Hit Me With Your Nature Stick: What I Did On My Summer Vacation. July 5th and 6th

I had the week after the Fourth of July off, Andrea did not. But she had that first Monday off, so we headed off on a rare Monday trip to our favorite pond in Norfolk County. We hadn't been there yet this year and that needed to be rectified.

We slept in a bit so we didn't get there until almost noon, which is super late for us. Being a Monday, it wasn't too human-filled, which was wonderful. A very rainy early July gave us a rare treat... a summer Redback!

We got to the dam and began looking for turtles and snakes on the edges. A pair of older ladies were right behind us doing the same thing... animal lovers! It should be noted that I'm probably pretty close to their ages. We pointed out this small Spotted Turtle who was hangin' out about 10 feet away.

This Water Snake was napping on a lily pad bed.

A Painted Turtle made 4 species in a short time. Love it!

The two ladies were about 50 feet ahead of us and called back to our slow asses... they'd found a pair of large Water Snakes basking on the edge!

There was a lot of action along the dam, if you were looking for it. This gorgeous Water Snake wasn't in a good position to photograph, but I patiently waited as she crawled along and I got her face through the brush.

This Garter eventually came out into the open for a shot.

This area is one of our Spotted hot-spots. It doesn't always pay off but that day it did. This guy was in the reeds about a foot above the water.

A whole lot of 'tude from a tiny Painter.

Peeking over the edge of the walkway, we saw this beautiful female Garter catching some rays.

This little Spotted gave us a start. He was just laying there, even as we got closer for better shots. His head barely came up. Dr. Mike decided he had to look at him up close to make sure he was OK. In hand, he thrashed about and kicked. Evidently, he'd been napping. Oops. Sorry, sleepy eyes.

This guy was alert and skittish, like most of the Spotteds we see up close.

Man, the dam was damn good that day! Before getting off of that path, we found the nap area... two Nerodia and a garter were snoozing there.

Since that stretch was so ridiculously fruitful, it's only fair that we went over a mile before we spotted anything again. But at the Hobo Camp, we flipped our first Massachusetts Milk of the year, a feisty youngster that did not want his picture taken. Until Milk whisperer Andrea got him in hand.

Walking the path from the Hobo Camp area to the non-hobo campgrounds, this large adult Milk was laying next to the path. Seems we'd broken the Milk seal. Finally.

At the swimming area at the campground, there were a few kids but it wasn't super crowded. We immediately saw this large Water Snake basking away from the water. Check out that scar!

Down by the water, our third Milk on the day was laying out.

One of the kids overheard me say "Milk" and she was like "I told you it was a Milk" to the others. We all started talking about snakes and she informed me that I was being watched. I was, indeed.

This cute Nerodia seemed very interested in us.

Five O'clock Charlie (Charlene)'s area had a garter poking through it.

Under the dock where the kids were, this Water Snake was sunning.

One of the kids showed me a spot where he'd seen some snakes basking earlier. Two garters were still there.

We stayed there for a while talking about snakes with the kids. The lifeguard said she didn't like snakes until she started working there, now she loves them. She didn't need us to teach her that. She learned from the snakes themselves. The kid that showed me those last two Garters was disappointed that were weren't camping there. We were too, really.

While we were there, Andrea was sitting next to Charlene's place and at least 4 Garters were crawling around, undisturbed by our presence.

That was a pretty good day. It's not often that you lose count of snakes and talk to kids who aren't total scum. There just might be some hope for the future.

Speaking of hope for the future, the next day was Tuesday and we'd been invited to a sea turtle release on the Cape. (Volunteers only... shhhh!) Unfortunately, Andrea had work but she told me to go. I did.

While waiting for the turtles to arrive, I was watching Common Terns diving into the water. I couldn't get any good shots but I'm glad I tried because as it turns out, I hadn't photographed them at all before, making this shitty pic of this guy Lifer #196 (#75 on the year).