Copperhead Road

 

 Today we had an adventure. My friends Laurie, Charles Avenengo, and I went to western Connecticut to look for Five Lined Skinks. These small lizards are the only lizard species to live in New England. Spoiler alert, we did not see any skinks and this story is not about them.

   Our goal was to look for the skinks in the morning. Hopefully we would see one early then in the early afternoon try some other hills  that I know to have Copperheads. We have tried for Copperheads two times before and dipped both times. We went for them in October last year and also on May 5th of this year. Both times we had really nice weather that was perfect for snakes which made it that much more frustrating that we didn't see any. 

   Today, the three of us made it to our first trail about 9:30 am. We ate a quick snack and hiked up. We took our time and looked at every crevice and sunny rock ledge hoping to see a Five Lined Skink or even a Rattlesnake. I was willing to bet that in that part of Connecticut Timber Rattlesnakes slither in the hills. Spoiler alert number two, we did not see any Timber Rattlesnakes but it did give us an excuse to go slow and we were optimistic. 

   Our goal was to really check out the ledges at the top of these hills. Hopefully we would find a lizard scurrying around. After a short but steep climb we made it to our first overlook. The trees had grown up and there really wasn't any views to the valley below. However, we did stop and look down into the rocks below. While Charles and I were looking down on the rocky outcrops we hear Laurie say this as she is looking at the area on the summit.

Laurie said " This looks like a good area for a snake."

                Two seconds later

Hey! There is a snake!"

 

See the two shades of brown?

So Charles and I walk over and I get to Laurie first because I was closer.  I see a brown snake with hourglass markings and my first thought is Copperhead, but I say to them it might be a  Milk Snake because a Copperhead would be too good to be true. However, in the five seconds it takes Charles to get to me, I realize Laurie did indeed find a Copperhead!

   A little background on Copperheads. Copperheads are a venomous snake. Though they rarely kill people, they do carry enough venom that it is a possibility. They get to be about three feet long and are a thick bodied snake. They eat a variety of  prey smaller than themselves including mice and lizards. They live from the Florida panhandle to Massachusetts. Mass and Connecticut really are the northern edge of their range. While they may be in all suitable habitat in Virginia, up here they live in pockets of woods in very specific places.

   Copperheads bite more people in the United States than any other venomous snake. The reason is because they are so well camouflaged people step on them. The irony is they are very docile, especially when you consider they can kill you.  Most snake species will try to move away from humans. Of course, rattlesnakes will rattle and warn you of their presence. Copperheads, do not move in the hopes of not being seen. Their goal is for you and I to walk by them without us ever seeing them.

   So back to Laurie's snake...So  the Copperhead was only two feet off of the trail. There was a little small vegetation around "it" but it was pretty much in the open. It was so well camouflaged it really looked like the dead leaves that it was on. We found the head and started taking photos. Keeping in mind, that this snake really is an arm's length from the trail. So we are taking photos from two feet away. As we are looking at it, we realize "it" is two different shades of brown. One is dull and dry while the other is a brighter crisper shade which makes us realize that this snake might not be one snake but two! So we follow the outline of both shades of brown with our eyes and sure enough two heads! The snakes were intertwined around each other.

   So we are doing our best to take photos of both of the snakes trying to get an angle around a stump, a rock, and the brush. The Copperheads don't move at all and when one took a deep breathe we were very excited. So now we have two Copperheads at our feet and I am taking photos from right above them and I glance over about a foot and there was a third Copperhead minding its own business!

  It wasn't touching the other two but was about a foot away. It was the hardest to get a photo of because of the brush. Copperheads blend in so well in dead leaves that we had been looking at the other two for fifteen minutes before we even saw this one. We watched the three Copperheads for close to a half hour. I took photos from right above them. I realized I had gotten too close and took one photo, at most, eighteen inches away from the fangs of one. I realized I had enough photos and the snake very easily could have bit my hand. Lesson learned, luckily not the hard way.

   We left the snakes and went to our next overlook. We didn't see any lizards or any more snakes, but it wasn't for the lack of trying. When you see three venomous snakes two feet from the trail and they are three feet long, you look at the ground differently. All three of us watched every step we took from that point forward. We had to go back the way we came so we stopped at our new friends again for ten minutes. They each moved about a foot but were where we had left them.

