The December Post

So, this is how it ends. 2023 has certainly been an unforgettable one but not always in the way we hope for. Andrea's broken ankle in April pretty much set the tone. We did get in an Everglades trip but it wasn't a huge one, other than the Manatee fun and a baby Croc sighting. We missed out on a lot of common species again as well. It wasn't for lack of trying after Andrea healed but, well... better luck next year.

What did we see in December? I've said it before and I'll say it again... Bless Redbacks! December 8th:

And December 16th:

We also enjoyed watching this Red-bellied Woodpecker flit around on the 16th.

On the day after Christmas, it was supposed to be warm and sunny and it was... everywhere except around us. We were going to visit the dens again but decided to net in a nearby stream It was bursting with Two-lined Salamanders, which was a wonderful sight. We netted dozens in 5 minutes. First a larvae:

Then some adults:

And then a whole lot more of both.

When the sun finally did reach us, it was too little too late. We checked the dens with no luck.

On December 29th, we went into Worcester to try some net dipping. We'd not had a Dookie on the year. I worked hard for quite a while, gassed myself and hyperventilated but came up empty. Not even a Two-lined larvae. 

Oh well, at least I got dirty and wet which proves to me that I tried hard.

Pretty setting, anyway.

So ends our year. 83 bird species photographed which is OK, except we did hit Florida. No Dooks. No Hogs. We missed out on a lot of things but as ever, we look forward to next year and the challenges it will give us. What could possibly go wrong?

The November Post

 Not my favorite time of year. But we won't stop, even in the dead of winter. As long as we don't imperil the animals or their habitat, taking a peek around at this time of year can still be rewarding.

On Saturday, the 4th, we took a quick stroll over to the Valley in our local spot. It was in the Forties and a bit overcast and we knew that snakes would be very improbable. Still, even before we hit the Valley, we flipped a large Blue-spotted under a trash can. This one may be a bit Jeffy, too, as it was fairly large and not as spotty as some.

A nice Redback was flipped in the Valley.

These two Redbacks formed a lovely figure 8 that took me some time to figure out whose body is whose.

That was it for the day. It was very chilly and we headed off to a Punk Rock Flea Market. While we were still out near Weymouth or wherever we were, I realised I didn't have a Ring-billed Gull on the year yet so I snapped off #83 in a dirty parking lot.

We didn't get out again until Friday the 17th on Andrea's lunch break. We hit the dens again because it was very nice out. The log near Sly's den has held many treats for us over the years. This was another... a triple species flip. I had to move the Blue-spotted over a bit but the Spotted and the Redback were nose to nose when I flipped the log.

The Valley didn't have any snakes about but since it was so nice, we headed in to the Cottonwood Dens. They were much more to our liking, giving us a Garter right away.

This is the best shot I could get of his head...

About 10 feet away, this coil of perfection was grabbing some sun.

Looking down on me from above that coil was this haughty little periscope!

Quite the curl!

On the way out, we flipped a lovely Goldtop Redback, ending the short hike with style.

That's going to be it for November but beggars can't be choosers. Two days out is better than no days out. We'll not be beach walking for stranded turtles this year (though we're signed up to drive) due to Andrea's continuing ankle recovery and the plantar fasciitis that has been plaguing me this year. We're sad about that but we have to be sensible. 2023 has been another off year in so many ways, we want to be sure to be in top form for the 2024 season.

Ending October (And More or Less 2023) Oct. 27 and 28th

Warm, sunny days were forecast for Friday and Saturday so Andrea took Friday off. We planned on two days of getting in our last real nature walks. It was overcast but mild on Friday and I wanted to visit a reservoir in Norfolk County that we hadn't been to in a couple of years. Seemed like a good time to do it.

We were dawdling and didn't get there until noonish. But that's fine, I doubt we missed much. Our first sights were a couple of Redbacks under a garbage bag. Keep it classy, cinerus!

There were a few Painted Turtles up basking in the distance. Just what we wanted!

It's beautiful there, see?

There were plenty of birds out in the drink. These American Coots (#83) were staying close to this iceberg or whatever it is.

