Things Are Waking Up. March 2nd, 8th and 10th.

Seeing some frogs and salamanders at the end of February did my heart a lot of good. We heard that it was going to be pouring on Saturday, March 2nd during the evening hours and, even though we'd just returned from Worcester around dinner time, we headed back out for some road cruising. Our destination was a State Forest in Plymouth.

It really was pouring and the drive there was pretty scary. When we got to the park, we observed the 20 MPH limit and started scouring the asphalt for things crossing. I stopped at what I thought was something squished and was overjoyed to see a very much un-squished Spotted Salamander!


While I was shooting that, our First of Year Peeper was hopping across the road.

The rain was coming down in sheets and though it was in the mid-40s, it's possible that the force of the drenching was keeping some animals hidden. That's fine. We didn't see a lot of road-kill. Niot to many other cars out there, either. Peepers and Spotted Salamanders were braver than most of the other potential species.

We broke things up with this confused little Bullfrog, our first on the year.

But the night was really all about Peepers. I moved dozens out of the road.

It was a hair-raising ride home but, since I am bald, it didn't matter. We were toast after a full day and hours in the car but we regretted nothing.

We didn't get out again until the following Friday. It was sunny and about 44° and Andrea had taken the day off. With the tons of rain we'd been having, we headed over to our close, local spot to see if there were many salamanders up. Might as well check the dens, too.

Yep- a few Redbacks were seen first.

This next guy was only 3/4 sized!

The Cottonwood Dens weren't getting much of the cold wind that we were suffering through. Lo and behold, our first reptile on the year, our FOY Garter!

After striking out a Robles' Den and the Valley, we figured it was too cold, but no... two more frost-loving Garters were present there, as well.

I can't remember Andrea's logic but on the way back, she wanted to hit a hill where we rarely see stuff but have heard stories of "snakes spilling out" from some dogs walkers. It's next to water so we thought an Ambystoma or two were possible. I was up on a ridge and Andrea pointed to a spot I'd just walked past...

I think we just found ourselves another potential densite.

We ended the day with a nice Redback.

The following day, it was cold and rainy. We stayed in. Sunday was unexpectedly sunny and about 50° so we went back. The sun wasn't staying out long, clouds kept moving in, but we stuck to it. We hit Robles' Den first. A dusty Garter!

And right below him, a last-year's-model Water Snake, just as dusty. Our First of Year!

Already worth the visit.

A Redback that was under a log that has been beddy beddy good to us in recent times.

In the two days since our last visit here, there was a lot of accumulated standing water. We figured we'd see more salamanders but this guy was our only one on the day.

The Valley was more serpentine this day, too! Two more Garters.

We moved on to the Cottonwoods, expecting big things. Nothing. But our first visit to the Rock Wall Dens had our first Garters there in a couple of years. Andrea spied this one I'd walked right past... a very clean specimen.

I chipped in with this stubby guy who really needed the Vitamin C to heal up that tail tip.

We heard some happy Wood Frogs, but that was it for the day. So, in three days, we'd seen snakes at five different hibernaculum areas here. This place is like having a nature show that you can visit. We've decided that we can't go back again any time soon. It might be cheating. But that's nine species of reptile or amphibian for the winter, and that's pretty good. Our friend Mike has about 19 now! The rules have all changed. Big Night doesn't really exist anymore. Things come out when the feel like it.

If we can get out this weekend, we may see more Winter critters. The year is young and I am not, but I hope to have a fun 2024 in the field.