Ending Spring... June 17 and 18, 2022

Off again on Friday! The forecast was for a warm and sunny, maybe even hot morning then thunderstorms in the afternoon. We made the decision to hit our favorite pond in Norfolk County, not just for the chance to jump in but it is a good Ringneck and Spotted Salamander spot... two species we incredulously hadn't yet seen on the year.

Things got off to a familiar start... a pretty Redback was flipped on the way to the dam.

At the dam, I could see a Bullfrog but didn't really have a shot. I struggled and twisted myself and it paid off with what might be my best Bullfrog shot ever! Not a braincell to be seen!

Here's an Eastern Pondhawk resting on a lily pad.

There was an exposed mudflat not too far out and I could see a Painted Turtle up basking. I didn't notice the Killdeer behind him until I uploaded the pictures! We did, however, hear the Killdeer yelling at a Heron not long after we saw this turtle.

Another shot I'm quite happy with... a Painted Turtle noggin emerging between some lily pads.

Andrea finally spied our first snake... a large female Water Snake resting in the bushes.

Contorting myself again, I got a shot of her face.

The water level was a little lower than usual so we figured the Spotted Turtles might be further out or moved on to the bog by now but there were at least two stalwarts.

We went for quite a while from there without seeing anything noteworthy. But it was gorgeous, if a bit hot, and we were enjoying every step. Finally, on the other side of the pond, across from the dam, I rolled over a large log that was in the path and this Garter was resting under it.

So cool! That never happens!

Well, the Hobo Camp finally gave us our first 2022 Ringneck. It was all heated up and ready to move so we had to catch it for a photo.

And then another!

I always try to get the "Ringneck Release" shot but they're speedy and squirmy and I usually fail. This time I didn't get a great shot and I wouldn't have included it here except for the massive tick visible at the front of the rock.

One more Ringer for good measure. The Camp was very very good to us.

We headed down the trail towards Ringneck Hill, a place not only good for it's namesake but also for Spotted Salamanders. Going down a steep, rocky path, we saw a rather odd thing sharing the lane... a Painted Turtle.

She was probably about 100 yards from the pond and she was on a shady trail. Not sure how she got herself into that predicament.

We got her to the other side of the rocks and wished her well. Hopefully, she knew what she was doing.

We got to the pond's edge and sat for a while, just watching the water splash against the rocks and enjoying the breeze. As we sat there, this pretty Water Snake emerged over the edge of some land right next to us, slowly lowered herself, then fell into the water. Here she is just before putting her whole weight on a skinny little plant.

We got to the dock and, mercifully (because it was Friday and the season hasn't really started), we had it more or less to ourselves. One guy was sitting there reading. We soaked our feet, cooled off and saw this Nerodia gal swimming towards the rock steps.

Later, I checked the rock steps and she was sunning and standing tall.

The storm that we'd been hearing about was starting to remind us of it's imminent arrival. We could hear distant thunder and the skies got fairly dark. The Water Snake lady tucked herself under a step...

We took her cue and started to head out. We were still about a mile and a half from the car. We got to a covered picnic/ camping/ boating area and thought it might be a good idea to wait out the impending rain. It hadn't started but it even smelled like rain. We sat for about 15 minutes.

Of course, it never rained.

We decided to make sure it started soon and headed out. What's the worst that could happen? Get wet? Besides, we flipped our FOY Red Eft stage of the Spotted Newt on the way out.

With about a half mile to go, the skies opened up. We were under a canopy of trees for much of the way but after a while, even that didn't matter. Funny- if we hadn't sat in the protected area for a while, we'd have been back to the car already.

But you know what? It was fun. We got soaked to the bones and enjoyed every minute. We only had to protect our electronics.

The next morning was sunny but that rain had cooled things off considerably. It was in the 60s and kind of breezy on Saturday. Deciding to stay close and try our luck with some Ambystoma, we went to another part of the same reservation as the previous day, also in Norfolk County. We'd hoped the rain the day before would help us in our quest for Cuadata.

Andrea struck first with a very dark Leadback!

Next, we finally broke the seal on Spotted Salamanders. Having missed any sort of Big Night this year really set us back. This large, plump fella sure was a welcome sight.

This American Toad was right there next to us as we tried to photograph the Spottie.

This spot is also a decent spot for Garters, Racers and even possible Copperheads but we saw no snakes. It seemed like it would be a good day for them but I guess not. We settled for a couple more salamanders... a Redback.

And another fattie Spotted!

We hiked a few new-to-us paths and got a bit mixed up but never totally lost. It was a lovely day and we'd seen our main target so all was well with the world.

It got stupid cold later that night and remained shitty on Sunday so that was the extent of our Weekend Critter Sightings. 10 species seen in Norfolk County. I call it a good way to end Spring.