Well, I finally caught the 'Vid, but it didn't hit me super hard. I was just very fatigued and achy for a few days. I mean, more than my usual baseline of fatigued and achy. Friday was going to be nice... warm and sunny ahead of two days of super-hot n' sticky weather on the weekend. Since I was feeling shitty, I didn't want to exert myself much but I wanted to get some fresh air, so we went to a spot in Norfolk County where we know there are plenty of benches along the walk.
Instant gratification is great. It instantly gratifies. As soon as we got towards the water, we looked off onto a semi-secluded "beach" next to a stream. Two large Water Snakes were instantly in view.
In the grass, closer to the stream, another Nerodia was catching some secret rays.
The colors were poppin' on all three of these snakes!
We turned our attention towards the pond. On the partition, where the pond spills into the stream, a gooey-eyed Water Snake was grabbing some Vitamin D to help heal his orb.
I heard a rustling in a bush next to the pond but was pulled away from exploration when Andrea spied this huge Bullfrog on the pond's edge.
Looking out toward a little peninsula that is usually crawling with humans, we decided that Fridays are the best time to visit this place. Never had we seen a Painted Turtle basking near the peninsula before.
We finally got back to that rustling. Andrea peered into the bush and saw a "good sized Garter" (one of my favorite terms) crawling through. I watched the edge and a small Garter noggin came out and disappeared again. Presto change-o. I did manage to get a voucher shot of the big gal inside the bush.
By the time we got to the peninsula, the Painter had turned into a Water Snake.
We saw a few Barn Swallow nests. All were brimming with sleepy, big headed babies.
Not a frog.
We could see some Painted Turtles through the brush but this is as good as I could photograph them.
We'd made many pitstops by this time and I said I wanted to try to make it to the waterfall. Typically, that's 1/4 of this hike but since I wasn't doing great, we made baby steps. We made it there and, looking off the bridge, saw a chunky Nerodia digesting a pretty big breakfast.
This guy was chillin' next to the waterfall.
This was great to see because the waterfall area is usually filthy with humans. Thank you, Friday.
I said I could go a bit further. Because of that, we saw this dusty Garter. Thank you, me.
I laid down on a rock for a while. That helped. We were at a pond and could see some distant Painted Turtles basking. This was our turn-back point.
"A good sized Garter" was seen crawling away. She did stop long enough for a quick head-shot.
A few of Painted Turtles were seen from a spot that had been empty on the way in.
Remember the rustling bush? We checked that area on the way out. Both snakes were neatly folded and getting some early afternoon sun. The gal:
and her suitor. He looks tired.
Remember ol' Gooey-Eyes? He had neatly stuffed himself into a hole facing the sun in the wall that he had been draped across earlier.
That's all I had... we struggled up the path to the car, ending up doing 1/3 of our usual hike. But you know what? It was great sitting on a bench with the birds singing, the cool breeze blowing and seeing a few critters. That is what makes me feel better. On the way out, we saw a couple more Garters, including another "good sized" one.
Luckily, the weekend wasn't going to be good for hikes, so we stayed in and rested a lot. Two days after this walk, I started testing negative, so it was back to work, whether I felt ready or not. Eh, I'm OK. This is why I'm all vaxxed up and shit. I didn't get hit too hard at all. But it still sucked.
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