A line of Cormorants. Hilarious.

Another basking Painter.

We walked around for a while, looking off trail and taking the smaller lakeside path but the no-see-ums were so thick that not only could you see um, you could taste um. They were being inhaled and swallowed. We turned back. We weren't seeing anything out that way anyway.

This big Red-ear was up getting some sun on the way back.

Hooded Mergansers are always a treat, even when you don't need them for your year count.

Our last sight for the day in Norfolk County was a Painted guy up on the path. Must have been crossing to the other pond.

So, no snakes there. It's not a super-snakey place all the time anyway but if we knew where they spent the winter, we might have seen someone. That said, we decided to hit our local dens on the way home, just to see if the residents have returned.

A couple of Redbacks, first. And a massive non-crazy worm.

We went to the Valley. Sure enough, answering our question in the cutest way, this Water Snake said "yes, we are back". This opening under the tree is a well known entrance to their Winter hideout.

It was shadowy and cooler in the back of the Valley but there was still one Water Snake crawling about on the hill.

Same log as two weeks ago, but different Spotted Salamander!

And then on the way out, after putting in a solid 10 minutes, we saw a slim Garter poking about above the Valley.

So, yes... snakes are back at their dens. Good. It's freezing right now, 4 days later.

That Saturday was supposed to be gorgeous, in the 80s. We decided on a spot in Middlesex County where we had a 31 snake day in October a few years ago. It is often a good turtle and frog place as well. Andrea took me out for breakfast ❤ and we got to our spot at around 10:30. Before too awfully long, we saw our first Garter.

Oddly enough, there weren't any turtles up that we could see. But we came for the Garters and Garters we did see.

I didn't need a Black-capped Chickadee for my count but I got such a nice picture, so why not?

Garter times two.

This dark Green was the only frog we saw all weekend. I suspect that they have pretty much gone bye-bye for 2023. Lucky bastards!

One more Garter before we moved on. This guy was laying in the sun atop a dried out bush.

Well, only six, not 31, but we can't complain. At least we know (more or less) where the snakes spend their Winters there. Since we'd be passing another refuge on the way home, we stopped by and saw one more Garter, making it a seven snake Saturday.

So, not gangbusters like we've had in the past but a great day to get some Vitamin D and see some nature. We were absolutely gassed by the end of it but knowing the next day, Sunday, was going to suck it, we're glad we stuck to it.

There won't be too many more full-on hikes left this year. Any of these sightings could be the "last of 2023". I'm hoping for a couple more warm weekends to see a few more turtles and stuff but you never know... this could be it.

What Have You Done For Me Lately, 2023? Oct. 6th, 8th and 14th.

Man, am I behind! But then, it's not like we've been getting out a lot because the weather has been kinda shitty. Once Autumn hit, WHAM... it started to be cold. And the ever-present rain hasn't helped much.

One good day was Friday, October 6th. It was sunny and in the 60s, but Andrea was working. But since she was working at home, I made her take a lunchtime hike at our local spot. We didn't know if the snakes were starting to return to their hibernaculums yet or not. Well, to be honest, we still don't know but we had a pretty fine amphibian half-hour! In fact, we flipped our first Blue-Spotted Salamander on the year!

Next up was another Bluie, but this was a bigger one and might have more Jeff in it than most. I get really confused with the whole Blue-spotted/ Jefferson complex thing and we and our dear son Matt the Moist found what was likely a unisexual specimen that was large and extremely Jeff-like. This one was large and the background color greyer than usual. A unisexual one? I dunno.

We finally declared our Redback drought officially over. While some fine folks laugh at our love of these usually common salamanders, I still find them to be woodland jewels. 

How 'bout a Redback and and Blue-Spotted?

A Redback on the straight and narrow.

The first Leadback we'd seen in some time.

One last peek under a trashcan in the cemetery before heading home... BLOOOOOO!

Not a bad half hour!

The next day, Saturday was crappy or we had obligations or some such shit but that Sunday, we were invited to a friend's party on the Cape. I scoped out a bunch of spots to poke around in the area of his house but while driving down Route 3, we thought, "It's sunny. Maybe the Hogs are out today..." and we pulled off in Plymouth County to hike our damned spot. We knew we were tossing the dice and might come up super short like we'd been doing there much of the year, but so what?