   When we got down to the car we drove to a different trailhead and hiked another hill to look for lizards but came up short. No matter, I got to see a species that was on my bucket list for two years. Laurie and I had already invested over twenty hours of our lives searching for Copperheads, so it was more than just a lifer for us. It was a species we really wanted to see. Charles had only seen Copperheads one day in his life despite being a very experienced herper. We had a two and a half hour drive each way and honestly, it flew by. The conversation was so great and we all had stories to share. We learned a lot from and each other and really enjoyed each other's company. It was an epic day!

More photos below. Basically, photos taken from different angles of snakes that did not move. 

Some highlights from NH

This was my first Smallmouth at 
Umbagog. The lure is 3" long. 
The fish was not much bigger. Not
the start I was hoping for.

    My Fourth of July getaway was kind of a disaster. I stayed on the NH/ME border from Tuesday June 26-July 2. The plan was for me to go up on Tuesday and secure a campsite. Laurie was coming up Friday night and for us to stay until Tuesday. The weather was so bad we came home early Monday morning.  

   After getting a campsite on Tuesday, I planned on fishing Wed-Friday for Smallmouth and trout. Every day that I was up there it rained. I might have a pleasant morning and then afternoon thunderstorms would roll in. Other days it rained from morning till night. There was not one twenty four hour period without rain. The best two weather days were Friday and Saturday. Though I did wake up Friday morning to rain, it cleared up and was a nice day. Saturday was nice from morning till night. Laurie and I had a good day at Grafton Notch (see post below) but it did rain Saturday night and by Sunday morning our campsite was a quagmire. 

   Other bad things that happened were- my camera broke. It got wet and it no longer works anymore.

  Sunday morning I woke up to water dripping on my face. Overnight our big comfortable tent started leaking. Luckily, I had my backpacking tent but after four days of rain, it was damp and uncomfortable to sleep in Sunday night. My back tire started making a squealing noise Sunday evening. This of course worried me that I'd be spending five hundred dollars to fix it. The good news is, the squealing stopped and I drove home Monday morning very relieved. Lastly, I almost got into a fight with two rednecks who decided to swim with their dogs in the exact spot I was fishing. 

   I tell you all of this because I promise honesty on my blog. This was not a fun vacation. Much of it sucked. While people post on social media the best versions of themselves or their lives, I can not do that with this trip. While I try to live as adventurous a life as I can on my budget and physical abilities, I don't want you to think that my outdoor pursuits always end up in big fish, beautiful views, or paradise. This is one example of a big pile of suck. 

   However, over the course of almost six days there were a few highlight. Even as each pitfall came at us, we tried to make the best of each situation. The two exceptions were the argument with the rednecks which I dwelled on for days that someone could be so rude. The other being the car trouble. I worried I might not make it home, and if I did, I'd piss away most of the rest of my savings. 

Below are some highlights of the trip. They are not in chronological order since they are from three different cameras (mostly my phone, but also my pocket camera and my big lens before it broke). 

   The highlight would have been the moose but I saw it five minutes after my tire started squealing so you can imagine my nerves being two hundred miles from home. Also, my camera was broken by then and the light was low so my little 5x zoom was not cutting the mustard. 

   On Saturday after Grafton Notch we stopped at a church bake sale and bought some goodies. One treat was a homemade Snowball. It was chocolate cake balls rolled in frosting then coated with coconut. Pure deliciousness.

  The fishing wasn't bad. I fished three lakes including Lake Umbagog on Friday. My bast day was Thursday when I caught ten smallies. I caught a few decent fish but no monsters. Some of the fish were pretty small.

A mountain lake with the Presidentials and clouds 
in the background

Aphrodite Fritillary Butterfly at the lake

My best moose photo aka garbage

I was very surprised to catch a largemouth so far
north.

I was hoping to catch a pike so I brought my 
camera on a tripod to capture the moment. No
pike but did practice my skills with my camera's
timer.

Someday I won't look constipated taking a selfie.

Common shiner. 

It doesn't look it, but this Fallfish was about a
foot long. It took a four inch grub with that
tiny mouth .

One of my dream lakes to fish, Lake Umbagog.
I only caught six bass but at least I didn't go home 
skunked.

