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.