Beating the Heat. 7-23-2023

 Last year was dry and hot. Too hot to do much and so dry that things were in danger of dying out due to drought. This year is also very hot, but we have tons of rain. Record breaking rain. While many folks complain, I say "let it rain, baby"! No dried out vernal pools this year. No thirsty snakes. We'd hoped to take advantage of the moistness of it all and head into Essex County to look for salamanders and snakes.

Of course, true to form, we got a late start, but when we got there, we remembered that much of the trail was shaded and it wasn't horribly hot in the shade. There were, however, 'skeeters. But, much to our joy, there were frogs, too. Our first find was a small Pickerel.

This year's toads were seen as well... here's a miniscule American Toad.

How about a Green Frog on the edge of a pool?

I rolled a log over and startled this small Wolf Spider up on to my shoe.

We got to a spot overlooking the water and saw plenty of turtle noggins poking out. This Painter was swimming when I snapped.

Back to the trail, a Green in a mud puddle. No shame, just keeping cool.

I'd been hoping for a large adult Pickerel. This upper-medium-sized one was good enough.

Another spot overlooking the water was very productive for Painted Turtles.

A Red Admiral landed in front of me and begged for a photo. How could I say no?!

A cool Painter.

The spots that had been best for snakes in the past were right out in the scalding sun this time. Finally, in the dappled shade next to a pond, a slim Garter was spotted.

Down the hilly path (Andrea did great with just her brace on) and on to the next pond. This one is usually filled with duckweed. We noticed that, incredibly, one side of the pond was dry. Being next to a reservoir, it's possible that it had been dammed up or something. When we did get to the watery part, it was Painted Turtle Mecca.

We got over to the path that overlooks the reservoir, usually a great spot for Water Snakes. The walk was mostly in the shade so we'd be comfortable as we sought Nerodia. We finally saw one near the end but she was a sneaky snake and I only got crap photos. (I didn't keep any of them, but hold on...) We got to the turn around point and... get this... we turned around! Barely starting back, we saw a large Water Snake that looked exactly like this one.

Is that the same gal that I'd just struggled to get a shot of? No, THIS one is she! (I recognised the dirt on her face!)

And then, right next to her was one of the biggest Water Snakes I'd ever seen. This one was as big around as my wrist. And my wrist is big. Look at that head!

^ That was a tough-assed picture to get, by the way.

The, right next to her was another large Nerodia!

We had entered the Water Snake Sweepstakes and won! Four large-to-massive gals all in a row. You could back up and see all four at once. Tremendously cool.

From there on, it was just a nice walk back through nature. I saw a small Wood Frog at one point that handed me my ass, as well as another Garter that did the same. We finally sat down near the water and just enjoyed watching Painted Turtles enjoying the summer with us

Noggins.

And that is how the day ended. We got ice cream afterwards. I got Peach and Andrea, naturally, got Totally Turtle.

A Visit to the Magic Tree. 7-15-2023

We had plans to visit the summer Brimfield antique show that weekend. Attending that show always puts us in range to visit the Magic Tree, home of the easiest Rat Snakes to see in the state. We rarely fail to see at least one (though, we have failed...) It was going to be hot, hot... hotter than hell that Saturday so we left nice n' early and got to the park in Hampden County a bit before 9 AM. Of course, Andrea's foot was going to keep us moving slow, but that gave us more time to look closely.

Sadly, the Tree is falling apart. You can see right into it. I don't think it will last much longer. We didn't see any of our target snakes, either. Hopefully, they'll find a new place to nest because that tree will be kaput in a year or two. We went searching for schnickles elsewhere and found a small Garter in a tarp.

Getting down to a good flipping spot proved tough but not impossible for Andrea. That's good, because we found a Milk down there. In the blue and ready to shed, he did not appreciate us bothering him for a photo. Sorry, dude.


While we were fussing with ther Milk, a Green Darner expressed an interest in Andrea's water bottle.

Not long after that, we saw a female Widow Skimmer. Very lovely she is.

I peeked under a log thinking of salamanders and a little Garter face peered out at me. I carefully lifted the whole log and got him out for a picture. Think he calmed down? No... I'm holding his tail for a faux "in situ" shot.

Down by the swampy area, the water was covered with duck weed. Some of the resident Painted Turtles were piled comically high with it!

We checked the Tree a couple more times but it remained empty. It was super hot and humid already so we weren't surprised. We  were however surprised by this tiny 3/4" long Peeper.

Keeping it short, we headed back to the parking area. While Andrea powdered her nose, I went back to the tarp area to flip a few things, even though we just had an hour and a half earlier. A big metal sign had a good sized Garter under it now, along with whatever meal was in her belly.

Further inspection under the tarp revealed a big Ringneck coiled up on a discarded metal frame.

Rather than walk on Andrea's ankle, we drove out, but stopped just after the water area that runs along the side of the entry road. We were rewarded with a trio of clean Painters.

These guys had a more secluded spot about 40 feet from the road.

We drove up a boat launch road to see what it looked like, but turned right back around. It was, oddly enough, just a boat launch. There was a big mud puddle near the entrance that we stopped to look at. This small Green Frog had the whole thing to himself.

We'd heard them playing their banjos around the swampy area so it was nice to get our eyes on this fellow.

And that was that. We went off to Brimfield from there, got overheated (I spent $12 on lemonade) and found a few things to bring home. A good day was had by both of us but even my feet were sore. Andrea was a champ and deserved a good lay-down when we got home.

