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!
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment