Beating the Heat at the End of June. 6-26 and 27th.

We had to get out early because it was going to be 95° and humid as hell before too long. We got a late start, so we just went over to a nearby spot to walk, not expecting to see much. There was a cool breeze, but it was well into the 80s already.

Our first cool sight was this Buck Moth Caterpillar (Hemileuca lucina... thank you, Teá!)

We got to the sand pits where kids (and man-boys) ride their bikes around and do jumps and shit. Turtles used to nest there. Evidently, some still do. This Painted lady was walking through the danger zone, leech and all.

While Andrea was taking that shot, I noticed a shell over in the fire-pit. My first thought was "oh no... fucking humans..." but no, it was a second Painted Turtle gal looking for a proper spot to nest.

This adorable American Toad was out in the heat but retreated to this tree-hole while I was there.

From there, we did the full walk at this place, about another 5 miles, but the heat was likely the reason we didn't see any more animals for the rest of the walk. Heading back, we saw another Painter up in the same sandy area!

Compare those three turtle photos... all different turtles, but all making the very same stance. That must be the "shit- they saw me" pose.

Heading back to the car, we were surprised and happy to see a lovely Garter in the shade. Perfect white stripe.

That was it for Saturday, but we awoke at the ass-crack of dawn to head to Plymouth County on Sunday. It was going to be another scorcher and we got there a bit before 8 AM while it wasn't too bad. At our first stop, we flipped a gorgeous Ringneck.

We ventured out to the vernal pool that has held its water for a couple of years now. It is getting a little small by now but it's still the home of many tadpoles. An adjoining pool had a couple of Bullfrogs and two Six-spotted Fishing Spiders, which look very different from each other.

Our next stop was the bog and we knew we'd be seeing a lot of frogs. Bullfrogs were all over and young Painted Turtles tried to evade my camera, but I was patient.

The next 15 minutes were as wonderful as any we have spent yet this year. I was next to the bog photographing this young Painter.

Andrea pointed out this stunning Green Frog that was right there, hidden in plain sight.

She then noticed this Bull sitting on the concrete of the spillway, watching us.

It really was a case of "the more you look, the more you see". We heard a Green Frog calling from right there, but couldn't see one. Nope, that's a Bullfrog.

Right species, but this Green wasn't calling.

Not even close.

We never did find the calling Green. We suspect he was under some brush. We did, however, see an arrogant looking Painted Turtle. Goofy, yes... serious, yes... but we'd never seen an arrogant looking one.

Well, now we have.

We were reluctant to tear ourselves away from that magical spot, but we eventually did. We snuck past boxes of bees and checked the other nearby bog. Again, many beautiful frogs were present, including this perfect Green.

The bogs are unshaded. Naturally, we were getting toasty, so we headed towards the shady woods. Speaking of Green Frogs, Andrea found one in a very unlikely place... on a spillway 6 feet above the water!

We went over to the visitor's center after that because I was out of drink. We filled up some bottles with water and looked for turtles but they weren't up (a few very distant ones were) because of fishing people, so we went towards the woods.

Then there was a crash, sounding like a tree falling right next to us. Some ass-hat truck driver with a forklift or something on a flatbed snagged the wires about 50 feet away and pulled them and a few poles down. We were scared shitless, but the wires fell about 10 feet away and we were able to sneak past to safety. There had been a lot of trucks driving through the park that day due to a closed road. It was bound to happen, I guess.

We relaxed out on the peninsula, enjoying a cool breeze. A distant Red-belly had hoisted up to bask, too.

We made it out of that spot, being waved through the melee by cops and firefighters who all agreed that the truck-driver was a tool. Our next, and last stop was a wooded walk. We were getting pretty tired so we weren't sure how long we'd last. This big, male Bullfrog urged us on.

Some basking Panted Turtles across the pond added to our joy.

Funny... they don't look British!

We hiked on for a while, just enjoying the sights and smells of a hot summer afternoon. Then, we finally broke the seal on Fowler's Toads. We'd only seen one this far this year, but we saw a half dozen on the way out. Here are some of those beauties.

Summer can sometimes be tough, what with animals hiding in the shade to keep cool and us being ready to get back to air-conditioning, but this was a pretty great weekend. Toads make everything better! The 15 minutes we spent at the bog just watching animals be animals was so satisfying and rewarding. That is what nature walks are all about. Over 7 miles in the heat and we lived to tell about it. There just may be hope for us yet.