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Joshsnakeman Whitie Dericka Joshsnakeman Cpx_20o5 Joshsnakeman |
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Joshsnakeman View Profile |
A chronology of herping in Ontario: part 1
Anyways, as winter started to come to a close in mid-March, I went to one of my favorite local places to see if anything was around yet. No herps, but a lot of birds, including downy woodpeckers.
Finally, on March 26, we had some warm weather, and I found my first herps of the year, some Northern Leopard Frogs around a pond. That evening I went back and found this Blue-spotted Salamander on the path.
During the rest of March and April, I spent a lot of time with the hip-waders and headlamp finding various amphibians. Spring Peepers call from virtually every wetland throughout April.
I had heard these guys calling before, but had never seen one. They also call from many wetlands in the spring. Western Chorus Frog:
One night in early April, I headed to some vernal pools to see if any species were around. I was fortunate to find 40+ Spotted Salamanders swimming around, as well as a couple Blue-spotted Salamanders.
A few weeks later, lots of these were around.
Saturday, April 21 was warm and sunny. I biked over to a nearby river, hoping to turn up some reptiles. The day did not disappoint, as countless Northern Water Snakes, Eastern Garter Snakes, and Common Snapping Turtles were around. A garter had grabbed a large Green Frog.
These Leopard Frogs were breeding in the area.
After talking to Dan Riley and Dav Nemethy Fekete on these forums, we decided to meet up at a large bog to see what we could turn up.
Supposedly Spotted Turtles and Massasauga Rattlesnakes were in the area. It was nice to meet up with others who had the same hobby as myself. Although we struck out on both those species, I picked up a lifer in a Smooth Green Snake.
Here is Dav photographing the same individual:
We went to Dav’s Milksnake spot nearby, and turned up a couple Eastern Milks.
May 17-22 I had planned to go on the annual trip to Pelee Island. It is the only place in ON to find Blue Racers, Lake Erie Watersnakes, and Smallmouth Salamanders. The trip was awesome, as we turned up every species of herp on the island. A fox snake that Dav turned up:
One of the many melanistic Eastern Garters:
Here is Dan flipping some rocks for Lake Erie Watersnakes.
And a large adult Watersnake:
At a marsh, I found 25 snappers, as well as I lifer Blanding’s Turtle that I saw from a distance but could not catch. At an old field, we flipped countless garters, browns, and a few Fox Snakes. There were Tree Swallows nesting in the area.
One one of the last days of the trip, we went Racer hunting. Unfortunately none were found, which would have been a lifer for Dan and Dav. Heres Dav taking a break:
Dav left that day, but Dan and I stayed on the island. We found a couple racers on that last day.
The month of June wasn’t very productive herp wise. I was busy with school and work, and only got out a couple times, each time within walking distance of my house. One night I found Grey Tree Frogs breeding in a pond near my house. Unfortunately the pictures did not turn out the best, but I got one of a Green Frog:
Here in Ontario, June is the turtle nesting month. This female Snapping Turtle was laying next to a large pond in the middle of a subdivision.
On a warm Monday morning, I woke early to try my luck at the river. Deer were everywhere it seemed.
As were these Tortoiseshells:
I picked up two more lifers that day. They were Red-eared Slider (introduced) and Pickerel Frog.
At a different local spot, I searched an old field and brushy marsh for herps. Not too many were found, so I focused on other flora and fauna. Siberian Iris:
Some sort of Skipper:
By the time July rolled around, I was done with the workload of school and managed to get out a few times. One day I met up with Dan and Dav to search for queen snakes at a different river. They are very uncommon in Ontario, only occurring in a handful of locales. There they can be extremely uncommon at best.
We turned up a couple Northern Water Snakes while walking the river.
Finally, Dan flipped a perfect rock, and a beautiful little Queen Snake was underneath. Lifer :) .
At the end of July, Warren came over from Alberta, and I met up with him to do some herping. We had a lot of fun chasing around large Snapping Turtles and Carp.
The next day we headed down to Rondeau PP, flipping some Five-lined Skinks, Garter Snakes, and Fowler’s Toads.
Prickly Pear Cactus:
Stay tuned for part two: August-October. Thanks, Josh
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| 11/04/07 01:04pm |
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Whitie View Profile |
Message To: Joshsnakeman In reference to Message Id: 1500829 A chronology of herping in Ontario: part 1
As always Josh your pics are great and I love the way you tell the story as you go along. I always look forward to your post!! 
Keep up the good work and sending those pics!! You really do a wonderful job!! |
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| 11/04/07 02:44pm |
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Dericka View Profile |
Message To: Whitie In reference to Message Id: 1500964 A chronology of herping in Ontario: part 1
deri |
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| 11/04/07 10:00pm |
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Joshsnakeman View Profile |
Message To: Dericka In reference to Message Id: 1501599 A chronology of herping in Ontario: part 1
Although stay tuned beginning of January for a report, hoping to scare up a few herps in the Florida keys over Christmas break. |
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| 11/04/07 11:54pm |
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Cpx_20o5 View Profile |
Message To: Joshsnakeman In reference to Message Id: 1501758 A chronology of herping in Ontario: part 1
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| 11/17/07 04:12pm |
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Joshsnakeman View Profile |
Message To: Cpx_20o5 In reference to Message Id: 1517282 A chronology of herping in Ontario: part 1
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| 11/17/07 09:17pm |
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