The Rest of 2022, Part II: Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles

Let's keep going with 2022 sights on our property, continuing from my previous post about breeding birds! Here, I'll share some assorted highlights featuring mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. We'll still need some more posts after this. Here we go!

 

Mammals

On June 11 in the woods, I came across a female and male White-tailed Deer who, strangely, didn't run away when they saw me, but instead watched me carefully from not too far away for a few minutes. The female, in particular, was intent on watching me:

The male was a little further back, and I was very impressed with the sizeable antlers he was growing:

I wondered whether there might have been a fawn hidden somewhere nearby, but I didn't see anything, and I stuck to the path so I wouldn't accidentally disturb anyone. The deer and I watched each other for a while, and then I moved on.

Eastern Chipmunks are a common feature in our yard throughout the non-freezing months, and I couldn't resist a picture of this chipmunk on our old hollow apple tree on June 20:

Our vegetable garden is generally well-protected with tall netting to keep out deer and short metal fencing with small holes to keep out rabbits and rodents who would love to nibble on veggies. Every once in a while, though, some industrious creature finds a way through these defences, and in July this year, I returned from a trip to find whole bean plants and eggplant branches snipped off by a mysterious muncher, and only some of the leaves on those branches eaten. After a few days (and some more damage), I figured out that the culprit was a mother Meadow Vole who had found enough of a gap in my fencing and had moved her family of babies into a rock pile in the corner of my garden. On July 17, I removed the rocks and uncovered a handful of furry toddlers -- here's one of these cute and hungry creatures:

Meadow Voles are numerous in our yard and meadow, but I don't often get to see them up close like this. I moved the babies outside of the garden, saw the mother make her exit, and re-secured the gap in the fencing where she was probably getting through. Unfortunately, either I didn't successfully fix the gap or the mother vole was able to climb over the ~2-foot fence -- and I read some sources that suggest that voles can indeed climb if they have enough motivation -- because she kept removing bits of the beans and eggplants over the next few days. And then when I put out a live trap in the bean row, hoping to relocate her, she got caught in the trap and died; I suspect now that the trap might have gotten too hot in the sun. I was really sad to have caused the death of this inventive and persistent creature, but it is also true that we have tons of voles here (including her new batch of babies), vole mortality is high in general, and the purpose of my little vegetable garden is to make food for people, not voles. Here's hoping the fence keeps little furry creatures out of the garden in the future; it's really better for everyone if they stay outside.

 

Reptiles and Amphibians

Our first amphibian sightings this year were on March 19, when night-time temperatures were in the 50s and the ground was damp, and our first really big salamander night was on the rainy night of March 24, when we helped at least 20 Spotted Salamanders across the road near our house in a span of around 10 minutes. Amphibians were waking up and on the move! On March 26, I re-learned that it's best not to tidy up flower beds too early in the year, when I accidentally uncovered a Spring Peeper that was hunkered down in the dirt beneath some dead leaves on this freezing cold day; after taking this picture, I quickly covered the little frog back up:

The night of March 31 was another great time for amphibian movement. Here's a big Spotted Salamander who we helped across the road that night:

And here's a much more awake Spring Peeper on the damp pavement that night:

Although my garden fencing is (usually) pretty good at keeping out unwanted mammals, somehow amphibians and reptiles still find their way inside fairly regularly. I'm not sure how this large American Toad ended up submerged in the garden dirt on May 13, but I was very happy to have it there, and I encouraged it to please enjoy the slug buffet on offer:

This Brown Snake was living in the same rock pile in my garden as the Meadow Vole family, which I uncovered on July 17; I was surprised at this neighboring arrangement at first, but Brown Snakes are too small to pose a threat to voles, and instead this creature is also primarily a slug eater (yes, please, have all the slugs you want):

Sometimes amphibians show up in other unexpected places as well. This small Spotted Salamander spent some time in October in a little cave-like corner of our basement, and this is actually the second year we've found a salamander in that same spot; we weren't able to reach the creature well enough to relocate it, so we just enjoyed looking at its friendly face, pictured here on October 24:

I hope this little salamander was able to find its way back out the way it came, because I'm not sure we have enough food for it down here; and in any case, it should probably be sleeping. Good luck, little creature!

 

In the next post, look for more bird sightings from 2022, followed by insects and flowers!

Spring and Early Summer Highlights: Part III

OK, here's one more post catching up with April, May, and June around our house!

Yet More Birds

The trail camera in the woods made several videos featuring cool birds this spring. The following video compiles a few especially exciting clips: First, some deer triggered the camera while a Barred Owl happened to be calling nearby -- I've heard a pair of Barred Owls calling individually and together a whole lot this year, and I suspect they've been nesting somewhere in the woods surrounding our property. Next is a video of a Wild Turkey foraging in the underbrush; it's always neat to see these big birds up close. Then, there's another deer-triggered video that captured a Wood Thrush's amazing song; I hear Wood Thrushes only occasionally around here, and getting to hear this song so clearly is such a treat. And finally, incredibly, there's a video of an adult Ruffed Grouse and two tiny chicks foraging at midday. I'd glimpsed Ruffed Grouse in our woods only a couple of times before, and then this family group wandered past the trail camera on three different days. I love Ruffed Grouse a whole lot, and I'm so happy to know that we have them as neighbors.



