2022 Year End Crap Up.

Not much happening in December. I hate Massachusetts. We did get the call for beach duty on December 9th. It was windy as a mofo and we were sure we'd rescue a turtle or two.

Well, none at the first one. Maybe the second one, where when we pulled in somebody said they'd seen three without trying. Andrea braved the tide...

No turtles.

I did photograph a bunch of Dunlins and noticed a Sanderling in there, making my bird count 91.

Groovy. I'm not sure we'll sign up again next year. This is the third highest stranding count ever, but we've contributed zero. We're obviously not needed.

A couple days after Christmas (Dec. 27th, a Tuesday), Andrea heard some fancy birds had been seen at a nearby place. It was cold as fuck but we went out anyway. I have to admit, ice does some pretty cool stuff.

Ice snakes...

While we didn't see the Horned Larks or Snow Buntings that were reported, I did add a Savannah Sparrow to the count, making my year end on 92. Not horrible. Thank you, Florida.

Yesterday (the 30th) it was in the 50s and partly sunny so we hit the dens. Obviously, the warmth hadn't yet reached the frost line, but we did flip a rock and see a December Redback.

So, that's 2022. A real shitty year. It started out OK but then we had the heatwaves, the drought, high gas prices, we both had Covid (and still feel effects) and just started to not give a shit about anything anymore. We missed many species that we usually get.

Lowlights... No Gray Tree Frogs (too lazy to drive to Plymouth in the rain), and only one Peeper photographed. No Northern Leopard Frogs. No Spadefoots. No Spring Sals, No Jeffs, No Mudpuppies, one 4-Toed, one Blue-Spotted, one Marbled, no Hognoses, no Copperheads, and then there was that Green Snake day in September. Also, no Terrapins, no Box Turtles and no Wood Turtles.

We did get to the Glades, though, in March and that was a nice trip. Lifer Pigmy and Amevia. And our weekend in the Berkshires was nice, though it wasn't a huge animal trip.

But our sickness, indifference and the things mentioned above made this a shit year in the field for us. Hopefully, we'll be back on track come the Spring. 

The End of November. Redbacks and the Lucky 13.

Thanksgiving Day was fairly nice, if pretty cold. Since it was sunny, we took a walk around our local den spot. You never know.

It was windy and we figured snakes wouldn't be out. Still, I flipped a little and came up with 4 Redbacks. The first one is just 3/4 of a Redback, I guess.
    

That's it.

On Nov. 27th, a Sunday, our friend Bob was coming up to walk the beaches for turtles. We were excited to join him, except we got called to drive turtles that morning. It sucks that we didn't get to join him, but he found a Kemp's and a Green, so it's all good.

Our wall of turtles numbered 13, a mixture of Kemp's Ridleys and Greens. We kept the car at a pretty steady 55° from Wellfleet to Quincy.

It was good to have the car smell like turtles again. Needless to say, we stopped for hot drinks after dropping them off.

And so ended November.

And Into November... the 5th and 6th.

 We'd been having a bit of a heat wave here in November. Not too hot but into the 70s for a few days in a row. Luckily, that included the weekend. For Saturday, I was thinking of a snake place in Essex County but Andrea suggested a Plymouth County pond that we'd said we were done with for the year. The thought of pond turtles proved irresistible and I agreed... let's check it out.

We got a late start and I was having a meltdown in traffic getting out of town but we made it early afternoon and hurried along, knowing our window of opportunity was small. Having been stuck in traffic so long, our first stop in the refuge was the woods. While there, I flipped a nice Redback to start things off.

We knew we weren't going to see a ton of things but we kept our eyes open as we enjoyed a walk in the 72° November sun. We spied a Spotted Turtle basking on the edge of a bog.

Painted Turtles were seen through the brush but they slipped in before I could get a shot. I finally got a couple of OK pictures.

I actually like that second one quite a bit... getting ready to climb back up after sliding in.

We did not expect to see any frogs so the sight of this Green Frog was quite a bonus.

We'd been warned ahead of time that there were some Coots there. I always like seeing these guys. Didn't need one on the year (it was #11, seen on January 16th!) but I took a photo anyway.

There weren't many Painters up by this time. This guy crawled up for a bask while we were sitting at our turn-around point.

Walking along the big pond path, we saw this Euro Mantis... he asked me to put up my dukes!

Knowing it's the end of the line, we know this could be our last day for turtles. Freshwater, non cold-stunned turtles anyway. (Last year, our last native pond turtles were photographed on October 24th.) So getting a sight of our third November turtle species was pretty exciting... a Red-belly was basking way out in the pond.

These Painters will likely be our last ones on the year.

Almost at the end of the hike, we got to a stone wall that I have flipped a dozen times and have never seen a snake, or even a skin at. Well, I flipped a shard of Deke skin this time, so we got all excited for what the next year might bring. Then, I flipped a large rock that I can't believe I hadn't tried before... and got quite a shock!