White Admiral Butterflies were everywhere. They must 
came out of their cocoons all at once. I saw over one hundred.
This was one of four at our campsite.

This snowball bought at a church fair 
was so good it almost made me religious...almost

I caught this beautiful brown not two minutes before my argument
 with the Rednecks who started
swimming right where I hooked this fish

I worked hard to catch any brookies.
This was only one of two I caught.
The other was the same size.

Grafton Notch State Park and Step Falls, ME

   

Screw Auger Falls

One of the places I've always wanted to go was Grafton Notch State Park in ME. As a map nerd, I'd seen it in the ME Atlas and tried to figure out a way to work it into a vacation for years. It however, always seemed too far from anywhere else I was going. I went up to NH/ME border last week and one day I fished Lake Umbagog. I used GPS and assumed it was going to take me past Gorham/Berlin and up Rt 16. GPS had other plans and when I punched in the Umbagog boat ramp it had me go east into Maine for twenty miles and then up Rt 26. I was pleasantly surprised to find out my campsite was only an hour from the boat ramp. 

   While on Rt 26 I passed Grafton Notch State Park. I had no idea that was going to happen. There were pulloffs for Screw Auger Falls, Moose Cave, and Mother Walker Falls. Instantly I realized I would be back when Laurie came up from Friday night until Tuesday for the holiday weekend. I didn't go exploring these sites figuring it would be more fun with Laurie. I kept driving to Umbagog where I only caught six Smallmouth Bass.  

 

 So on Saturday, which was definitely the best weather day of the trip, Laurie and I left for Grafton Notch about 7 am.  We knew that this would only be a half day trip and we did have plans for the afternoon to explore a Presidential Range lake We drove to the furthest pull off  first and worked our way back. So we went to Mother Walker Falls. It was tough to get a good look at the falls because of the vegetation. 

  Next we went to Moose Cave. This wasn't much either. It was pretty much just a triangular hole in a piece of granite. I thought at this point we'd be driving back by 9 am. I was getting worried that Laurie would wonder what the hell I dragged her all this way for.

Calling Moose Cave a cave is like calling your
cereal bowl a canyon

   Next we went to Screw Auger Falls. I swear I've been to what feels like a Screw Auger Falls in every state. I'm pretty sure this is the second one I've been to in Maine. Despite the lazy naming, Screw Auger was quite attractive. There are two falls with a twist in the river between them. there are multiple sunny ledges and view points to enjoy the waterfall. Since we were way ahead of any planned schedule, we stayed over a half hour.

  On our way to Grafton Notch  we saw a land trust property called Step Falls. We decided to check it out on our way back. Since our three roadside stops had taken us less than an hour we had plenty of time. The property is owned by the Mahoosuc Land Trust. It was a mile round trip to the falls. We really didn't know what to expect. We walked down a wide pine covered trail to the water. The trail did have a lot of roots so we had to watch our step, but we were at the river's edge in about ten minutes. 

   

For perspective, there is a 
woman in blue about 2/3
the way up in the photo.
Step Falls

   The stop was pleasantly surprising. The reason the falls is called Step Falls was because the river drops over a hundred feet in steps. The steps are not far apart and it is almost one big waterfall because of the steepness of the hill. The largest step which is near the top is about twenty feet. The trail parallels the river the whole way to the top of the falls. There are plenty of side shoots that bring you to the river.

   We stopped at most of the steps and enjoyed each fall. It was a short but steep climb to the top of the falls.  We stayed at the biggest fall for fifteen minutes. There were many people at the falls but it never felt crowded. If we saw people at one plunge pool we just moved up to the next one. 

   When we came down the parking lot on this beautiful Saturday was just about full. Google says it does fill up on nice weekends. I can see why. Step Falls absolutely made our foray into western Maine well worth the trip. A combined trip to Grafton Notch and Step Falls just a few miles away was one of the few highlights we had on this rainy holiday weekend. 

