds to my 2020 count. For a month that sometimes gets too hot for much (and some of these July days have been pure blast-furnace), that's not too bad. Considering we haven't been outside the state and really not much more than an hour or so from home, I have no complaints.

Keeping Our Cool. July 18th and 19th

It's tough to plan hikes when you know that by 10 AM it's going to be oppressively hot and no animals will be around. Still, we need to do this for our well-being, so it's up and at 'em early for us. Deciding to drive to Essex County to a heavily ponded spot was a no-brainer; there is a wonderful ice cream place nearby.

We got there just as the sun was getting hot. A Bullfrog seen from the lot was an indicator of the kind of day we'd have.


A puddle along the path got us a young Green Frog.


As we proceeded along the path, glimpses of the big pond were visible through the trees. Eventually, we saw our first Painter basking in the morning sun.


This Green Frog was interesting. He was up in the sun with his mouth gaping. Was he over-heated? Did he just eat? Was he sick?

I went down to inspect him, but he jumped into the water, closed his mouth and acted like a normal Green Frog. Weird.

Since I was down near the water, I looked around for snakes. A young Nerodia was our first on the day.


A small Garter slithered away, a loss that would loom large. Speaking of large, this very large Water Snake slid into the bushes, but I still managed to get a shot of her noggin.


Another Water Snake, a medium this time, was in the water looking for breakfast.

Not a bad start at all!

The next pond area is green with thick duckweed. It is all over! But the pond is a mecca for Painted Turtles and Bullfrogs.




This duckweed-covered Nerodia came up to get some rays.


But mostly, it was Painters and Bulls. Luckily, that's two species I never tire of. And they were plentiful! Some were hilariously covered in green.










Obviously, it's tough to pull yourself away from such a magical place, but we eventually moved on down the path for a look at another part of the big pond. After seeing lots of mini-Pickerels down but the first spot (but failing to photograph one), I was happy to have this pretty adult right at my feet.


Another puddle on the trail, another pair of small Greens!



The trail along the far side of the big pond was a little frustrating... I missed another Garter, who had a substantial meal in her, and didn't see much of anything else. Andrea saved us with another Pickerel. This one is a real beauty.


So, we went back to enjoy the duckweed pond for a while more.




Another cool thing about the duckweed pond is that it is a Great Blue Heron rookery. There are dozens of nests high in the trees, but only one seemed occupied. But it is very occupied.

Best of all, mum brought back some lunch and they all started whooping and hollering which in turn, set off every Green Frog in the pond and there was a joyous cacophony filling the air.

There is a power-line cut at this spot but with the temps already in the mid-80s and the humidity at about 6573932% , we decided to not go bake ourselves. We took the path up to the cut, though, and were rewarded with a handsome American Toad.


Stopping back to look at the first spot again, I redeemed myself with some shots of the tiny Pickerels I'd missed earlier.



Our last sight on the day was an absolute behemoth of a Water Snake, enjoying a soak in a rivulet of water in a drying pond.

She set the tone for the rest of our day... stay cool and relax.

I got Maple Walnut.

The next morning, we were going to meet our friend Jef for a kind of Bio-Blitz, to see how many species of reptile and amphibian we could see in the park he works in. We met him at 7:30 AM, knowing it was going to be another blast-furnace of a day. We love being with Jef because, in addition to him being a good friend and hell of a nice guy, he is super knowledgeable about many aspects of nature where we are lacking. I always learn a lot being around him.

Unfortunately, we struck out for him. We'd hoped for snakes but due to the temps, we never stood a chance. The only "herp" we managed was this Two-lined Salamander.


Jef had to get back after a while but we carried on, interested in checking out the park's ponds before heading home. It was already pretty stifling out but being near the water was nice. Of course, being a public pond, the first turtle we saw was a Red-eared  Slider, likely a released pet.

Good on him for surviving after being essentially thrown away. They are beautiful and resilient turtles who get a bad rap for existing where they shouldn't be. Not their fault. Don't buy Junior a fucking turtle for a pet!!!

The next sight was really more of the same... a lot more. Three more Red-eared Sliders and the two on the lower right are Yellow-bellied Sliders (our First-of-Year, technically. We prefer to see them when visiting my mom in North Carolina).

Yes, Yellow-bellies were being sold at Petco a few years ago. Next year? Perhaps Map Turtles... I've seen them for sale.

I'm not the type who gets all angry seeing these animals. After all, they are doing what they do... surviving. These southern turtles have adapted and are doing just fine up here. I doubt their presence is really disrupting the ecosystem of this pond too much. Still, I was happy to see a native Common Snapper foraging in the corner of the pond.


Before leaving, we hit a rich vein of Painters, a good way to end our day.




I wish we could have done a better job for Jef and gotten him a nice Milk or DeKay's, both of which have to be present, but seeing anything when it gets this hot is a treat. I'll take what I can get.