September is Upon Us. Sept. 5th and 7th, 2026

September got off to an awful start when I noticed, while checking my bank account online, that someone had stolen half of my money. It was made even worse when, after freezing that account and opening a new one, the same asshole hit again and stole the rest. Oh well, difficult come, easy go. I got the second theft back, still working on the first one. Plus, my back was in a great deal of pain, but I toughened up and took Andrea out to a spot in Middlesex County on Saturday to look for hatchlings and turtles in general. This spot is GREAT for Painters plus you get the occasional Snapper and Blanding's.

We got there early enough and hit (well, I hobbled until my back got used to it) the trails. Andrea struck first with a bronzy Redback.

From then on, we only saw Painted Turtles. But we saw a lot of Painted Turtles. This was a sign to us that the season is ending and the turtles know it. They are stacking up in hopes of enjoying some good sun rays before having to get down into the mud and ass-breathe for the winter. Sad but true... it's getting colder these days. Enjoy these Painters enjoying the sun.

Damn!

Painters. I love them.

After that, I wanted to pull over to a dam-site where I've pulled back a tarp and seen Water Snakes before. We got there and the tarp was down and I lifted it... there WAS a Water Snake under it but she was far quicker than my camera abilities.

She disappeared into a hole as fast as lightning.

The next day, Sunday the 6th, we went over to Cutler Park in Norfolk County and hiked for about 3 miles but saw nothing to photograph. Poop.

Monday the 7th was Labor Day and Andrea wanted to check out a place in Bristol County and I was more than happy to take here there. I had enough gas in the tank to get there and back. We didn't hurry because the night was cool and it would take a while for things to get up. We got there at about 10:30 and the rocky garden was mostly in the shade still, dewy and cool. This Pickerel Frog greeted us.

The stones held a happy surprise for us...

A Milk! I can't believe it but it's only the third of 2026.

There were two massive, fat Pickerels hopping around. This guy was in the grass and I saw a shoestring Garter (one of our targets for the day) slither right next to him, tempting fate! Luckily, the Pickerel didn't notice him and hopped up to the stones for a wonderful pose.

This American Toad was also hopping through the garden.

My back was still iffy but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't roll back a log and see the darkest Leadback of the year!

At the river, Painters were starting to mobilize (immobilize?) in the sun.

We walked the trails slowly, stopping to sit and rest and watch the river ripple and the tree's leaves sway in the soft breeze. This is the part I'll miss the most in a couple of months. Back on the trail, we each found a Redback under logs.

We saw clumps of Pinesap, the Redbacks of parasitic plants.

At the waterfall, a Solitary Sandpiper was foraging and paying no attention to us.

Andrea had been searching for Snaplings all day. Whenever she saw a hole in the ground that looked like a possible nest exit-hole, she dug in to see if anyone needed a hand. This place is notorious for tons of Snapper egg predation but she did find a few nests along the way that had been successful so we kept a close watch on our step for the whole walk.

A little tributary from the dam river held the cutest surprise... a Snapling survivor! Andrea was, of course, overjoyed. As was I.

We hiked back towards the front and made a side trip to a stream that had some small frogs hopping away from us. I finally got a look at one... a tiny all-head Pickerel. This year's model.

Back in the woods, Andrea spotted another American Toad that looked black in the shadows. My flash revealed a dark chocolate brown. Gorgeous.

Ah, the old appliance graveyard. It used to be amazing, with old appliances, rugs, tarp, car doors... We'd seen Milks, Racers, Garters, DeKays, even a Spotted Turtle hatchling in there. But since they cleaned it, it has been barren. Still, a couple of tiles remain and I always go over to check them. I saw a skin in the tiles, which is a positive, and then a whole shoestring Garter, my main target on the day!

This little guy is going into the blue so that is evidently not his skin.

That was it for this place. The Milk was still in the garden on the way back but we didn't bother him. We decided to drive five more miles to a good spot in Plymouth County in hopes of Water Snake shoestrings or possibly more Snaplings.

We got there and saw a guy and a kid looking at our spots! My mind went to the worst place... they're looking for turtles to eat or something. The guy stopped and yelled to the kid and pointed at something. He'd seen a Water Snake. I was thinking "oh, yeah... he probably thinks it's a Moccasin... I'd better show him it's not". I reached in and grabbed the Water Snake and was promptly musked into oblivion.

It turns out that they guy was the youngster's father and the kid is studying reptiles for a career and they, just like us, always go out to see what they can see. The young man is very smart (and the Water Snake was very calm in his hands) and shows some good hope for the future. We compared spots (we hit a lot of the same areas) and notes and hopefully, we'll see them again some time soon.

So, it's good to know that not all humans suck. These guys were awesome and we have met a lot of cool folks out there this year. Hopefully, that is a trend that will continue into next year and beyond.

When all is said and done, despite a total strikeout on Sunday, it was a pretty good weekend.