Weekday Wanderings- Oct. 15th and 17th

We've been having a glorious Indian Summer (or Native American Summer, or Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Summer... I try not to offend) and I just couldn't help myself. I hit some trails after work on Wednesday and Friday, the two nicest days of the week. I didn't see a ton, but I'm happy with the bonus herp-time!

After work of Wednesday, I headed over to Cutler for a quick look-see. It was lovely but it was after 4 PM so it had started to cool a bit. My first herp was at the tunnel... I went over to flip a small rock and saw a rustling in the grass. It was a wee Garter shoestring! I moved him to the ledge of the tunnel and let him move himself along.


For size reference, that is a detached top of a spray-paint can.

The woods were darker and cooler than expected. That's just fine for a small Redback, though.


I decided to go to our usual destination, despite the day's warmth rapidly coming to a close. I'm glad I did. A spot in the trail where bike folks have put down boards (MY boards) to cover a soft spot revealed three Red Efts!

That is why I never made much fuss about my boards being stolen... they still provide cover for animals that want it. Flatter animals.

My board line was decimated last year, but then I started to rebuild it. I hadn't been up this far in a while and I'm happy to say that it's still more or less intact. It was cool and wet under much of it so it was snakeless. This stunning Leadback was up there though.


On the way out, I saw another Eft.


So, I call that pretty good for a Wednesday! I had less luck on Friday as I couldn't extricate myself from work as quickly as I'd hoped. I got to Allendale after 4 PM and it was cool in the shady woods already. I made a quick hike and came up with a couple of Redbacks and a couple of Two-Lines.



This late in the year, you never know what is going to be your last of any species. Will that shoestring be the last snake of 2014? Will I see any more efts? Herp as herp can, I always say. It ain't over yet!

Time is Taut in Taunton 10-12-2014

Warmer. Even Sunny. We couldn't decide which of our two favorite places in Taunton to hit. So we decided to quickly hit them both. We grabbed Matt S to join us. There would be Mandarin Buffet involved too. Let's go!

We hit Boyden first. I figured that getting there early (10ish) would let the landscape warm up as we herped. Unfortunately, things were still pretty cool then. We managed a Redback, though.


No turtles were out at a Cheloneriffic spot, but that might have been a good thing... perched above the water was our (finally!) Big Year #94, a Red-shouldered Hawk!


We were actually quite a way up the trail before we spied our first basking Painted Turtle, who would only show me his ass.


We did find a few more Redbacks, too... one of which looked exactly like this:


We got to a dried vernal in hopes of seeing some spots... Spotted Newts and Spotted Salamanders. No sals, but we scored a few newts!


That second one, found by Matt, has an overbite.

Here's another pretty Redback.


It had become very warm in the sun and we were wondering why we hadn't seen any snakes yet. Surely some would be up on such a lovely October day! Sure enough, Andrea and Matt teamed up and landed this young Garter Snake!



Even the basking spots at the dam were turtle-free, but that probably had more to do with the dozens of water fowl taking up all of the spots. There was a lovely Two-Lined Salamander below the falls, however.


Andrea spotted this good-sized Wood Frog as we moved forward.


We checked out some fields that have had snakes in the past but saw none this day. We saw some cool insects, though. Like a Chinese Mantis,


And a Wolf Spider carrying her babies.


Back to the beginning, the Painted Turtles had finally come up and many were practicing yoga, especially that second guy!





Our last herp here was a bright Pickerel Frog!


On the way out, this chubby Raccoon was lurching across the street. Hopefully, it is OK... they really shouldn't be active in the day.


We went over for Mandarin Buffet and filled our gullets with tons of beige food! Many many thanks to Matt who picked up the bill!! Yay!!!

We got over to Massasoit by about 3:30. I was hoping that some of my boards had been warmed in the sun but it was pretty shady over that way. Andrea found a small Fowler's Toad though!

I thought that maybe we had seen our last toad earlier this month, so this guy made me very happy!

Here's a large, dark Pickerel that was over near my boards.


Look out... species #9 on the day... Matt found this small Green Frog!


A large, heavy rock on a beach was flipped to reveal another Fowler's Toad... looking very serious.


Herps were starting to be at a premium. No turtles were out by now. (Most of the choice basking spots were in the shade.) There were some cool insects, though. Like an American Lady! (Thanks, Teá!)


And a couple more Chinese Mantises.


It's pretty but the year seems to be ending on us rapidly.


Our tenth species of the day, a nice Bullfrog, seems to be wistfully looking to the future, knowing his days in 2014 are numbered. Next Spring he'll be back.


Matt spotted a beer can stuck way up on fallen tree over the water. That means some fool went through a lot of effort to litter. He went to retrieve it.

Unfortunately, many of his friends have since been making fun of this picture.

Our last herp of the day was a Redback.


So, will the Garter be our last snake of 2014? The Fowler's our last toad? We don't know but we're not giving up until the fat man sings... and my voice is shot so it's going to be quite a while!!

Ambystoma Afternoon 10-11-2014

Saturday, October 11th, was an official non-herping day. Our plan was to sleep in and do some housework as it was going to be cold and rainy outside. When we finally got up for good at about 11:30 AM, it was... cold and rainy. We set about cleaning and writing and doing bills and stuff... just like responsible people. But by 3 PM, we noticed that it was no longer raining. Sure, it was cold but... might not that rain have inspired some salamanders?

Sure enough, with very little convincing needed, we were headed to a spot in Norfolk County to look for some salamanders. Our target? The endangered and elusive Marbled Salamander, the one species of Ambystoma we missed last weekend. We arrived at about 3:30 PM, knowing we wouldn't have light for much longer. First up... Redbacks.


It really was cold and we were feeling fortunate that we had seen the Redbacks. Andrea checked out the campground ladies room for Wood Frogs and only found some lovely spiders holing up in there.



We were taking our usual trip on these trails... backwards, which got a tad confusing. Our goal is to find the Marbled breeding vernal and we think we have an idea where it is, so that is the way we headed. We finally found the spot but it is still dry. We set about flipping. Andrea calmly said "there's one".

Holy crap... we found a target for once! AND, we found it where we think the vernal is.

And you can't tell me that gal isn't ready to lay her eggs!

Wow! So, we're that much closer to being correct about our possible Marbled vernal! YAY!!

The same log also was home to a couple of Redbacks.


Further along, a Leadback...


And a pretty Redback.


We got to a stream, but the bed was dry. Not too dry for a couple of Two-Lined Salamanders, though!



Deciding to take the whole trail rather than turn back (we were just short of the half way mark), we picked up the pace due to the impending dusk. One last good flip was in order, though... a Spotted Salamander!

A decent sized adult!


An ambystoma afternoon! But before it became evening on us, we had to get moving. The sunset was lovely over the pond, which was very low and even dry in some parts.


^ check out the steam on the water in the back^

By the time we hit the woods again, it was headlamp time. But that was 2 1/2 hours well spent on a day that we had planned on not herping at all! Serendipitous salamanders are the finest of all. Plus, with last weeks Jefferson's and Blue-Spotted, we saw all four Massachusetts Ambystoma within a week! Take that, housework!