What? August is Over?? 8-26-2023

With August coming to a rapid close, we had to get out at least once on this perfect weekend. We headed over to a spot deep into Norfolk County where we've seen baby snakes and turtles during the proper season... and that time is NOW! We got there at about 9:30 and the parking lot was packed! But it was mostly yoga folks who'd just finished up an outdoor workout. *Phew*

We started in and our first sighting was a good sized Water Snake who was skinny. A female who had just popped out babies? They had cleared some brush from the area making it easier to look around.

Next up was a neatly folded, in the blue Garter.

Looking around a loggy area, we saw a large Pickerel and a small American Toad who posed nicely.

At a little inlet at the pond, where we'd startled a huge Water Snake in the past, we didn't startle what was probably the very same snake. This big, fat, moo-moo, mama cow obviously hasn't yet dumped her kids yet. Absolutely massive gal.

We continued down the trail, then found a nice bench overlooking the pond. Rest time #1. Distant Painters were visible from the bench.

We looked in on a vernal pool that still had water. It's safe to say that, by now, everything has emerged. The water was quiet. This beautiful Green Frog was posing nicely next to the pool.

Continuing up the path, we saw a commotion in the grass. This wee American Toad was noisily hopping along.

Be careful, fella. This Garter wasn't far away from the Toad and he was all shakin' head and jutting tongue. This guy was definitely on the search for lunch.

We finally got to the waterfall. I peeked down in our secret spot and saw a small Greenie.

We took rest stop #2 in the bird blind. We saw no birds but enjoyed watching this Eastern Chipmunk flit around through the bushes and branches.

This could have been a great shot but that one Painted Turtle decided to be difficult and hide. This was my only vantage point.

This was going to be our first time going the long way this year. We made it out to a spot where we have often seen Snaplings and young snakes, as well as salamanders. Well, this magical spot had none of that, but we saw a Wood Frog, so that's cool.

Note to self... we'd never seen Crazy Worms here before, but encountered some this time out. And saw no salamanders. Yes, we are concerned.

We saw a big clump of Chicken of the Woods growing at the bottom of a tree. I decided that if I saw any animal nearby, I'd pose it on the fungus. A small American Toad drew the short stick.

Walking through a field, we saw Milkweed and looked closely at it for Monarch caterpillars. We saw a few Milkweed Tussocks and this mess... a slew of "invasive" Oleander aphids with another introduced species, the Asian Lady Beetle, sitting by waiting to indulge in a buffet.

Also up in that Milkweed field, a small Green Frog. Weird... we thought it would have been a Pickerel!

We walked along, took another rest, walked a bit more, and at Rest Stop #4, we sat and had Pinters basking within sight again.

Resuming our hike, we were already well on the way back to the front. We saw this stunning Green Frog sitting on a log that I was going to roll.

If he looks disturbed, it might be because right across the path, this was going on. SKIP THE NEXT TWO PICTURES IF YOU'D LIKE... ANIMAL EATING ANOTHER ANIMAL!!!!!

This Garter had caught a Green by the back leg and was struggling to get it down.

Looks like an Egg-eating Snake!

We let it be. Once he gets past that one armpit, he's home free.

We'd gotten back to the waterfall (coming from the other direction, obviously) and saw a Water Snake basking on the peninsula, a rare sight these past few years due to dogs and brats.

Back towards the front, where the neatly folded Garter was in the morning, there was a new, stub-tailed Garter, also in the blue, resting in a pretzel-shape.

We were almost done, but decided to go peek at the man-made pool. No frogs at this time but we flipped an in-the-blue Ringneck. Despite getting prepared to shed, it is still very iridescent.

Walking back to the car, a Fish Crow was making us chuckle with its ridiculous sounding call. I got a shot of it and it is #80 on the year.

So, that was a pretty good day, though the lack of salamanders concerns me. It was pretty cool in the morning and never got super hot. And we've had a lot of rain. I just don't know what to think.

The next day was gorgeous but we had to stay home and get things done. Bummer.