That's a whole lot of empty Racer eggs... and a wee DeKay's right in front of them!

The next rock had 3 Dekes under it. They shot off into those little holes right after I got this photo.

One more for the road.

Obviously, we were pretty happy with that hike. Six species in November? Three turtle species? Not a bad day.

The next day, we stayed local and went to the closest Norfolk County place that we have. It has sucked for the most part this year, but we figured the sunny Alley should have some garland laying out. We were very wrong. It was beautiful and sunny and in the 70s, but we saw nothing on our 5 mile hike except for a pair of flipped Redbacks, and they were at about the mile mark.

We headed home, a little disappointed but what the heck... two Redbacks is way better than nothing. We decided to pull in and look at the local dens before calling it a day.

We parked back in the cemetery, nearer the dens. It paid off immediately when we saw this Water Snake resting in the Valley.

Right near that one, this gorgeous, perfect 3 foot plus lady was stretched out.

Down at the dribble that cuts through the Valley, I saw a Nerodia head pull into the tree roots. Hadn't seen one using that hole in a few years. Around the trunk was this smiling Garter.

I'd noticed this Water Snake peering out through a hole in the leaves from the side but when I got around to the front of him, the humor really set in.

One more look at that big gal.

A nice Leadback that we flipped.

Last sight... a Garter that was over near a known entrance hole.

So, that was our first weekend in November. It was better than all of August. Even the losers get lucky sometimes.

Ending October... 10-30-2022

 I slept way too late and we almost missed our short window, but it was in the low 60s and sunny so we decided to go check our local dens to see if the snakes were back for the Winter. We got there a bit before 2 PM and knew we only had an hour or so.

The recent rains made us think about salamanders, too. It wasn't long before we were finding Redbacks.

A four pack of varying colors!

This has got to be right up there as the most beautiful Leadback I've ever seen. Gold flecks down the back, spotted sides and legs... just a stunner.

The dens were quiet because we'd arrived a bit too late. The sun wasn't hitting just right. Still, I managed to startle a small and beautiful Garter who posed for a moment before taking off.

We went for a while without seeing anything. We checked dens and flipped logs. I was still holding out hope for a Blue-spotted Salamander, a species we usually have good luck with but had come up short this (horrible) year.

I was flipping stones in a section where we've seen plenty of salamanders in the past, but we saw nothing. I was stepping towards another rock when I had to twist myself and sidestep rapidly... I almost stepped on this Garter that was laying there!

I picked it up to make sure it was OK. It was cold, but warmed up rapidly. She musked me, slid to the ground and flattened out and started striking. Feisty feisty feisty! We watched her as she went on her way, slithering under a rock.

Before leaving that area, I flipped a 6-pack of Redbacks with some worms on the side. I told you this was a good salamander spot.

We walked back to the car via the cemetery road. We'd hoped we would see the Racer in her box again, but all of that had been moved. I flipped a few rocks along the way. One rock gave us our First of Year Blue-spotted!

It's about time! We usually get these guys in March!

That's a pretty decent way to end October.

October, Part 2. The 15th, 16th, 21st and 22nd.

Let's see... Saturday the 15th... ummm... not super nice out but it was OK. We got to our spot in Bristil County around noonish and it really hadn't warmed up much yet. Our short window kept us on a rapid pace.

First sight, as it often is, was a Redback! Those are not Redback eggs, rather they're slug eggs.

Turtles were going to be tough as the river was quite high. Many of the basking spots were underwater. These guys were on the other side of the river. Best I could do, dammit!

We heard the joyous squeals of a cute young teenage couple. They had just gotten to a puddle with frogs in it. They swore there was a "big one" under the leaves. This Green was up and ready for a shot. I thanked the duo profusely.

Some more distant Painters enjoying the Autumn sun.

Here's another nice Redback, contrasted by a light pink worm.

We got to a car hood that was sitting in the sun for a while. It has been the site of many great flips. This time, nothing... wait! A wee shoestring Garter fell from it and took off. I barely got proof before he'd disappeared!

We were headed back to the car. Our mission after the hike was to check out a local (to the area) horror convention. One last flip before we got to the car got us this gorgeous DeKay's, our first in quite a while. In fact, our first since the 4th of July!

Not a bad day. The show was pretty good... needs to grow a bit but we had fun for an hour or so.

The next day, Saturday the 15th, was supposed to be the best day of the week. We decided to make one last try for Hogs at our spot in Plymouth County. 70° and sunny; it was our best bet.

Driving in, we saw a woman off her bike. We stopped, thinking she'd fallen but no... she was making sure this male Painted Turtle got out of the road OK. He was probably looking for an acceptable place to spend the Winter.

We went in a different pattern than usual, foregoing the power-line cut and heading straight to the bogs. Some Bullfrogs greeted us, which is nice because last time out, we went frogless at these bogs.

