After the hot, hot, hot of Friday, it was supposed to cool off for Saturday, but it was still in the 60s. Not too shabby. We decided to go to our Middlesex County spot in hopes of seeing a Blanding's Turtle before the foliage filled in. We got there mid-morning and noticed that this place, like so many others, has been razed.
All along the main path, the sides were crushed and shaved down, making the path much wider. Since there was excellent habitat on both sides, this worried us, especially because there are some protected species calling this place their home. This camera-shy Painted Turtle was out n the (widened) path, so that was a good sign.
Not far from him, a Garter was poking around.
The beavers had made this place their own last year and that could be why some of the work was done. The main pond is still very big and we could see some basking Painters through the brush that was still there.
The path destruction continued up and we got quite nervous when we noticed it went up through a spot where we often see early-year Blandings leaving their winter vernals to head to other ponds. What we didn't want to see was a crushed. skinned turtle. Mercifully, we did see a turtle up there, just out of the line of chaos. Our FOY Blanding's.
Lookit that mug.
We don't know when the destruction was done. I assume it was days or weeks ago. Luckily, this second Blanding's, who was right there in the chopped up brush, wasn't in this spot when they went through.
Gawd, I do love their silly faces!
I was kind of scooting ahead to make sure Andrea didn't see anything that might have been ground up by heavy machinery. While I was up ahead, she yelled out "Ribbon"! She had spied our first Ribbon of the year! I ran back and he stuck around long enough for a few shots.
Just a wee guy.
Finally off that main path (where we mercifully didn't see any disasters), we headed on to the adjoining path. There was a medium Water Snake swimming along the edge of the pond. When I snapped the picture, he flicked his tail, a behavior we hadn't seen before. Fucked up the picture, that's for sure!
Oh well... this other one was resting in the sun nearby.
Ol' Snappy had settled in a pile of sticks once he was done swimming and snapping.
By now, the sun was warm and everything was out. This is what we like... seeing lots of critters. Here's a Garter that is either very orange or was spending the winter in a den with a lot of tannins in the soil. Likely the latter.
Some secret Painters shot through the trees.
A large Water Snake sunning right next to the path. Shhh... don't wake her!
A prefect chorus line of Painted Turtles.
A couple of distant and secret stacks...
One thing that we always keep an eye on is the frog population. This place was usually reliable but we hadn't seen any yet. That razed part of the main path and pond used to be pretty reliable but was empty today. In recent years, we have been seeing less in most (but not all) places. It was with great pleasure that we saw this guy here, our First of Year Green Frog. 'Bout time!
We were about to turn and get on to the next path that runs along the river. There was a Garter guarding it. He did not ask us questions three, he just moved out of the way.
This path turned out to be the secret frog cache. I was so happy to have found frogs a'plenty! We got some more Greens...
A pair of big, plump Bulls...
A couple more super-pretty Greens...
Frog heaven, and they were all right there along that last path. There were dozens more that I didn't get decent pictures of.
Further up, I almost stepped on this big Garter lady. Well over two feet.
Eventually, this path leads back to the main path, so we had to walk along the sad, chopped path for a bit more. On the bright side, where there had been none a few hours earlier, there was now a Bullfrog up and at 'em.
A few visible Painters from the main pond.
We had the very good fortune to watch a pretty Water Snake take a leisurely crawl across the path, just going about her daily Water Snake business.
A few more secret Painters from the main path...
We exited by way of the train tracks. Luckily, no trains went by while we were up there. I did manage to flip a couple of Redbacks on the way out, though. Our eighth species on the day.
We were hungry after that hike so we went and got some lunch before hitting one more spot on the way home. It was after 3 PM now and cooling off a bit. We decided to have just a short hike at the other stop, still in Middlesex County.
Luckily, there were still a few Painted Turtles around when we got there.
Much to our surprise, there was a Blanding's up, as well. They are much harder to see here but before the reeds grow in too thick, there is always that chance. This was a pretty big one.
We got to our turn around spot and sadly, saw another dead Snapper in the water. It was absolutely massive. I felt bad for where it was and how it was positioned (on his back in the water) so I got a big stick and managed to flip it over and push it into the reeds, out of gawking range. Give the poor guy some dignity. Two dead Snappers on the year, zero live. That breaks my heart.
We sat on a bench on the way back, though, and watched this Painter slowly cross the path. It reminded us about how beautiful nature can be, even when tragedy is nearby.
The last thing we saw made up for everything. This place used to be frog-crazy. Last year, we had seen ZERO. All year. On multiple visits. We're worried about water treatment they did a few years ago for invasive plants. At any rate, our last sight was a happy looking Bullfrog, live and kickin'.
Thus ended a super exciting day. Yes, the razed path and the deceased Snapper were two sad discoveries, but the beauty and tenacity of nature wins out in the end. Who knows how long it will continue to bounce back? For now, if we all think about how to keep in viable, these critters will be around for a long time.
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