Friday Fun! May 17th, 2024

We had planned on going to Brimfield, the massive antique Mart that happens 3 times a year in Central Massachusetts. It turns out, it isn't far from the place in Worcester County that has (had?) The Magic Tree... a place where you can see the extremely rare (in this state) Rat Snake. Last year, we'd noted the rapid deterioration of the tree, a favorite Rat Snake hang-out and we went all of 2023 without seeing that species. Would our luck change this year?

With antiques also on our mind, we left early so we could look around the park before heading into Brimfield.. We got there by 10:30 AM and headed straight to the tree. Mercifully, it was still standing but you could see right through it. If I was in charge, which I surely am not, I'd have put a metal band right around the split trunk, or maybe a massive zip-tie. But it's still there, at least. We checked the trees around it and the shady spots but came up Ratless.

Moving on, we went into a field and saw our first animal, a mini American Toad. A good start.

Andrea called me back to a spot I'd walked past... evidently, I'd missed this gorgeous Garter Snake! First one in May!

We decided to go flip some stuff. This park has a lot of flipping due to dead picnic tables and such. It was doing this where we got of First of Year Ringneck!

It wouldn't be Spring in New  England without a Redback!


We curved up to look through an empty campsite where we'd seen a Rat Snake before. Not this time, but I asked if Andrea had looked under the bark of a fallen tree. She said no. I peered under it and found this Ringer.

This Redback was also under there... I told him to look out!

We went down to a pond that is very full this year. With the sun beaming down, there were dozens of Painted Turtles up sunning themselves. Here are a few of them.

There were a few Bullfrogs sitting on logs, too. Some were big enough to photograph from 30 feet above! Like this guy.

We stayed there for a bit, just watching the turtles enjoy the day when a Water Snake went splashing into the water from the shore. That drew our attention to the tangle that it had just retreated from...

It was a veritable cluster-fuck!

It was Noon and we had to get moving but decided to take one last peek at the Tree, since we don't get out this way too often. This time, we got lucky! A medium sized Black Rat Snake was warming up at the very top of the Tree!

Score one for the tenacious! First in two years.

We decided to look around a little bit more and after 15 minutes, it was time to really go but I wanted to see if the Rat had moved and maybe I could get a headshot. Nope. In 15 minutes, he had moved on completely. Timing certainly is everything. This American Goldfinch (#37) judged us.

So that was a productive hour and a half! While driving out of the park, a massive Turkey Vulture was flying low and swooped over our car. That was pretty cool, too. Onward to Brimfield, where we didn't score much junk, but we had fun. But eight species in a half hour... four of them snakes, made this a very good day indeed.

Early May... 5-11-2024

May has been tricky again this year, with nice warm, sunny days during the work week, then dreary cool days on the weekends. Saturday May 11th was supposed to be Somerville Porchfest but due to a snafu, the band didn't get signed up. So we Andrea and I were free to hike. But it was 55° and cloudy. We wanted to hike anyway, so we took a stroll around our favorite Norfolk County pond.

We went in a different spot than usual, therefore we saw things in different order than usual. We got there at 10 AM and kept our jackets on. A hiker was coming towards us and she told us of an owl that was sitting in a tree not too far up the path. She was right. Thank you, unknown girl with dog! This is the first Barred Owl I have photographed in years! Bird #33 for 2024.

He actually flew up closer to us.

So, the birding got off to a good start but we doubted that many reptiles would be present. Our first cold-blooded finds were a couple of small Redbacks. Both of these guys are stub-tails. 

This is good because this place is really bad with Crazy Worms and last year, Redbacks looked like they were on the decline because of it. While this side of the pond is less Crazy, it's still a good sign.

We didn't see anything for the next mile or two but when we got to the dam, we had a very unexpected surprise. A trio of horny Water Snakes were up, mostly guarded from the wind, and havin' at it in the cool weather.

Our first May snakes.

Here's #34, a Red-winged Blackbird. Not rare or anything but I really like the shot I got.

Another nice surprise was the amount of turtles that were attempting to sun themselves on this cool, cloudy, windy day. The edge of the pond was full of Spotted and Painted Turtles, most of which dove into the drink when we stopped to try to photograph them. Here is a quartet of Spotteds that I was able to get shots of. The first guy was actually crossing the path!

That last guy was pretty high up in the reeds. I wish I'd see him climb up there!

The last sight on the way back to the car was this pretty, chocolatey Redback.

So, not a record-breaking day but not so bad after all. We hiked 6 1/2 miles all told and saw plenty of things that we wouldn't have seen from the couch. I call it a success.

April Squamates? I Think NOT! 4-21, 27 and 28.

