Slipping into Summer. June 19 and 20th, 2021.

We decided to try something new. The hiker that we were talking with the previous week said he'd seen his "lifer" Blanding's Turtle at a place not far from where we were. We decided to try our luck and look at a new place (to us) in Worcester County.

Well, we saw a pond and we saw some wetlands but it was all posted, so we took the big trail that wasn't posted and it was a long, dry hike. It was beautiful and we had a good recon mission, but our animal sightings weren't as hot as the day was turning out to be. We talked for a bit to a birder who was excited about Grasshopper Sparrows but we weren't able to photograph any, despite hearing their calls.

I'm going to guess this place is a big shooting range.

Since we'd left the house very early (to beat the heat), it was still early(ish) after we'd hiked for a few miles, so we headed to another spot that we're familiar with that wasn't too far away (into Middlesex County). It was super-overgrown and it looked like nobody had been through in a while. Once we could finally see the water, we got instant Blanding's gratification.

I even saw him yawn.

A couple of Painted Turtles were up as well.

This is why I love being around the water. The giver of life, the home of turtles.

We walked on, not planning on doing a full hike since we'd already done pretty much a full day at the other spot. An odd little bird was running around squawking and teasing us. I couldn't get a decent picture and still have no idea what it was. It totally beat me. Seeing past the foliage was tough and even seeing turtle basking spots was a chore. Every now and then, we scored.

You never really expect to see snakes on really hot days so this Garter was a very welcome surprise.

It was hot and we were running out of gas quickly, so we turned back. Luckily, the new sight lines gave us a few more Painters.

The next day, Sunday, was going to be just as hot and it was the first day of Summer. We managed to get out fairly early again and got to our Plymouth County spot a little after 8 AM. It was already pretty warm but not horrible. We took straight to the trails and our first sight was a Spotted Turtle pulling itself out for a quick warm-up.

A few Painters were starting to stir as well.

Not to mention a Snapper.

We got to a very duck-weedy part of the hike and some of the Painted Turtles were comically covered in it. One ducky Bullfrog was present as well.

We finally got to a less duck-weedy pond and saw some much cleaner Bullfrogs.

We tried to get off of this path but this guardian made us wait.

We'd been reluctant to commit to hiking out to the big pond as it was already in the 90s, but there was a pleasant breeze and we were feeling fine. Our decision paid off right away when we saw a Red-belly up basking with some Painted Turtles.

That's our fifth turtle species on the weekend!

Did I mention Painters? There were stacks of them! Glorious stacks!

Turtles were on either side of the path. It was great.

I added another fish to my count. I tried to ID it myself, but I was wrong. This is a Pumpkinseed, not a Redear (which aren't in Massachusetts).

We saw a family all kneeling down photographing something. We knew it would be a turtle, and it was. A Painter was crossing the path.

Right after that, another (even smaller) Painted Turtle was crossing. I tried to get a Painter/ Gamera shot but all I see is boobs.

I spent some time trying to photograph a Common Yellowthroat, almost not noticing this Green Frog in the drink in front of me. I wish I'd tried harder on the frog!

The bird pic came out pretty good, though, making the Yellowthroat # 74 on the year.

A couple more Snappers were peeking up. That second one is a beast!

Some more Painters from the big pond.

We got to the magical Painted Lilypad area... there were a dozen turtles up on the pads, half in the water, half out. Pretty smart move on such a hot day.

A noggin was poking out of the pond... this one was a Redbelly!

We sat down to rest before heading back to the car. The heat was starting to get oppressive. To us, anyway. This small Painted Turtle was being fabulous in the sun!

On the walk back, on a secluded trail, we saw another turtle up, this time a Spotted Turtle. She is heavily notched so Andrea took pictures of the notches and sent them to her Spotted Turtle guy.

We took the wooded trail back to the car, which was about 10° cooler. We finally got our snake of the day, a shoestring Garter who was in the blue and resting under some AC. We apologized and went on our way.

Hot summer days can be tough but we're pretty happy with our finds this weekend. My sunburn was glorious, too. Mmmm... laying in front of a fan while my legs and arms sizzled. Heavenly.