2016 - A good year pt. 1

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simus343
Posts: 566
Joined: March 30th, 2014, 1:16 pm
Location: Okaloosa ca, Fla.

2016 - A good year pt. 1

Post by simus343 »

I hear so many people cry about 2016. While it has been a rough year in some respects (vehicle issues, academic strife, headaches of life in general), this year has been absolutely fantastic for herping. While I didn't find as many individual herpetofauna that I usually do, I found a significantly increased diversity this year. The only species I missed out on this year that I've seen in the past are red salamanders and living mole kings. I made up for those with a whopping 17 lifers all within my own "backyard" (day trip distance of my house). I also had plenty of opportunities to practice my photography on species that I've seen plenty of before. Other than herpetofauna, I've also expanded my horizons to begin photographing invertebrates and vegetation. I'm just going to use common names, otherwise I'd be here all night spell-checking the many different scientific names. I may have to do this in two parts, so without further ado, here's the photos.

My first snake of the year was the ever-present Southern Banded Watersnake sunning within some sphagnum and pitcher plants behind the campus where I attend school. The last day on January provided my first herp and first snake of the year.

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Herping was tough for me at the start of the year, primarily due to a lack of knowledge of actually "herping", rather than dumb-luck encounters that I have been provided with through work all these past years. However, I was able to find this broadhead skink under some AC in my, actual, backyard.

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A few weeks later I met up with a friend of a friend on the friend-of-friend's ranch to teach him some of what I know about herping. It was a cold day and we didn't find much, but we did get to see this Southeastern Slimy Salamander underneath some sheet metal. This was, and still is, my favorite salamander photograph.

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Over time, I found more herps while going about my daily life. I started to stop taking lizards for granted this year, and began to take photos of them.

Eastern Fence Lizard:

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Eastern Legless Lizard:
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It wasn't long into February before a friend of mine saw a baby Diamondback consistently sunning outside a baby Gopher Tortoise burrow for a few consecutive days. It had been a few days since he last saw it, but we decided to give it a shot. It was in the 60s and raining all day. At first, we didn't see it, but that was only because of the evolutionary miracle of camouflage. My first venomous of the year: this baby Diamondback:

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Not a herp, but sometimes you'll find cool stuff while out in the woods:

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While doing some salamander sampling in a pond that hasn't had the salamanders we were after for over 7 years, this critter once again showed that cottonmouths will all too readily swim underwater and seek shelter there. Not only that, but it had nestled down inside of the leaf pack. I had to find a stick to ease it out for this photograph.

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Some more lizard appreciation this year, with no real story.

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Living on a swamp is a real plus. I often can't get out and go herp, but I still take a walk out back. Often on cool sunny days, I'll find young Eastern Ribbon Snakes sunning along the water's edge.

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The very next day, I found one sunning on some bricks at my grandparents' house.

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Back where I intern at, this little common snapper was found sitting in our driveway. It was later released that day at an adjacent beaver pond next to where it was seen.

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That day when I got home I saw what I could only imagine was a box turtle rumaging through the swamp behind my house. Perhaps a cooter, but I'm fairly sure it was a boxy.

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A few days later, a nice corn snake was presented to a friend of mine by a homeowner that was willing to catch it for us to get rid of, but was also so terrified that he didn't want them around his house. An odd, but fortunate for this snake, combination. It could have ended much differently for this pretty little corn.

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This year was an abundant year for Diamondbacks. While a heartbreaking majority were DORs, smashed to smithereens, some where quite the opposite. I found this little juvenile one day while walking a drift fence.

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A local boardwalk near my house is always productive. It is often my go-to winter spot for some lazy no-effort herping.

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A late February trip to Wakulla county provided a nice Alligator photo and a pretty little Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake, born the previous Fall.

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Some casual herping around my neighborhood during March turned up this in-shed Southeastern Crowned Snake with an unusually incomplete neckband.

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For my birthday this year, I made another Wakulla county trip and got my lifer Gulf Salt Marsh Snake along with some other nice herpetofauna, including one of the pretty orange-striped Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnakes.

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Studying Natural Resource Conservation in University provides for some fascinating classes with some fun field trips to places that people often don't know of, or just flat out can't go. This place, seen during such a field trip, was once open to the public. Yet, through off-roaders damaging the uplands, it is now entirely restricted to public use.

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A pitcher plant flower from nearby:

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A riparian area that is still open to public access, at least at this crossing.

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A nice plump oak toad from the area

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A nice seepage creek with a unique micro-community at it

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This is one of the few places in the world with floating pitcher plant "bogs". In the photo below, a dense root mass can be seen, but below that, the entire bog is floating in the water. The plants often break off and float downstream, eventually creating more floating "bogs".

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Shortly after on this field trip, I turned up this Florida Red-Belly Snake under some fallen pine bark.

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Later that day, another seepage stream, this time with tanic influence from being so far downstream and close to the mouth of the water-body.

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Finally, a nice habitat shot from the end of the day in a Pine Savanna with the upper headwaters of a seepage stream down where all the low brown vegetation is seen in the background.