What We Did Over Our Summer Vacation. 7-3 through 7-9

 We both had the week of the Fourth of July off. Of course, we wanted to get a few hikes in but we also had a lot to do around the house, so we sought to choose our hikes wisely. Easier said than done. The week started out cool and rainy. Monday, the 3rd, was supposed to show signs of improving, so we tried a brand new place, an Audubon spot in Middlesex County that looked really good for turtles.

Of course, we got there very early and it was very cool and still drizzling.

I saw a deer next to the pond and a low-to-the-ground mammal (beaver?) hurrying through the brush, but I had my camera under my shirt for rain reasons and could not procure a photo. I was quick enough to get this Eastern Cottontail, though. It was one of three we saw there.

It was a very nice place but boy, did we ever pick the wrong time. We will visit it again under better conditions.

From there, we drove a few miles to check out a nearby State Park. $8 parking didn't deter us and we headed toward the beach. A dcr guy said "it's windy and wet". We figured that out.

But we got off to a nice start with a Pickerel Frog in the grass.

We walked through the woods with a big, open dam area in our sights. It was nice up there, reminiscent of many other places that we enjoy. I startled a large Water Snake who had just come up top to bask. She slid into the water before I could document her. Finally got her.

There was a lot of Common Mullein growing up there, which kept the Bumblebees happy.

At the end of the dam area (at the dam-proper), Rough-winged Swallows were flitting all over the place. We sat and rested for a while watching them. One finally landed for our #73 bird on the year.

This was our view from our sitting spot. Not too shabby.

As we walked back, we started to notice numerous Water Snakes popping their heads out of the rocks along the raised walkway. Most of them were too quick for my fumbling fingers but I got a shot of one more.

That was our first hike of the week. Not gangbusters, but two brand new spots that we enjoyed.

On the 4th of July, we walked around a local Norfolk County pond for the first time. We enjoyed it but the only animal we saw was one small Painted Turtle over the few miles of hiking. It was super hot.

Still, worth the effort.

We didn't get out again until Friday the 7th. We'd had a few walks planned but slept right through our "must leave by" times. It was incredibly hot so it's leave early, or forget it. We forgot it.

We'd hoped to hook up with our friend Box Turtle Tim and hit the Cape but he had to work all week so we ventured to the Cape on our own on Friday, leaving very early and arriving in Tim's turtle field by 8:30 AM. With scale, tape measure and Box Turtle forms, we were ready to gather some data for Tim. Except it was already well into the 80s and we were soaked with sweat at the word go. We didn't see any Boxies, but we did see a nice Fowler's Toad in his woods.

Looking around the area, we realized that we hadn't been to this sanctuary in the daytime since the pandemic. A lot of things had changed, but apparently, it was for the better. A lot of Bullfrogs were enjoying a man-made pool that hadn't been there the last time we were.

There was a Painted Turtle in there too, basking secretly.

Since we'd failed on Box Turtles, we hit the trails towards the beaches in hopes of seeing a Diamondback Terrapin, a species we'd missed the past few years. We passed a freshwater pond with a couple more Painters up basking.

Along the trail, we encountered this horrifying sight... a Parasitic wasp (probably Ammophilia sphecid) carrying a live Rough Prominent Caterpillar (thanks, Teá!) to go feed it to its young. Nature is brutal.

One thing that always surprises me at this place is the clumps of Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus... it just looks out of place near a beach.

Once we hit the beach path, Fiddler Crabs were all over. They are a lot of fun to watch and they're so variable in both size and color! Lefties and righties, too!

We'd been keeping an eye out in the grasses and dunes for nesting Terrapins but saw none. We saw a lot of nests, some protected and some marked to protect with cages. It had been a busy morning, evidently. Finally, we saw a little canal and our First of Year Diamondback Terrapin, first since 2019.

There were a few noggins poking out of the water, too.

One target achieved! We went out towards the beach and watched Fiddler Crabs for a while and even learned a thing or two. The ones without the big fiddle claws are the females.

This guy was my favorite... he stood there, gesturing and standing his ground against we two massive mammals. He was pure badass. Guy N. Smith would be proud.

Walking back (the sand after the soft pine-layered woods was starting to do a number on Andrea's ankle), we peeked into the canal again and saw two Terrapins basking.

Because I like learning shit, I photographed this plant. It is a Rugosa Rose plant and the fruits are edible, though I didn't test that out. We did see the flowers elsewhere and didn't realize it was the same plant.

Passing by the freshwater pond, a Painter had the float all to himself... for now.

Of course, we were toast by this time. Sore ankles and feet and overdone by the sun. We sat in rocking chairs, acting our age, and watched the bird feeder area for a while, cooling off. I added three (common) birds to the year, including the best portrait ever of a Wild Turkey (#74).

We ended the day with his bald Northern Cardinal, who looks more than a little bit like me.

The last day before work, Sunday the 9th, we were going to look at Green Snake place, even though it was in the 90s, but decided to go work on Andrea's garden plot instead. Weeding needed to get done. Well, making the responsible choice actually worked out in our favor when Andrea found our First-of-Year DeKay's Snake while weeding!

And that is how we spent our Summer vacation. We're still not able to do too much with that ankle, and if we try, it tells us to stop, but we finally got our Deke and first Terrapins in a few years, so it's all good.

The house didn't get very clean, though.