Something Blue, Something New. 10-4 & 10-5, 2025

Mercifully, the weather was supposed to be decent for the weekend. We had made plans to see Andrea's mom on Saturday but we decided to check out our local dens on the way there for two reasons. First, to see if anyone is back yet (no evidence). Secondly, we had a massive yellow squash that we wanted to leave in the woods for snacking, having seen a pumpkin get devoured last year but unknown critters.

It was very very dry but Redbacks didn't seem to be worrying about it.

As I said, the dens were unoccupied so after depositing the squash, we walked along the path up to the adjoining park. Our pal Joe the Bullfrog wasn't there, so we went further out. Eventually, we got to a spot where we could see distant Painted Turtles basking.

We had to get going but I wanted to check out some often-rewarding rocks just before we got to the car. Much to our delight, we found (despite the dryness) a couple of Blue-Spotted Salamanders, our first of the year.

Not a bad half hour right there.

The next day, we decided to try a new spot. While watching the Nerodia tug-of-war last week with some other folks, they'd mentioned a spot in Plymouth County that they enjoyed. I did some research during the week, printed a map and we headed over to this new place on Sunday morning.

It is a fairly short hike, just over three miles. It's near the coast and boardwalks traverse a river in two spots. From those boardwalks, we saw plenty of late-season Painted Turtles catching some rays. That's quite an old-timer on the top.

Hoissst!

Smarty pants.

Old-timer and brown shell made no effort to move as we crossed the boardwalk.

There are a ton of bird-blinds, lots of marsh-land and some nice wooded trails as well as field-side trails. But we saw nothing while walking. Still, it was beautiful. Andrea saw a Praying Mantis and I got a funny photo and dedicated it to one of my favorite books.

Before leaving, I got another (very) distant shot of a group of Painters way out on a pond.

It was a successful recon mission and we figure that in April, it will be great with birds and lots of critters. Just not this day. So, we got milkshakes and headed back towards home with the intention of stopping at a reservoir in Norfolk County that we'd not been to this year.

We got there and noticed plenty of change in the two years since our last visit. We were happy, however, to see a few Redbacks early into the hike.

The ponds around the main lake were low but still filled. This Bullfrog was happy enough, anyway.

After that, we took plenty of shaded, wooded trails and then set out across the dam in the blazing sun. Most of the bushes and trees along this path had been downed so I started to realize that Water Snakes and Racers would be unlikely at this time of day (mid-afternoon). We went all the way out, then started back and I could tell by then that Andrea was just doing this only for me. I felt pretty shitty. Well, we made it back to the path that led to the car and feet were draggin'.

All of a sudden, things were good... a Snapling was standing in the middle of the path, head held high and being beautiful.

Nothing will make Andrea happier than a baby Snapper.

We photographed him and then I saved him a few hours by walking him down to a wet, leafy area right next to the pond. He can hide there of bury himself or move on. Lots of opportunities.

A snakeless weekend but a First-of-Year and a new spot scoped out. Better than sitting around looking at a computer. By far.