Recon and Stinkpots. 7-4-2021

Our friend Sārah is one of the good folks on the planet. We were recently conversing with her (via PMs) as she was stranded on a busy street guarding a Box Turtle, not knowing which was it was heading, as cars whizzed past. The turtle and Sārah both survived the ordeal, thankfully. We're familiar with the general area where the incident took place and asked her about possible places we could look around on a cool, rainy Sunday to either photograph a Box Turtle or be of assistance to them, should they need it.

The weather was perfect for Boxies. We checked out a few places along the road where Sārah had been stranded, but saw nothing. We took a long walk into some woods for a while and the habitat is perfect, but we saw no turtles. We both got a number of 'skeeter bites and we did see one lovely Wood Frog.

After about an hour, we hopped back into the car and headed around the corner to "the Musk Turtle Place". In this cool, overcast weather, we'd likely not see any snakes, but Musks are always welcome.

Some guys were fishing at the spot we like to look at first. We went over there and were very surprised to see who was hanging out with them.

The fishers said they (the snakes, that is) had been in the water feasting on Herring minnows that were thick in the water. This other Water Snake was face deep in the fish buffet. That is all fish below the surface.

Another Nerodia still on the hunt.

And one who has called it a day already.

Did I mention how thick the water was with minnows?

A Musk Turtle was playing Creature from the Black Lagoon while waiting for minnows to get close enough. There were two doing this, but I could only shoot this guy.

We decided to move on after talking to the fishermen for a while. The interesting trend of non-shitty humans continues... how weird. We moved along to explore the edges of the pond in hopes of wee Musks. I almost interrupted the breakfast of a Water Snake who had much more on his mind that minnows.

This rock covered with Gerridae (Water Striders) is interesting. I think this is a molt spot and these are all discarded skins. Not sure. Cool looking at any rate.

Walking along the beach, we kept an eye on the waves of minnows. This last-year's-model Water Snake was doing the same. What a great opportunity for a snake of this size.

This metamorphing Bullfrog was under a log we peeked under. Lil nipper still has a tail and his eyes are only half golden so far.

We headed back to the fishing area. One fisherman was still there and all of the snakes were still present. Here's a nice look from above that that candy-cane striped Nerodia in the wall.

Before leaving, we peeked on the other side of the spillway and found a Musk Turtle that we brought out to take a look at and to sniff. We have issues.

So, it wasn't a bad day at all. We never expected to see any snakes on a cloudy, windy day in the low-60s, but never underestimate to hunger of a Northern Water Snake. Our recon was useful... we definitely were in Box Country. All that and we got to fill our nostrils with glorious Stinkpot fumes. Not bad for a day we could have just stayed on the couch. Oh, and it was the 4th of July.