Royal Pain in the Ass

 

 As I've mentioned, birders keep lists. Some birders keep life lists, state lists, town lists, county lists, etc... I have a friend that kept a tree list because he had a seventy foot spruce in his front yard. As I've said a hundred times I am not keeping a year list anymore. However, I'm still willing to chase birds that are lifers or state birds for RI. Rhode Island is the only state I keep a life list for. This is because I do most of my birding in Rhode Island. Even though I've been to Florida a couple of times, I couldn't tell you how many species I've seen there. I only kept track of the species that I was interested in. Though I wrote down my lifer Roseate Spoonbill, and my White Ibis (not a lifer, I'd seen them in North Carolina first) I did not keep track of things like Blue Jays, Robins, or Cardinals. 

   All birders have a nemesis bird. This is a species that is difficult for them to find. The first year I did my Rhode Island Big Year my nemesis bird was Purple Finch. It was by far the easiest bird that I missed. I spent much of the winter checking out a crab apple orchard where they fuel up to keep warm. I went to places they breed during the early summer. I went to places they were seen during migration during the fall, and back to the crab apples the end of December. To make the salt burn even more, when the year was over, I saw them a few days into the following January!

   Now that I am not keeping a year list, I have no such worry about seeing a Purple Finch. However, I still like to get state birds and lifers. Last year I missed out on some really cool birds because of my back. Birds like Gray Kingbird, Ross's Goose and MacGillvary's Warbler showed up. My back couldn't take the drives so I missed out.

   By far the species that has been my biggest Rhode Island nemesis is the Royal Tern. I have yet to see one in Rhode Island. I have seen them in three other states (FL, NC, DE) but despite chasing them all of these years I still haven't seen one. The species always shows up when either I can't chase it, or if I do, it is gone before I get there. It tortures me.

   Last year, while I was still working but my back was in pain, I decided not to go with my friends to the Charlestown mudflats. The mudflats are a meeting place for birders every Saturday form the beginning of July through Labor Day. I had every other Saturday off. This particular Sat was one in which I wasn't working, I just couldn't bring myself to make the long drive and then take my kayak off of the car and paddle. You can see where this is going, right? Well, yup, there was a Royal Tern at the flats. Of course, you can understand why I missed that bird.

  But, there are so many crazy reasons I missed Royal Tern before last year, none worse than the following: A few years back I was at Napatree Point with my friends Sue and Jan. We walked around the lagoon to get to the rack of rotting seaweed on the other side. Rotting seaweed draws insects which draw in shorebirds. After looking at the birds it was time to leave. We had the choice to walk back around the lagoon or walk through the outflow. The outflow is probably twenty yards wide and between ankle and knee deep at low tide. I chose to walk through the outflow, but the ladies didn't want to get their feet wet so they went around. I sat down and waited for them taking photos of a friendly Plover that walked all around me. When they got back I hear "Did you see the Royal Tern? It flew by us" Obviously I did not see the Royal Tern. So I missed it because I wasn't afraid to get my feet wet.

   Monday Barbara Seith saw Royal Terns at Quonny. Usually when they are reported it is pointless to chase them if you live far away. They usually only hang out for a few minutes and take off or they are a fly by anyway. I couldn't go chase them because Laurie and I had plans that day. Wouldn't you know it, the terns stayed there ALL DAY! They'd leave for a while but come back to the sandbar. It was so frustrating to see the reports.

  Tuesday morning Barbara finds more terns. This time at Brenton Point. I didn't have plans with  Laurie so I was off to see them as soon as I could. It is an hour and twenty minute ride to Brenton Point. I got there as quickly as I could but despite two hours of searching, the birds were no longer there. So I came back with my tail between my legs starting to hate this bird.

  The analogy I said to Barbara was when I finally see one in Rhode Island it won't feel like a monkey off of my back. There will be no satisfaction. It will just feel as though I finished folding a load of laundry. Glad its over with but there is no joy in it. The difference is a load of laundry doesn't cost me thirty dollars in gas each time!

   The photos of Royal Terns in this post are from Bowman Beach on Sanibel Island. Laurie, myself, and Sue Palmer went to the beach shelling. Besides getting some cool shells we saw dolphins just off the beach and terns. Both Royal and Sandwich Terns came in and let us take photos from 11.6 feet away (the distance my lens needs to focus)  

Diamondback Terrapin adults

   

  A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to see baby Diamondback Terrapins be born. The lady in charge of protecting them even let me hold one and get photos before releasing them. Since then, I have wanted to see an adult up close. I had seen one at Brigantine NWR a couple years ago but it was in the scope and also it was all muddy. 

