First Quarter 2016 Review

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Berkeley Boone
Posts: 878
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:02 am

First Quarter 2016 Review

Post by Berkeley Boone »

I can’t believe it is already a quarter of the way through 2016! I’m going to break up my reviews into quarters rather than my usual thirds to make the posts a little bit smaller.

Due to a rather mild and wet winter, the herp activity really only slowed rather than stopping. My daughter and I played with some anoles on Dec 31. She was greatly entertained and almost caught a couple of them.
Image1PeekABoo by B Boone, on Flickr

Image2Skinny Mini by B Boone, on Flickr

Image3Get Em by B Boone, on Flickr

Image4Theres One by B Boone, on Flickr

On Jan 2, I met up with my friend Cary and we did some looking around in his neck of the woods. Our target for the day was eastern tigers, which I needed to officially check off my list. I’d been present when some metamorph tigers had been found crossing a sand road, but I wanted to see some adults and with my own eyes. Cary had just the spot, where he’s been having some great luck in the days and weeks previous.
Image5Pond by B Boone, on Flickr

We waded through the cold water and dipnetted around, not coming up with much aside from a few green frog tadpoles and scads of dragonfly naiads- many of which looked remarkably like newts! However, we weren’t finding any salamanders so we decided to change up methods and sloshed back to the edge to go and flip some logs.

With one flip we uncovered a pair of leopard frogs that exploded out of the way. But where the back corner of the old washer lid contacted the ground huddled two tigers! Mission accomplished.
Image6Ransph by B Boone, on Flickr

Image7Ambtig by B Boone, on Flickr

Both of them were incredibly skinny (perhaps having used all their energy and resources to go towards breeding), but they were tigers nonetheless!
Image8Ambtig by B Boone, on Flickr

Image9El Tigre by B Boone, on Flickr

We found an oldtumble-down house with lots of junk laying around the property. We began turning up marbled salamanders.
Image10Ambopa by B Boone, on Flickr

Image11Ambopa duo by B Boone, on Flickr

Then Cary found a juvenile ratsnake trying to decide if it wanted to expose itself for some basking or not. The first snake of the year! We pulled it out for a couple of photos, and then sent it on its way.
Image12Ela obs by B Boone, on Flickr

Image13Angry snake by B Boone, on Flickr

Our next spot took us into a drier more upland area, and we found a larger, darker rat snake.
Image14Elaobs bigger by B Boone, on Flickr

We stopped by the house of a friend of Cary’s and were able to get permission to get onto some pasture land down the road to go check out some other ponds. The wetlands were on the back of the pasture and to get there, we had to brave large, aggressive guard bovines.
Image15Mooooove by B Boone, on Flickr

Image16Pasture-ized by B Boone, on Flickr

We almost didn’t make it!
Image17Black Cow by B Boone, on Flickr

We traded our boots for our waders and waded through the flooded forest bottoms. We didn’t find any more tigers, but we found another dozen or so opacum, and a single anole.
Image19Reflection by B Boone, on Flickr

Image18anole by B Boone, on Flickr

Image20Ambopa trio by B Boone, on Flickr

Image21Tails by B Boone, on Flickr

Back home, I went for a walk in the woods at work during my lunch break and rolled some logs, just to see what was out. Wouldn’t you know it, more marbled salamanders! I was starting to get a little tired of them, to be honest. Until I found this one!
Image22Monster by B Boone, on Flickr

It was a beast! A solid five inches, plus! Looking back, I really should have taken measurements to check it for sure, but oh well.
Image23Ambopa by B Boone, on Flickr

Image24Ambopa by B Boone, on Flickr

Image25Ambopa by B Boone, on Flickr

My next surprise was in my front yard a week or so later. My daughter and I were planting some bulbs when I saw the leaves buck up where I was digging. I gently scraped them away and found this magnificent critter, an old red salamander.
Image26red by B Boone, on Flickr

I have lived in this house for 16 years and this is the first species of salamander I have found on the property. (We live on the top of a dry ridge, with very rocky, compact soil.) This also made my list of herps found in the yard hit #30! I was quite pleased.
Image27red1 by B Boone, on Flickr

Two weeks later, I found another red salamander while raking.
Image28red number2 by B Boone, on Flickr

One night we were getting home from right around dusk and as we got out of the car, we heard a single peeper calling from a low, grassy spot in the yard. We ran inside and grabbed a couple of headlamps and the camera and went back out. My daughter and I ended up catching four little spring peepers, and she just had a blast. It was the first thing she told my wife about the next morning at breakfast, and then her teacher at preschool too.
Image29Psecru by B Boone, on Flickr

Image30LittleHand by B Boone, on Flickr

Image31Calling by B Boone, on Flickr

Image32WhysThatBubble by B Boone, on Flickr

A walk in the woods gave this pretty sky one day…
Image33Sky by B Boone, on Flickr

…and then this fence lizard.
Image34Sceund by B Boone, on Flickr

Herping was a little slow, so I spent some time photographing some spring wildflowers.

