Finally had a nice day to get out and do some field herping. It’s been a long cold winter, and it’s finally nice to get out and see some NE Ohio herps. I only hit one spot for about an hour as I had a full day of errands to run, but seen a few things, one of which was real special.
As I walked along the boardwalk I saw a garter snake (
Thamnophis sirtalis), however it quickly slithered under the boardwalk never to be seen again. I was a little disappointed as it was the first snake I would see this year, and I didn’t even get to hold it, let alone get musked or bit.
After watching the gartersnake slip out of site I decided to flip a few logs. Under the first one I flipped I found a few red-backed salamanders (
Plethodon cinereus). I quickly snapped this pic of a normal red-back and a “lead phase” red-back that I found sharing the log.
I then continued on my way. As I approached an open water area I could hear spring peepers (
Pseudacris crucifer) and wood frogs (
Rana sylvatica)calling louder and louder. Most were either off in the distance, or quickly dove under water, however one did stand still long enough to grab a quick pic.
After photographing the wood frog I looked behind me as a little bit of movement caught my eye. There slowly crawling through the shallow water among the emergent vegetation was a beautiful spotted turtle (
Clemmys guttata). I quickly resituated and snapped a few pics of her before she eventually crawled out of sight.
All in all it was a nice day. I didn’t see any smooth green snakes (
Opheodrys vernalis syn. Lioclonorophis vernalis), which was one of the species I had hoped to photograph. But seeing a spotted turtle always makes it worth the time, besides I still have all year.
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