Herping April 14

 

Eastern Musk Turtle

I knew for a week that the extended forecast for this past Tuesday was going to be warm. Temps since I had not seen since October were coming. In the Norton area the expected temperature was going to be seventy seven degrees. This forecast was important and I followed it religiously for a week because I had Tuesday off. I wanted Tuesday to be epic.

   Normally, when I think epic in the spring, I think of whales from shore at Race Point. Because of the cooling waters of Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic, while it was going to reach eighty inland, Provincetown's forecast called for forty eight degrees and it was going to be rainy.

  So we went herping. We went to a national wildlife refuge in central Massachusetts that has Blanding's Turtles. I've seen three in my life but Laurie has not seen any. Obviously, the air temp was going to be much warmer than the water temperature so turtles almost had to be sunning themselves. 

  We didn't see any Blanding's though we saw dozens of Painted Turtles. We did come across four Garter Snakes. I got some photos of the first one but the other three hid themselves too fast. These were the first snakes of the year for me.

   After a picnic and a forty minute drive back closer to home, we went to my favorite herping spot where I see Pickerel Frogs, Fowler's Toads, and Black Racers. I didn't see any of them, but did see a Musk Turtle. I was very surprised to see this guy in a very fast moving brook. This was only my second Eastern Musk Turtle in Massachusetts and I had no idea they would be in such fast water. 

  A little later on I came across my first Common snapping Turtle of the year. All in all, not a bad day. The Musk Turtle was the highlight but any four snake day is a good day.

Below are some photos of a very cooperative Palm Warbler that I watched for ten minutes