Rue Anemone
Image35creekside by B Boone, on Flickr

Image36lilflowers by B Boone, on Flickr

Image37rue by B Boone, on Flickr

Violet
Image38violet by B Boone, on Flickr

The critter finding picked up a little bit, but nothing really to write home about. But I’ll take it! Finding reptiles and amphibians is always fun.

A green treefrog napping in the sunshine
Image39greentree by B Boone, on Flickr

Image40easybeinggreen by B Boone, on Flickr

Spotted dusky salamanders
Image41descon by B Boone, on Flickr

Image42descon by B Boone, on Flickr

There is a great rock wall at work that has groups of Five Lined Skinks living in its gaps.
Image43eumfas by B Boone, on Flickr

Image44eumfas by B Boone, on Flickr
Image45eumfas by B Boone, on Flickr

Walking into the office one day, I interrupted a Battle Royale. These two anoles were wrasslin’ about, but separated as I came up the steps and surprised them.
Image46dukin it out by B Boone, on Flickr

Image47bring it on by B Boone, on Flickr

Image48in this corner by B Boone, on Flickr

Another skink behind the building.
Image49eumeces by B Boone, on Flickr

The first Mayapple blossom I have seen this year
Image50Podpel by B Boone, on Flickr

More skinks on a wall (the riveting sequel to the infamous Samuel L. Jackson movie)
Image51ahhhhh by B Boone, on Flickr

Image52sunshine by B Boone, on Flickr

Image53eum duo by B Boone, on Flickr

That’s about it for the first quarter. I am looking forward to seeing what late spring and early summer bring!

--Berkeley
User avatar
Kelly Mc
Posts: 4529
Joined: October 18th, 2011, 1:03 pm

Re: First Quarter 2016 Review

Post by Kelly Mc »

Berkeley I always love the diverse moments that you bring here. The text/story as warm as the photography and all of it only matched by your humility.
User avatar
Berkeley Boone
Posts: 878
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:02 am

Re: First Quarter 2016 Review

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Thanks very much, Kelly! I'm delighted to be able to share my adventures, and pleased to no end to know that others enjoy it!

--Berkeley
Kfen
Posts: 413
Joined: June 17th, 2010, 5:51 am
Location: CT

Re: First Quarter 2016 Review

Post by Kfen »

I was going to say something similar to what Kelly said, but she said it way more eloquently than I ever could have so: ditto what Kelly said.

To measure that marbled in retrospect, just hold your hand in the same position it was, and measure to the points on your hand it reached. For future reference if you have not seen this:

http://serpwidgets.com/main/measure

It is especially useful for more "squiggly" herps.
User avatar
Berkeley Boone
Posts: 878
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:02 am

Re: First Quarter 2016 Review

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Thanks Kfen! Yes, Kelly has a way with words, doesn't she? :)

Great tip on the serpwidgets link! I have heard about that tool, but it hadn't even crossed my mind. I'll have to go and check it out! I had done a very simple hand measuring like you mentioned- with a ruler at home- and that was how I came up with the 5 inch number. I'll go tinker with the link and see what that can do. Perhaps it will give something more exact.

Thanks again for the kind words,
--Berkeley
User avatar
Jeff
Posts: 620
Joined: June 11th, 2010, 6:01 am
Location: Louisiana

Re: First Quarter 2016 Review

Post by Jeff »

Berkeley

That is about how my first three months usually go - anoles (geckos), trip to ephemeral wetlands, salamanders, peepers, then skinks, first snake (usually a cottonmouth out and about or disgruntled rat snake exposed from its hibernaculum), increase in foliage, bugs, flowers, followed by the harbingers of heat (racers, rattlesnakes).

The tigers look like they haven't eaten since the 1900s.

"Mooooooove" (ha, the caption eluded me first time through).

30 species on a hard ridge! I just got #31 for my subdivision yard a few weeks back, but I cheat by having a small stream in back.

Jeff
User avatar
Berkeley Boone
Posts: 878
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 4:02 am

Re: First Quarter 2016 Review

Post by Berkeley Boone »

That timeline sounds about right for the southern spring, Jeff! I'm looking forward to those harbingers of the heat, as you mentioned!

Glad you enjoyed that caption. I try to mix it up periodically and have a little fun with my naming.

I could only wish to have a creek in the backyard! I'm impressed with the critters that have moved in because of my ponds and carnivorous plant tubs!

--Berkeley
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