Well, we didn't do the full multi-area hiking. We passed up the bogs (bye frogs!) and took the heartbreak trail of the year first. What could possibly go wrong? Well, plenty, but we did find a Ringneck shoestring sleeping under some bark, so that was cool.

He were teeny. Here he is with a penny. 

The hike didn't produce anything else until we were almost back to the car and we saw one Painted Turtle grasping at the few sunrays.

I should mention that it wasn't nearly as warm as it looked. There was a frigid wind keeping everything in the 50s.

We only hit one more spot before giving up, the flipping spot. We did not go towards the vernal, we just flipped up top and got two Redbacks for our efforts.

It could have been worse. Who knows if we'd have seen anything at my proposed Cape spots? At any rate, we went down and enjoyed some time with friends, but it was chilly, lemme tell ya!

So, with the season definitely closing quickly, we know we're running out of chances. On Saturday the 14th, it wasn't terrible out... it was intermittently sunny but cool. There wasn't a lot of wind, though, so we figured we'd check on the local dens. I know, pretty soon that will be our only choice, but hey- it wasn't even 60° out, I didn't want to invest too much effort.

We went up to Robles' den area and scored a Redback right away. Good sign.

Next up, we were very surprised... almost as surprised as him, to see an American Toad hopping up the densite hill. Usually, we consider toads to be the first to disappear in the fall but this large fella was still up. A very welcome sight. Beautiful animal!

We got to a log over near Sly's Den and I said, "Remember when we had a cool (temperature) Garter under this last year?" Well, I rolled it and had a kind of two-fer. There was a Garter, but he slid into a hole. There was also a nice Spotted Salamander, too! We hadn't seen one in a a while.

The shoestring Garter hadn't disappeared completely, it turned out.

I didn't want to wreck his cavern so I dug into the mulchy soil about 6" away from him and eventually bothered him enough to come out. He musked me to show me the error of my ways.

The dens weren't hoppin'. Whether it was just too cold to see any animals or they weren't there yet is not known. I suspect the latter. We checked four different den-sites and only had that one shoestring present. We did see a few more Redbacks, though. (Cue the yawning for certain cool people.)

We decided to walk to the adjoining park and maybe hit the river to see if any foolish Painted Turtles were trying to bask on this shady day. (Turns out there was an annular solar eclipse that day which might account for some of the overcastedness...) This (I think) Green Frog was buried in the muck of the low water under a bridge. Beavers had stopped the flow pretty well.

Well, we got to the river and yes, Virginia, there was one Painted Turtle trying to get some eclipse rays.

He looks pretty pleased with himself, too.

Walking back, we stayed up on the paved path where it was a bit warmer. There are loads of rocks there but many are very heavy and I'm not half the flipper I used to be. I tried some low-hanging fruit but there weren't any snakes out.

Until there was.

One flip got me a handful of squamate cuteness. A yearling Garter, a this year's model and a much appreciated DeKay's! A beautiful Autumn bouquet!

Since we didn't see many others this year, here's a Deke solo shot. Gorgeous.

Heading back, we sat on a bench near the bridge. Andrea had to take a Mom-Call so I went over to the water. The big Green was gone but this skinny, dark Green was there wishing there was more water! Damn, beavers! (Hah!)

Heading back, we decided to check the Valley again. This Blue was under the same log that  the Redback and Blue-spotted were under in the picture above. I'm pretty sure it's the same laterale. Must be his crib.

Our last sight on this unexpectedly good day was another Spotted Salamander... definitely this year's metamorph.

So, not a bad day for one that we didn't even plan on walking. Eight species in our home county on a cool October day. I'll take it. That makes 16 October species of reptile and amphibian in Massachusetts. This upcoming weekend has been forecast to be warm and sunny... maybe even in he 70s. We'd love to have one (or two) more big days to hold us over the winter.

Who knows. 2023 has been crap but maybe we can still make up for it.