Shades of 2023... every nice day is falling on a weekday when we're at work! It was supposed to be OK on Sunday the 21st so we grabbed breakfast on the road and headed in to Plymouth County for a look see. The thing is, it was 53° and cloudy when we got there... and it never really changed. The nights had been getting close to freezing and our hopes of flipping any snakes were thwarted. We did, however, see a bunch of Redbacks.
    

We forced our way down to the vernal, even though a couple of creeps on ATVs had zoomed past us. At least they didn't splash through the pool. There was one Painted Turtle up, looking for the sun.

We were hoping that the bogs would be a bit better. But they had recently cleaned it up and had upset the resident frogs. Only one Green and one Bull was encountered. That is outrageous. It's usually teeming with frogs

These two small Chain Pickerels were in the bog (though I believe it attaches to a nearby lake somehow), which was weird enough, but they stayed side by side... even as they took off.

We didn't bother with the long path. It was blocked for a race in the morning and by afternoon, it just didn't seem worth it. Not even any big turtles were basking in the usual places. It was not a sunny day. Our last sight was a pair of dark Leadbacks.

I'll admit that the weather left me a little disappointed but at least we saw a few critters. I also added a couple of birds.

One week later, it was supposed to be sunny and mild. We said fuggit... let's go back! So we left pretty early and got there at about 10 AM. We decided to skip the gas-line cut and vernal, starting with the bogs. It's funny... we have often called Spring (or Summer) Azures "Harbingers of Failure" in jest, and wouldn't you know... they're the first thing we saw. And we saw a lot of 'em.

Again, we started with a Redback.

Since I'm known to some as "the guy who likes Redbacks more than anyone else", this was fine by me.

I peeled back some bark and some wood on a rotten log and disturbed this handsome American Toad.

The bog itself was still pretty empty but a few more Bullfrogs were enjoying the sun.

Cutting through the woods, we came to a spot where we have waded in a pond before. We'd never seen a turtle basking on these rocks; they are usually against the shore and we stand on them. This Painter was taking advantage of the higher water level.

A shy Redback in the woods.

We saw a few more Bullfrogs in the bog on the way back to the car

Next stop was the long trail that we'd passed up on the week before. There were a bunch of Painters up basking in the pond. Many splashed in before I could get a shot, but I figured I'd get those ones on the way out.

Well, we did our hike and enjoyed every step of it. The great thing about this place is every step is a new possibility. But our search for snakes came up empty. It was nice enough; we were in T-shirts, but our eyes never lay upon a snake. In about 2 miles of hiking, we added just a Leadback.

As I'd promised myself, I stealthily got those Painters that had eluded me on the way in.

Thank goodness turtles were up this trip!

With that in mind, we went over to where the big Redbellies roam. Or bask. I guess they pretty much do what they want. Sure enough, a massive Redbell was basking on a fallen tree.

Tring to get a shot of the Painted Turtle in front of him, I discovered that there were three Painters there!

A little further out was a beautiful chorus line of Redbellies with a couple of Painter accents.

In the distance, one of each.

Walking further out the peninsula, we saw a gathering of Painters across the water. Isn't that an Elton John song?

That was our last photo of the day. We did backtrack a few miles and flip around the gas-line cut but saw nothing. I say that I'm disappointed when I'm out in nature, enjoying the sun and Andrea and every step we take is a possibility. No snakes, but another beautiful day in the woods, seeing animals. 6 1/2 miles of hiking and we weren't complete toast. Not too bad.

The next day, we stuck close to home. We went to a nearby Norfolk County place for a short (3 1/2 mile) hike. Maybe our local snakes would be out and about.

Well, they weren't but again, it doesn't matter. We'll see snakes. It's only April still. Out again in T-shirts, enjoying the sun... it's all good. We saw a huge Green Frog on the way in.

This is a bird-centric hike and we saw and heard many. I was sitting down taking a rest, photographing a crazy White-breasted Nuthatch (#29) male.

In the sunny, sandy (formerly known as Racer) Alley, we were very surprised to see a Blue-spotted Salamander hiding under some trash. We'd seen one in the park before, in a shady wooded area. This guy was a total surprise.

Got a pretty decent shot of this Savannah Sparrow (#32)

Then, Andrea struck once again, with her excellent eye for hatchling turtles. This wee Painter was in the path (and two big-wheeled trail bikes had just buzzed through) and his angel of mercy spotted him.

We took him over to the wetlands (where he was headed) and put him near the edge.

A trio of runners came stomping through just after that. I'd have to say that Andrea saved his little life. Now, all he has to watch out for are frogs, brids, snakes, mammals... well, lots of things. But he shant be trod upon.

We wish him all the best.

So, again... no snakes. Our needle in a haystack pastime was more haystack than needle again. But we were out in the sun and enjoying ourselves. This time last year, Andrea was in a cast so we're not going to poo-poo anything this year. We'll see more snakes, I suspect. But it's been a few weeks. I do get anxious!