Virginia is for Turtles. October 29th and 30th (and 31st)

 Andrea's niece was having a wedding! We were invited! We went! It was in Chesterfield County in Virginia! We took a very early flight, getting into Virginia late morning and we had a few hours to kill before checking into out hotel. That was on purpose. Back in 2007, we'd hiked by a certain pond in the area and found our lifer Rat Snake and, obviously, we have fond memories of the place. That's where we went.

It wasn't very warm, but it was warmer than Massachusetts. We flipped a bunch of logs, hoping for a local salamander but saw none. Finally, while walking through some wet leaves, we saw some hopping. Our first sights were Cricket Frogs, a species we hadn't seen in over 5 years, the last time being in North Carolina.

I'm unable to identify if they are Eastern or Southern Cricket Frogs. The ranges overlap here. If they're Eastern, they're lifers. But since, I don't know, that's that.

The pond was very (in)active with turtles. Lots and lots of turtles. The first sight of the water was this: That goes RES, Red-bell, ? and Red-bell.

Here's a closer look at those back two. That guy on the left could be anything, but I'll call Slider until I know better.

But it was mostly Red-eared Sliders (not really supposed to be in the area but close enough to their natural range that they are very successful here) and Red-bellies. Northern, not of the bangsi Redbells of Plymouth. There are also Eastern River Cooters and Yellow-bellies in the area and I wouldn't swear that some of those aren't in any of these pictures.

No mistaking this little fella.

Red-ear? Toughie.

Definite Red-ear!

Lo and behold... the magnificent Painted Turtle! We see them by the hundreds up here but this guy actually made me squee with joy in Virginia.

Peering through some brush, I saw some turtle heads. There was a couple basking on a log. I zoomed through the branches, focusing on a head. I was surprised as hell to see what I captured... that's FIVE Slider noggins!

3 Sliders and a Cooter.

The wooded trail was just as exciting as the water. Andrea found a super-warty Cricket Frog.

A hop startled us and we saw our only Bullfrog of the day, perhaps our last of the year.

I couldn't possibly have asked for a better pose from this Pickerel Frog.

I can't decide which shot I prefer.

A wee Fowler's Toad.

Got dam, we was havin' fun.

Here's one of those cyanide millipedes, Apheloria virginiensis.

We were heading back to the car, having gone as far as we could along that trail. I didn't want to repeat turtles so I didn't photograph quite as many. But I shot a few. This guy is ancient. Redbell, I think.

No doubt on this one!

Another Painter.

I hadn't added a bird to my count since July, but Carolina Wrens were flitting all over, so I finally got to #77 with a decent pic.

One more turtle shot before we left... some Slider and Redbell yoga.

This park also had a nice nature center with some display animals. We checked it out and this stoned Box Turtle gave us a look.

We checked into our hotel and promptly fell asleep for a while. On the way up to our room, we'd noticed a canal behind the hotel. After dinner, we went down in the dark to see if we'd encounter any animals. Other than a likely frog-plop, we didn't see or hear anything, but it was a cool walk and I got this shot of Andrea.

The next day was Saturday, the day of the wedding. We went over to see Andrea's sister and her husband and we hung out with them for a while. Matt decided to walk with us for a quick hike... he knew a nice trail that goes along a spillway to the reservoir. He was very tolerant of us, what with our running into the woods to look under logs and all.

It paid off, though. We found a few Southern Two-lined Salamanders. They were Andrea's lifers.

Note the bonus tail below...

I'd seen this species once before, in the mountains of Virginia back in June 2014 while Andrea was at another campsite showering with two handsome young men.

Speaking of Andrea, she saw another Cricket Frog near those salamanders.

We got to the water and it was lovely. There were turtles, but they were on the far side and presented a problem to photograph. Still, I shot a few. This appears to be a Painter and a few Sliders.

This one is tougher... a Slider or two, a Redbell and that far left one could even be a Yellow-belly.

Last animal shot in Virginia... Painter and Slider are friends.

That was great. We profusely thank Matt for walking with us (we even had him flipping a log or two!) and showing us a nice local walk.

The wedding was lovely and it was super nice to see some family members that we haven't seen in quite some time.

We got back home on a very early flight and were settled back home before noon. I had to get a Covid test before returning to work the next day, so I went through that unholy dick-dance while Andrea relaxed. But it was super nice out and when I got home, I said to Andrea... it's now or never. We headed over to a nearby spot in Norfolk County to try for a snake or two, since we'd struck out in VA.

Well, we saw a Garter right away. No pic. Then we saw a couple more. No pics. It was mid-afternoon and they were warmed up. Finally, we caught one and tried to calm it down for a photo, with moderate success.

Andrea spied a wee, squirming twig... a this-year's-model DeKay who was on the move. It's the first we'd seen in a while.

A Redback was all tucked in.

Another Deke! When it rains, it pours!

Another difficult to photograph Garter! What was it with these things today?!

Walking back, we saw a stick in the path. The stick started to crawl into the grass.. another DeKay. A real gorgeous one, at that!

We'd seen some dudes getting ready to do some graffiti art in the tunnel on the way in. Well, on the way back, the artist was well into his piece (though not nearly done yet, he assured us) and since it was Hallowe'en, we wanted to document it.

We haven't been back since, but I'd love to see the finished piece before it gets ruined.

Yes, it was October 31st and still, we encountered this tug o' war. A Garter had a toad in her mouth, but another one was trying to steal it away. What an asshole!

This little guy was right there with them, awaiting the victor.

Walking back, Andrea uttered a "Holy Shit"! This absolutely massive Green Frog was in the path, daring us to pass. We did and he hopped into a puddle.

Our last animal of the weekend... I peeled back some bark on a fallen tree and this snoozing Peeper gave me  a tired, but dirty look. Ooops... sorry!

So, between Virginia and Massachusetts, we had at least 13 species over the weekend. We fully realize that most of those will be the last of 2021, but we can live with that. We've had frost in the days since Hallowe'en and hope that everyone is back where they should be for the Winter, at least up here in Massachusetts.