Lately on Sundays, I've been taking my kid (almost 14 months old) out with me in the afternoon to give my wife a few hours of peace and quiet so that she can get some stuff done around the house. Yesterday, I decided to check out a park I hadn't yet been to, and I ended up having quite the productive day. Between that park and one I stopped at on the way home, I turned up one Six-lined Racerunner, four Little Brown Skinks (one vouchered), two SE Five-lined Skinks (one vouchered), an Alligator, a Gopher Tortoise, six Peninsula Cooters, a Southern Black Racer, and a Southern Toad. We also heard some Cricket Frogs calling, one Squirrel Treefrog rain call, and a Pig Frog calling from under a bridge. I'd say that's a nice diverse haul, especially considering that I couldn't just wander out into the deep part of the woods with my son in the stroller. Or peer over every railing segment on the boardwalk in the cypress swamp as I was chasing him up and down on.
In addition to the herps, we also saw a good selection of dragonflies and butterflies. It's also been quite warm and humid in the daytime lately, almost to the point where it feels like summer weather. While it may have kept some snakes hidden away, everything else was quite active. I've got to squeeze in the herping that I can before it gets too hot!
All photos are posted in sequential order.
Some kind of Lubber Grasshopper?
DSCN6802 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Male Great Blue Skimmer (ignore the file name)
DSCN6803 - Possible Male Eastern Pondhawk by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Six-lined Racerunner - first of the year
DSCN6808 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Female Great Blue Skimmer (saw lots of these)
DSCN6812 - Female Great Blue Skimmer by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Southern Toad I flipped under a log
DSCN6813 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
DSCN6815 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
My first-ever photo of a Little Brown Skink - it was chasing another one around these palmettos
DSCN6817 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
My son entertained himself with this leaf and pinecone for a good ten minutes
DSCN6820 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Queen Butterfly
DSCN6821 - Queen by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Female Monarch Butterfly
DSCN6825 - Monarch Female by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Gopher!
DSCN6830 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
DSCN6831 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
The remaining photos are from a park along a stretch of the Hillsborough River that I like to kayak
Cruising the Boardwalk
DSCN6837 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Peninsula Cooters - there might even be a fourth near the right edge of the photo
DSCN6839 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Gator
DSCN6842 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Male Southeastern Five-lined that made its home in a rotting log in the cypress swamp. I usually have a lot of success finding them in habitats adjacent to swamps.
DSCN6844 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
DSCN6846 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Another Female Great Blue Skimmer
DSCN6847 - Female Geat Blue Skimmer by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Peninsula Cooter grazing in duckweed
DSCN6848 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
Unknown species of fish - probably non-native
DSCN6852 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
To wrap things up, here's my favorite find of the day. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I always keep an eye out for snakes in really obvious basking spots, even though they are almost never there. Well, I was pulling out of the park entrace, leaving for home, when I drive by a wooden fence line and see something large laying on top of one of the horizontal sections. To my surprise, laying there out in the open, was a large Southern Black Racer catching some sun. I couldn't believe how easy of a find this was, and I immediately pulled over onto the shoulder, turned the car off, locked the doors (kid in the carseat, after all) and cautiously approached the snake. It was the calmest Racer I've ever seen, and it let me take a few good photos, the last of which marked the end of my camera's battery. Luckily, I got the shots I wanted, and no sooner than the battery died, the Racer turned around and slithered away into the woods.
DSCN6853 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
DSCN6856 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
The final shot
DSCN6857 by zeonicweapon, on Flickr
With that encounter, I was able to photograph a live Black Racer for only the second time. Every other one either got away from me or was a DOR. With that, I wrapped up what I consider a very successful day of herping, and I'm glad I was able to share it with my son, even if he had no idea what was going on and was cranky from time to time.
A Productive Day with My Son
Moderator: Scott Waters
- mtratcliffe
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Re: A Productive Day with My Son
This is great, and the commentary about the son is nice too. You're becoming quite the story teller.
- soulsurvivor
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Re: A Productive Day with My Son
Love the racer pics! Looks like it was a fun outing.
~Bree
~Bree
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Re: A Productive Day with My Son
Looks like a great day!
- Josh Young
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Re: A Productive Day with My Son
Your unknown fish is a blue tilapia.
- BillMcGighan
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Re: A Productive Day with My Son
Good script and pics = a very nice post.
The racer is a really good opportunity!
The best to me (and my wife) is the
(The fact that he looks a lot like our youngest grandchild didn't hurt)
Looks like you have a keeper there!
The racer is a really good opportunity!
The best to me (and my wife) is the
moment. Development at that age is so important for later on. Everything is new and must be studied by any senses available.My son entertained himself with this leaf and pinecone for a good ten minutes
(The fact that he looks a lot like our youngest grandchild didn't hurt)
Looks like you have a keeper there!
- mtratcliffe
- Posts: 533
- Joined: January 19th, 2014, 4:34 pm
- Location: Mt Laurel, NJ
Re: A Productive Day with My Son
Bill, I'm glad my son and his pinecone interest could bring a smile to both of your faces! He definitely is a keeper, and hopefully I can make a herper out of him someday.BillMcGighan wrote:Good script and pics = a very nice post.
The racer is a really good opportunity!
The best to me (and my wife) is themoment. Development at that age is so important for later on. Everything is new and must be studied by any senses available.My son entertained himself with this leaf and pinecone for a good ten minutes
(The fact that he looks a lot like our youngest grandchild didn't hurt)
Looks like you have a keeper there!
Josh - thanks for the ID. I did not realize that they grew that large.
- Josh Young
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- Location: Wakulla County, Florida
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Re: A Productive Day with My Son
Blue tilapia get rather large, I think up to 20 inches and can weigh up to around 10 pounds at the extremes, but are usually around 12 inches and weigh a few pounds at max in SoFla. I use to see a lot of large ones with regularity in the canals in SoFla, and have caught quite a few that were meal worthy.
Re: A Productive Day with My Son
Great post. Getting out with the youngins is key.
-Jake
-Jake
- Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: A Productive Day with My Son
Wonderful! You're doing the right thing there!