Amphibians and Others

I've known for a few years now that Gray Treefrogs live around here, and I suspect that they're fairly common, because I hear them trilling every year in May, June, and July. I'd never actually seen one of these mostly arboreal and well-camouflaged amphibians, however, until this year.... On the night of May 22, with warm temperatures and heavy rain -- wonder of wonders -- two Gray Treefrogs appeared right our front porch. Oh my goodness!
 

Paul was admiring these frogs with me, and he pointed out that their skin is all bumpy and mottled, a lot like a toad. But their shape is so treefrog-y, all low to the ground and spread out, and with those big round suction-cup toes.

These two treefrogs were very active -- we'd turn off the light and go inside, and then we'd look out onto the porch again a few minutes later and they'd be in entirely different spots. One of the treefrogs perched on top of our door frame, like the world's most adorable gargoyle:
 

The other treefrog ended up clinging to a window, which meant we got to see a treefrog belly. :)
 

The Gray Treefrogs were the stars of the show, but tons of other amphibians also kept showing up near our porch on that warm rainy night. This little Spring Peeper was adorable and bold:

And here's a Red Eft (juvenile Red-spotted Newt) with an American Toad hulking behind:

Amphibians are awesome!

I'll close this summary with a couple more sights. There have been many interesting insects around, but here's one that's entirely new to me: A male Glowworm Beetle (possibly Phengodes plumosa) who showed up in my garden on June 5. Apparently female Glowworm Beetles look like larvae, and both the females and the larvae are luminescent -- amazing. I'm really impressed by the antennae on this male. What a weird bug:

And finally, the Wild Lupine we planted in our meadow a few years ago put on a fantastic show in June. I love looking at these thick stands of purple and blue flowers:
 

Whew! OK, we're all caught up! Now onward to the rest of summer. :)

Two Walks: Visiting a Bog, Plus a Few Reptiles and Amphibians

On Friday afternoon, I went to check out the O.D. von Engeln Preserve. This Nature Conservancy property has some interesting glacial formations and a variety of habitats, including a bog, which as I understand it is pretty unusual for this area. I don't get many chances to explore bogs, and I very much enjoyed the path through this part of the preserve:

The bog was filled with big and beautiful flowers from the Purple Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea). How does one plant get to eat bugs and have such amazing blooms?
 

These are some weird flower structures -- fitting, I suppose, for a plant as strange as a pitcher plant:

In another part of the preserve, this small Garter Snake was basking in a sunny patch on the forest floor:
 

I'm hoping to return to this place in the coming months to see what other interesting flowers might show up. Bogs are fun!

This morning, Paul and I went for a walk at the Roy H. Park Preserve, where we met this creature on the path:

A little Common Snapping Turtle! It's got the long tail and spiked shell of a snapper, but it's just a baby monster as yet:

Hello, little monster, you are very cute:

This morning's walk also featured a singing Blackburnian Warbler and Indigo Bunting (both too far away for my camera), and a small American Toad crossing the path:

I love that it's the time of year when reptiles and amphibians are common, and new wildflowers are appearing seemingly all the time. Summer is on its way!

Salamander Night!

Last night was incredible. It was our first warm and rainy night of the year, the time when many salamanders and other amphibians emerge from their subterranean hiding spots to head to a place to breed. Warm and soggy and dark: basically the best conditions for a creature who lives in burrows and under logs to make a trek across land.

I've read about such early spring amphibian movement, but this is the first year we've lived in a place where I can actually wander around the yard at night without worrying about neighbors thinking I'm crazy. So when the rain paused last night, I grabbed a flashlight and my iPhone for a camera (I didn't want to risk getting my actual camera wet) and went to see if anyone was out and about.

After only a few minutes of careful walking -- there were earthworms moving all over the ground -- I did indeed find an amphibian! Yes!! A hefty Jefferson Salamander (or possibly a member of the complex involving genes from this and other related species) was making its way across the yard:

It's just so amazing to see this creature out and active. The only other times I've encountered salamanders (besides newts) has been when they're resting under logs or rocks, and I always feel a little guilty for disturbing them in their hiding places. How cool to meet this creature instead when it's wide awake and walking around. Is this not just the cutest and friendliest face?? :)

And this was just the first creature I met. Other amphibians were also taking advantage of the warm and wet night. A medium-sized American Toad was hopping across the driveway and it paused long enough to let me take its (rather dramatic) portrait:

Spring Peepers were calling loudly not too far away on our neighbor's property, and even though I couldn't go look for them en masse, I did meet this tiny individual who was probably heading off to join the raucous breeding party:

Paul came out to enjoy the night, too, and with the extra pair of eyes and extra flashlight, we started finding even more creatures. We saw this much smaller Jefferson Salamander with its beautiful blue speckles:

And maybe most exciting of all, a big Spotted Salamander was trekking across the grass!

