I have no idea what happened to spring but...

It was lovely out on Saturday. I spent most of the day outside doing yard work but late in the afternoon, I got the kayak out and paddled up to the top of the lake to see about the things going on there. I didn't have as long to spend as I wanted b/c I had to go to a birthday cookout, but I made an effort.

It is difficult to take cellphone pix of dragonflies. However, the common green darner was out and about, in wheel with partner, which I did not expect this early in the year.

I also saw some kind of smallish basking turtles that plopped into the water before I could get close to them. I need to sneak up on them with my actual real camera and honkin' big telephoto lens because the stupid turtles are not cellphone-pix compliant.

Ordinary newts (N. viridescens ssp. viridescens) are active in the lake and have been for a while, no biggie there. I'm not gonna spam ya'll with pix of ordinary newts. We have 'em and they are plentiful as hell.

Didn't see the watersnakes yet but we have 'em. More research is needed there.

I also scouted out where I think the rattlers den up, an area for further inspection when it gets warmer. Need tall boots for that, I reckon, and possibly a telephoto lens b/c do not want to get up in the snakes personal business or anything. Not trying to harass the sneks. They're not out and about until May anyhow, especially when the April is as crappy as this one has been.

As yet the aquatic vegetation is barely tipping green. Cattails and such are like an inch above ground because it is still (mostly) cold here. Still interested in sedges but I can't do much on the ID front when they're like an inch of pointy green bits.

Last week I set the game cam up where I think the fisher lives. It needs to be there for like two weeks -- they have a decent sized range -- so I won't be up to get it until the first week of May. Not worried someone else will take it, as it's way back in the sticks and relatively inconspicuous. Here's hoping for fisher pix but y'know, maybe that's all in my mind.

I am seriously jealous of other people's (further south) spring pix. Still not spring here.

Publicado el abril 17, 2018 12:53 TARDE por whichchick