Andrea was supposed to have Friday the 15th off, but The Man stuck it to her. So we had to do the same ol' same ol' and visit the Suffolk dens on Friday for lunch. It was nice out and we figured we'd see some critters out and about, some maybe getting ready to move from the hibernaculum areas and start their year.
Now, our den place is notoriously non-turtley. Over the years we've had a "mystery turtle" (a distant Spotted) and a Painter who was crossing the main path (last year). Other than that, nothing. So, you can imagine our surprise when just after hitting the trail, Andrea stumbled across this lil guy!
An over-wintered Painter hatchling! We figured a Painted Lady nested up in the cemetery somewhere. We looked around for nest-mates but saw none so we took this one to the water's edge and he quickly buried himself into the leaves.
That was just about the last thing we'd expected to see.
This non-turtley place had more surprises up it's sleeve. Three distant Painters were basking on the other side of the pond!
Weird.
Old Faithful, a rock that hasn't been very faithful in the last few years, regained my love with a double-Redback flip.
We went up towards Robles' Den. I heard some rustling in the bushes. Maybe it was just the wind, but I looked around on the other side of a hill. Holy shit! The first Snapper we'd ever seen here and our first of 2022!
What's next? A Box Turtle? This one was likely leaving one pond and heading for another. In fact, after looking around the den-site, we went back and saw she had moved on and was starting down the hill...
What's that about no turtles here?
In the Valley, we started to see some of the usual suspects... a few Garter Snakes were still present. Lots of periscopes and garland.
I managed to get a Palm Warbler (#61), even!
One more squiggly wiggly Redback before we left.
The weekend weather was dicey but on Saturday, we headed out to a spot deep in Norfolk County, on the border of Bristol, for the first time this year. It was cool and breezy but we were prepared. We started out with a pair of Redbacks.
A well known vernal had some Spotted Salamander eggs in it. I hope it rains enough to keep these viable!
The main pond was pretty full and there were plenty of Painted Turtles up basking in the intermittent sun, but I couldn't get any good shots. See?
We finally saw a Garter who was very busy, either looking for lunch or a partner. The head was swaying and he was non-stop. I'm lucky to have gotten this shot at all. Snake on a mission.
The bad thing about this place is there are a lot of humans about. It is a popular dog walking place, which means there is a lot of dog shit bags flung into the bushes. As always, I throw them back out right into the path. But the humans and dogs don't bother every animal in the park and, if you know how to look, you can find secret Water Snake noggins peeking out to see if the coast is clear.
Since we saw an over-wintered hatchling the day before, we were keeping our eyes peeled for walking pebbles. We were approaching a spot where we know nesting happens and I saw this tannin covered Garter squiggle out into the path! Aww... just a baby!
Hey, waitaminnit! That's no Garter baby, that's a near-adult DeKay's! We had never seen this species here, so this was a big deal for us!
Another First of Year and new species to this place!
I finally got a decent Painter picture.
We walked around the pond and decided to stick to our usual path. We'd dicussed heading out a different way but luckily, we didn't do it. Deep through the bushes, I saw a shell on a hillock and, after much work, managed an OK shot of this Spotted Turtle who was hidden away.
Another good reason to have stayed on this path... a snoozing, stub-tailed Water Snake, head hiding under a leaf, living the best life.
I saw this distant chorus-line of Painted Turtles and tried my best for a good shot. This is as good as it got.
Say, look at that shell in the back, the huge one with a Painter climbing it. I'm pretty sure that's a Red-bell; I can even see the marking on the jaw. But since it's not 100%, I'm not calling First of Year. We'll get 'em. There might even be two of them in back there.
Another trio of Painters.
We were at six species, which is pretty good for April. But where were the frogs? Well, we finally saw a few Bullfrogs relaxing in a man-made pool. Here are two of them.
So, that was our weekend. We didn't get out on Easter because we had family stuff and, quite frankly, the weather sucked. We watched a hail storm out of Andrea's Mum's window. The next day, I was off again (Patriot's Day) but The Man stuck it to Andrea again and she had to toe the line. The man's gonna GET IT!
But it was a good two days. 3 snake species, 3 turtle species, a frog and a salamander. We're chippin' away at our species list and having fun. I guess I have no complaints.
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