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With a parrot-headed pitcher plant from the seepage stream headwaters.

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Back where I intern at, we had some heavy rains. Those rains put some puddles in the road that had to be filled in with gravel to move vehicles and students through. I was tasked to help get some crayfish out of a puddle that still had some water in it. Before I saw the crayfish, I saw this critter though. We held it for the day to use for the students and released it in a branch at the end of the day. A nice Two-Toe Amphiuma.

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A few days later at my internship, and I flipped this little hatchling Southeastern Crowned Snake

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Back at school again, this time on campus. There's a garden on campus that sometimes has racers hanging out in it. I was poking around some debris when I flipped this Florida Red Belly Snake.

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Back at work again, some shots of a rare species of milkweed in bloom.

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A few days later I stopped at the spot where I found my lifer Gulf Crayfish Snake last year. While poking around in some vegetation mats, I grabbed what I thought was a pine cone. While pulling it out of the water to get out of my way, I realized I had grabbed hold of this little critter! Another young common snapping turtle.

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A few days later while hiking along some sandhill-steephead ravine ecotones, I found this nice little juvenile Rough Green Snake.

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A week or so later, I went hunting for a spot that I was given for Pine Barrens Tree Frogs. I drove right by the spot because I couldn't remember where it was. Instead, I found a pitcher plant bog that was teeming with little baby Spring Peepers, a "physical" lifer for me.

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Later that same day I stopped by a creek and found this Spiny Softshell

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On the way out though, I was crushed to see this beautiful DOR Mole King.

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A couple of weeks later, I had been invited to go herping where I made some new friends. I got several lifers on this trip.

North Florida Swamp Snake:

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Eastern Mud Snake:

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Undescribed siren:

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River Frog:

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I also saw some other neat herps on this trip.

Some colorful young cottonmouths:

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Some Waterdogs from the ANF:

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A three-line salamander:

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A bird-voice treefrog:

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Finally, a little baby Apalachicola Snapping Turtle

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I also took some habitat shots during the trip.

A place:

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The Suwanee River, looking a little low:

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After that fun trip, where I learned a lot about what herping "really is", I found some untapped herping vigor and really started exploring closer to home and re-exploring some spots at night for the first time. However, to not forget about the lizards, some more lizard appreciation first.

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I went out herping one night to a spot that I had already "found" the year before for Barking Tree Frogs. I was not disappointed.

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I was also not disappointed with my first Chicken Turtle in several years, a young one too.

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A nice banded watersnake at night.

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A bivalve from the Choctawhatchee River:

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Finally, some closure on River Frogs from closer to home:

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After that, it was turtle nesting season it would seem. One day while working I found a female Yellow Belly Slider trying to nest.

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A Florida Softshell picking a bad spot to nest. Fortunately the dirt was a little too hard packed so she had to find elsehwere.

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That day, a friend also sent my this picture to ID the tadpoles that he saw (featured in the Tadpole ID guide). River Frog tadpoles schooling:

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Another nice sandhill habitat shot while working one morning.

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While kayaking a few days later, I got my first adult Spiny Softshell for some photos.

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Some habitat of where I was kayaking:

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Brown Watersnakes were also on the creek that day.

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Some lizard appreciation of a truly difficult lizard to photograph. Six-Lined Racerunner:

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A baby Eastern Fence Lizard:

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A few days later, I found a nice Florida Pine Snake. I moved it off the road to a nice place for some photographs.

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That day just got better. While driving along, I found an Eastern Diamondback going up the middle of the tire tracks. It crawled off and I took this photo that really helps demonstrate how well they blend in.

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I'll end part 1 here with this nice habitat shot of a creek:

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Link to part 2: http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... 01#p261901
User avatar
kevin h
Posts: 99
Joined: January 18th, 2015, 3:04 pm

Re: 2016 - A good year pt. 1

Post by kevin h »

That clarkii photo is absolutely amazing and I loved the nice turtle diversity.
Carl D. May
Posts: 362
Joined: June 2nd, 2011, 4:17 am

Re: 2016 - A good year pt. 1

Post by Carl D. May »

Wonderful finds! As a turtle nerd I really appreciate seeing species that I typically have to drive 7 or more hours to find.
That clear seepage was awesome!
simus343
Posts: 566
Joined: March 30th, 2014, 1:16 pm
Location: Okaloosa ca, Fla.

Re: 2016 - A good year pt. 1

Post by simus343 »

Thanks guys. The turtle diversity was pretty standard minus actually getting a Macrochelys photograph. Usually when I see them I've just got my swim trunks on and no camera or phone. I'd love to make it a few hours west to where the biodiversity increased. I can't remember which one, but one of the rivers in Alabama or Mississippi (might by Louisiana, I don't think so though) has the highest turtle diversity of any river system here in the states.
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Josh Holbrook
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:11 am
Location: Western North Carolina
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Re: 2016 - A good year pt. 1

Post by Josh Holbrook »

That last creek is gorgeous. In Florida?
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