   Before I go any further, I can not divulge where I saw them. The place is not publicized to protect the turtles. Unfortunately, douche bags will collect them for pets or to sell them. It is a sad reality of our world. However, this post can still  be educational and I learned a lot today. So here are some facts about Diamondback Terrapins.

• Terrapins are a brackish water species. They are not true sea turtles and they are not pond turtles. They live in areas where rivers meet the sea diluting the salt level.
• The females come up to lay their eggs at high tide and much more often during the day than night.
• The female only takes twenty minutes to dig a nest and deposit the eggs. Though she could take forty five minutes picking a suitable spot which is usually, but not always in sand.
• Males almost never come to shore. Though Terrapins will occasionally sun themselves it is not really part of their routine
• I can personally tell you that once finished covering the nest it is almost impossible to see it. They do a great job of camouflaging the eggs.
• The female will dig a hole. Then deposit a layer of eggs. Cover them, lay more eggs. Cover the second layer and lay a third layer. The hole is roughly eight inches deep.
• The eggs are about the size of a golf ball
• Terrapins will use their front flippers to throw sand on their back. It is believed this is to cover the glare so overhead predators can't see them as easily.
•  As you would expect, they use their back flippers to dig a hole.
• When they are born their back (shell) is very bumpy with ridges on it. As they get older the shell gets smoother. A very old Terrapin will have a completely smooth shell.
• The people that protect the Terrapins pick them up when they are done laying. They measure the under part. If it is a turtle they have never seen they put a microchip in it and saw notches into the shell to identify it later. I watched  this and it does not hurt the turtles.. They stayed still during the process. 
• If people get too close to a female before she lays her eggs she will turn around and go back to the water and not lay her eggs. It is extremely important for people to keep their distance.
• Baby Terrapins do not make a beeline to the shore the way you've seen sea turtles do it in nature shows. They actually live on land for the first year before going into the bays and harbors. They live off of their yolk sac for a while, though I do not know how long.
• Data has been collected on 670 individual females at this location. Assuming there are an equal number of males, the population is well over one thousand.
• Last year 1700 babies were released into the wild but as we know, only a small percentage will survive to adulthood.

 

 I had thought Terrapins, like sea turtles I've seen on Nat Geo, deposited eggs at night. I got a fairly early start this morning in the hopes of seeing one of the stragglers make its way back to the water. I was told they are more likely to come ashore during the day and when the tide is high. Well, I fell right into it because high tide was roughly 8:30 am. Sure enough Terrapins came ashore. Many places are roped off to protect them including trails leading to the water. The "guards" sit in chairs in the shade and wait for the turtles to nest. When done depositing eggs the people pick them up and the science begins. When they are measured and cataloged they are then released. They just head back to the ocean.

   I got to see about ten Terrapins lay eggs today. I could tell the project leader wasn't very thrilled to have a visitor but she did let me stay. I sat with a kid, Alex, (about 22) that was in charge of one of the fields. We hit it off because he just got into striper fishing. So we talked about stripers the whole time until the first turtle made it to the sand pit. 

   We watched it from a distance until she was done. Then when it was done covering the nest, Alex picked it up and brought it to be measured. She was a young turtle and her first time laying. After the first terrapin the flood gates opened and in the next hour I saw all the turtles. After watching ten I decided to leave. I had gotten some decent photos and had a great experience. Obviously, more photos below. For better or worse, none of the photos have been edited.

Eastern Musk Turtle (Stinkpot) Lifer for Me

 

Eastern Musk Turtle

   On Wednesday, I got a lifer turtle. the species is called an Eastern Musk Turtle also known as a Stinkpot. They are called Stinkpots because they can release a foul smell from scent glands at the base of the shell. I had researched this species and found out they live in Wakefield, RI. I went there a couple weeks ago with Laurie and Richard Tucker but none were out. 

   I went there on a whim Wednesday to check again because Trustom was closed for trail maintenance. I had time to kill before meeting Charles to go seining. The sun was out but it was only seventy degrees. I had no idea if any turtles would be sunning. I was pumped to see turtles across the river from where I was standing. 