We flipped a stunning Leadback.

Bully for me!

We were walking along and Andrea said, "What's that?" There was a Flying Squirrel (Southern?) on the edge of the path foraging. He didn't seem too worried about us. Me, being the fine cameraman that I am, turned my camera off because I forgot I'd had it on. I finally got ready as he was heading into the brush. Here's a Flying Squirrel butt.

That's a first for this blog.

Heading back, I saw a commotion on the edge of the bog. This young Green had just eaten a bug that was flying by.

From there, we went to the trails that have been the most successful in the past for us but have sucked hard this year. We saw nothing. No Hogs, no Toads, no nuthin'.

So, with great sadness and relief, we are done with this place for the year. Next year, we'll try new spots within the park. This year was a tough one there. We go Hogless for 2022. It's the first time in many years. Oh well.

Hey, why drive so far and spend so much money when nature is right in our dumpster right outside our house?! Two snoozy cuties.

The next week was going to be so-so. Friday the 21st, it barely scraped 60° but the sun was out so we took a hike around a fairly close place deep into Norfolk County. I was hoping for some salamanders. Right off the bat, we noticed that the water situation was far better than it had been last time we were there.

There were plenty of Painted Turtles up but they were all way out there in the distance.

Over by the waterfall (which, I'm happy to say, was spilling. Yay rain!), I saw something frog-shaped hop under the dam. I looked around and saw his pal, a cute Green Frog, enjoying a bath.

A through-the-trees shot of a closer Painter.

I decided to go off trail and follow the water after the waterfall. It has been a good spot in the past. I scared up a few frogs walking back there. They disappeared. Much to my surprise, there was a large Water Snake basking in the spotty sunlight back there. Score! I didn't think we'd see any snakes on this cool day.

Heading back out to the trail, I saw that some of the frogs had resurfaced. Here's a Pickerel.

And a small Bull.

Peering off the bridge, I saw this pretty Bull posing nicely in the Fall foliage.

Our next sight was a very welcome one. See, we've been striking out on a lot of species this year. Our FOYs dried up a while ago. It was with great pleasure that we flipped our first Four-toed Salamander of the year.

We usually get them early on but, this year sucking ass like it has, we didn't manage any until this day.

Not to be outdone, this Redback struck a dynamic pose!

Back into the unshaded sunlight, Andrea scared up a slim Garter. We watched him periscope and sway and then he swooshed off into the brush.

We continued around the various ponds, hoping to see more animals. Not much turned up. Some more distant Painters were seen, though.

Another really pretty Redback.

Back at the waterfall, I looked to see if our Green Frog pal was still there. He was and was joined by this very green-headed Green and a Six-spotted Fishing Spider.

(No, I didn't notice the spider until I uploaded the picture.)

It hasn't happened often this year, but we left thinking "that was a good hike"!

The next day, we went out to a spot in Middlesex County, solely based on the fact that we'd had 29 snakes there one October day a few years ago (with our son, Matt). Plus, there's always the possibility of seeing a Blanding's Turtle.

On our last trip there, back in April, the beavers had flooded the place within an inch of its life. All of the critters enjoyed that, but we had to take a different route to get in. This time, post-drought, it was sad. It was dry, with just a few puddled areas. Evidently, some work was done to combat the Beaver "problem" and some stone spillways have been laid in the path. Interesting. Even more interesting was this slim Garter making his way over the new concrete.

We went on, checking for anything that might be out. It was sunny and not too cool. Andrea hit the lottery for us next by pointing this guy out...

That there's a Ribbon Snake... only our second on this pathetic year.

The last one we saw was on April 2nd!!!! Damn, what a shitty year. This guy brought us a smile or two.

Not far from there, Andrea almost stepped on a large Water Snake, who slithered off quickly into the brush. No worries... we noticed a tail sticking out of the leaves not far away. Now, when you have a little bit of Water Snake tail sticking out, you never know what you're going to get. I reached for it, expecting to have a slashing, pissed off, massive Nerodia hand me my ass. Instead, I got the most mellow guy I've ever handled. 

I'm not much of one for posing snakes for shots but this guy was so pliable, I figured why not? I wanted to show off that belly.

From there, we walked toward the river to see if there were any turtles there. There weren't any, so we turned back. I found this all-head Pickerel on the way.

We'd scared some Painted Turtles into the drink on the way out but they were a bit more mellow on the way back. I finally got a shot. The water was much better in this area.

This male was crossing the path in front of us, likely heading to a winter spot.

Last but not least, Painter catching some rays. He'll be in the mud before too long, going without oxygen and doing amazing turtle hibernation feats. There is a second one behind him, thinking the same things!

So, that probably ends our October. We're signed up for Turtle Season on the Cape, so we're ready for Second Season. 2022 has been frustrating as hell, but looking back on the things we saw in this post, I have nothing to complain about. Not a bad month after all.