First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
User avatar
Matt J
Posts: 679
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:32 am
Location: Delaware
Contact:

First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by Matt J »

Amazing weather up here in northeastern PA has gotten things moving a bit. This past week I've been working in a project area with a ton of streams and wetlands which has given me the opportunity for some incidental herp sightings.

First off is this Painted Turtle I found crossing the landowners driveway in between two wetlands:
Image

Farther uphill I came across this awesome seep and eagerly told my coworkers "Sh****t, if I was a Spring Salamander I would live here:
Image

Sure enough, found this guy under the very first rock I flipped:
Image

Found another one in a different seep, by far the biggest one I've seen myself:
Image

While delineating a great looking stream I started thinking that this area looked great for wood turtles, even though I've never seen one before. After a few minutes in the stream I walked up on this sight:
En situ
Image

Lifer Wood Turtle! A decent-sized male
Image

A bit further down the stream I spotted this female basking:
Image

I got out of work early and decided to go mountain biking for a bit and poked around the parking area. A little rustling in the leaves led me to my first snake of the year, this ugly Garter:
Image

Image

While I'm at it, I went hiking with the GF last weekend for some amphibian hunting. How many of us have taken a hundred pics of a redback, convinced at the time that it is something cooler like a Valley and Ridge Salamander? I want someone to tell me this one actually is, :lol: :cry:
Image
Image
Image

Wood frogs were calling like crazy last weekend:
Image

Leaving their eggs all over the place. Also some ambystomatid eggs:
Image

Two-lined salamander:
Image

And some hot red-spotted newt loving:
Image


Thanks for looking :beer:
User avatar
MattSullivan
Posts: 419
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 2:07 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by MattSullivan »

nice! i've never seen a wood turtle or the newts. or the spring salamander hahah
sstaedtler
Posts: 364
Joined: June 6th, 2011, 7:24 pm
Location: Central Bucks County, PA

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by sstaedtler »

Jealous of the Wood Turtles - nice find! I used to go up to some friends house in Susquehanna County every Memorial Day and we'd go hiking, and usually we'd find 1 Wood turtle. As I got older though, we saw less and less. They also had a pond with red-spotted newts in it, lots of frogs, and spotted salamanders in the pasture behind the pond.
User avatar
kyle loucks
Posts: 3147
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 1:40 am
Location: Pennsylvania- Bucks Co. near Phila.

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by kyle loucks »

Sorry Matt, hoffmani it aint. Nice turtles though, and a gargantuan spring sal.
Brendan Murray
Posts: 174
Joined: August 4th, 2010, 8:07 am

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by Brendan Murray »

Wood turtle! Awesome finds! That seep looks amazing.
User avatar
Mike VanValen
Posts: 2074
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 4:41 pm
Location: Connecticut
Contact:

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by Mike VanValen »

Congrats on your first woody! :lol: :lol: :lol: :thumb:
User avatar
gone herpin
Posts: 221
Joined: July 27th, 2011, 7:01 am
Location: Annapolis, MD

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by gone herpin »

Great finds man! Looks like you had one hell of a time! :thumb:
will lattea
Posts: 160
Joined: August 30th, 2010, 11:39 am
Location: East Coast

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by will lattea »

Cool stuff. Gota head further west for hoffmani. You'll know 'em when you see their belly.
User avatar
brick911
Posts: 3488
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:52 am
Location: Morrisville, PA

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by brick911 »

Great post Matt. That Spring sal is a beast! Wood turtles = congrats. The newt shot is cool as well. :thumb:
User avatar
intermedius
Posts: 481
Joined: March 22nd, 2012, 7:19 pm

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by intermedius »

Beautiful. Congrats on the new lifer.

Justin
User avatar
incuhead2000
Posts: 670
Joined: November 16th, 2010, 11:04 am
Location: Germantown, Maryland
Contact:

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by incuhead2000 »

looks like a good start, thanks for sharing! :thumb:
User avatar
Matt J
Posts: 679
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 11:32 am
Location: Delaware
Contact:

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by Matt J »

kyle loucks wrote:Sorry Matt, hoffmani it aint.
Haha, yeahhhhhh I know. That's why I didn't rush home and post it on here as soon as I found it, lol.
will lattea wrote:Cool stuff. Gota head further west for hoffmani. You'll know 'em when you see their belly.
I didn't say where I found this little guy ;) ;)
ohioherpercountryboy
Posts: 22
Joined: December 8th, 2011, 3:27 pm

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by ohioherpercountryboy »

very cool ive done some spring herping this past weekend and found a large spotted salamander but ive never seen a wood turtle
User avatar
Jeffreyrichard
Posts: 322
Joined: June 8th, 2010, 6:49 am
Location: Rhode Island

Re: First reptiles of 2012, including a lifer

Post by Jeffreyrichard »

Nice ... particulary the wood turtle ... still searching for my 1st ...

I love spring ...
Post Reply