 

All four Musk Turtles
and one Painted are in this
photo

   I had never seen a Musk Turtle before. When I put my binoculars up, I could tell the turtles seemed to be different from the Painted Turtles also sunning. I hoped to get some decent photos before they inevitably scurried for the water. As I neared, every ten yards or so I'd take some photos. It tuned out they had no fear of me. I was a safe distance from them on the path and with the foot traffic they must be accustomed to people. I watched them for a half hour. Not that sunning turtles do a lot of moving. There ended up being four Stinkpots, four more than I had seen in my life. 

   One of the boards in the water had action figures of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The only way to access this board would be with a canoe so someone had some free time on their hands. Somehow, one of the Musk Turtles got under one of the Ninja Turtles without knocking it over. I don't know if Donatello  is nailed or glued down or if the Musk Turtle is just great at maneuvering.

   As lifers go, I couldn't have gotten a better look. I watched them until I was ready to leave.

   

Seining

   

Atlantic Silverside

   Yesterday I got a call from my friend Dave about 4 pm. He asked me if I was fishing, birding, or looking for snakes. I said "Well, I'm sort of fishing". I'm sure this answer confused Dave until I explained. You're either fishing, driving to fishing, or not fishing, right? What the hell does sort of fishing mean? 

   I explained that I was down in Newport with my friends Charles and Louise and we had used a seine to catch small fish. So we were sort of fishing. Charles had invited me to meet him to use his seine and see if we could find small fish. I invited Louise because she lives so close and likes nature. Charles and Louise have known each other far longer than I've known either of them.

   Charles and I walked a hundred hard of shoreline stopping every twenty yards or so to see what we had in the net. In case you don't know what a seine is I'll explain. It is a net in the shape of a rectangle. At each end is a pole. From top to bottom they mostly seem to be four feet high. In length you can buy them in 20, 30, or 40 foot lengths that I know of. You stretch it out, each person holding a pole, and walk along to catch small fish. I had only done this once and that was last week at BioBlitz. That was in a muddy pond. Charles and I walked along a beach today.

   

Nine Spined Stickleback
A close up is at the end of the post

   We ended up with three species. The first haul landed us some Sand Lance or Sand Eels if you prefer. This is the species that Humpback Whales eat by the ton everyday on Stellwagen Bank. Our last two hauls we got Silversides and a surprise, a Nine-Spinded Stickleback. Both the Silversides and Sand Eels are favorite foods of Striped Bass. It is no exaggeration for me to say I've seen tens of thousands of each. They school in huge groups and I've seen bass blitz them numerous times.

   The Stickleback on the other hand was a lifer. Not only had I never seen one, I never heard of them. Charles said they are fairly common and he sees them a few times a year. We put our finds in a bucket and brought them up to where Charles has some aquariums set up. 

   The coolest thing was Charles had a photo tank for us to put the fish in. The photo tank was about a foot tall and ten inches wide. Its depth was about an inch at the top but it gets narrower at the bottom like the letter V. You put the fish in the tank so for photos. Because of the width of the tank, they aren't very mobile. This way you can get quality photos of the fish without taking them out of the water. All three of us took photos of the fish. I used my phone and my camera. I took photos with both my 70-300mm and my 18-55 lens. I don't know if either made a difference but I figured the more options I had the better my chances for good photos. For background we put a piece of wood that had been painted a light blue. We tried multiple other things but they all created a glare or a mirror. 

 

Sand Eel

 The coolest fish was the Silverside for photos because it was big. It was almost six inches and easily the biggest Silverside I have ever seen. The Stickleback is such a weird looking fish the photos look like a painting of an ancient fish. I like how they came out. When we were done we released all of the fish back unharmed.

   I'm going to need to buy a seine. I had so much fun with Charles and Louise and at BioBlitz. Between BioBlitz and yesterday I got four lifers. I may have found a new hobby! This was basically a photo shoot, so  more photos below.

When the sun came out it created a shadow below the Silverside. We all thought that was pretty cool and got photos of it

You can see the photo tank in the photo below. See how it is shaped like a V You put the fish in the top and it gets stuck so you can take photos of it unharmed and, most importantly, in the water.

Close up of the Stickleback. This isn't a painting and other 
than a small crop, I did not enhance the photo.
Just a weird looking fish