I haven't seen a Spotted Salamander since I was little, and I've been hoping for years to come across one. I mean, what an amazing creature! Those yellow spots are just unreal. Here's a video of this salamander as it made its way through the yard:



At this point, it didn't seem like it was going to start raining again, so I went and got my actual camera. I still haven't quite figured out the best way to take pictures in dark conditions, but I couldn't not try with so many wonderful creatures around! Spotted Salamanders are especially photogenic, even without the best photographer:

I was just wondering aloud how many Spotted Salamanders might be living in this area, when we turned around and saw a second one just a few yards away! Ahh, so cool:

Then we ended up in an area of the yard where there were salamanders practically everywhere we looked. Two Red-backed Salamanders passed each other without seeming to notice (see the head on the left and the tail on the right?):

And this strange salamander that I can't quite identify came practically running by:

Something must've happened to this salamander's tail at some point, but the salamander certainly seemed healthy otherwise. This creature was a bit bigger than the other Red-backed Salamanders we saw, but I suppose it could have been a dark morph of that species; or perhaps it was a similar-looking Ravine Salamander (a species that would fit perfectly with this habitat).

I'm so happy that I got to see so many of these usually hidden creatures! Here's hoping they all made it safely to their destinations, so future generations of amphibians can keep invading yards around here every year on warm and rainy spring nights. :)

A Few Yard Amphibians and Insects

I still haven't had a chance to explore any of the parks near our new home, but I also haven't really felt the need to, because there are already so many things to see right here. We're getting used to seeing adorable little American Toads hopping out from underfoot whenever we walk through the yard:
 

And I was super happy the other day when one tiny fleeing amphibian turned out to be a Spring Peeper:
 

Hello wonderful creature! Sorry about the flash for this next picture, but I needed to admire the lovely pattern on your back:

The insect life around here is wonderfully varied, with lots of cool creatures to meet. I already shared pictures of the big Northern Walkingstick and Luna Moth that showed up in past weeks, and the big bugs keep coming! This large ornate dragonfly (possibly a Shadow Darner, Aeshna umbrosa, or another darner species) was hanging out at the end of a recent day (yes, we have blueberries in our yard):
 

This dragonfly was either injured or just really tired, because it let me pick it up for a closer look (and to admire its size) before it flew away:
 

Smaller brilliant red dragonflies (a meadowhawk species, I think) cruise around our house, staking out posts mostly at the tops of flower stalks:
 

Although my car's antenna apparently serves this purpose just as well:
 

Cicadas frequently call from the trees, and we spotted this one handing out under a wooden sign:
 

A stand of milkweed near the road is currently feeding a horde of Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars, fuzzy little things that will eventually grow into moths:
 

A Painted Lady butterfly let me take its picture the other day as it visited the flowers around the house. These wings are so bright and pretty on top:
 

But I absolutely love the intricate patterns on their undersides:
 

I'm definitely learning to bring my camera along whenever I'm outside, because you never know what might show up next!

Garden Creatures: Predators, Pollination, and More

I think of my backyard garden as its own little ecosystem, and I'm constantly amazed at the diversity of creatures that choose to make their homes there (usually because they want to eat the flowers or leaves, or because they want to eat the things that eat the flowers or leaves). Here's a small sampling of the creatures (mostly insects) I've noticed in the garden over the past two weeks. It's a jungle out there!

Flowers are a big deal in the garden, and there are always plenty of bees around. This bumblebee has its head buried in a bean flower and the pollen baskets on its legs are brimming full of collected pollen (I just learned about this part of bee anatomy, and I think it's super cool):
 

In addition to the flowering plants I actually put in the garden on purpose, a huge Pokeweed plant has sprung up in one shady corner, and I let it grow because I think it's quite attractive. Lots of flying insects apparently like it, too. This very small wasp is enjoying the Pokeweed's little white blossoms:
 

And this much larger wasp (probably a Four-toothed Mason Wasp, Monobia quadridens) is browsing over the Pokeweed blooms as well:
 

In the leaf-eating camp, several leafhopper-type bugs make their homes here (in small numbers, so I'm not worried about them damaging the plants). This fancy leafhopper (Graphocephala versuta, I think) is very pretty in subtle green/blue/yellow stripes, and as I watched it, it seemed to be exuding some sort of liquid and collecting the droplets with its legs. Weird!
 

I see these Citrus Flatid Planthoppers (Metcalfa pruinosa) pretty frequently, and I quite like their powdery gray outfits:
 

Baby leafhoppers look super strange. This leafhopper nymph was showing off its weird semi-translucent body on a bean leaf:

This stocky planthopper nymph (possibly genus Acanalonia) was eying me warily:
 

This next leaf-eater I am definitely not happy to see, as it takes huge chunks out of my bean leaves. Go away, Japanese Beetle, I don't want you here:
 

A few times now, I've noticed a strangely symmetrical bit of dried leaf, and then realize... oh, it's a moth! This is an Omnivorous Leafroller (Archips purpurana), I believe:
 

And speaking of leaf-like creatures, this Greater Angle-wing Katydid nymph (Microcentrum rhombifolium) does a fantastic job of blending in with these soybean leaves:
 

This creature isn't quite full-grown yet, but it's still pretty big -- about the size of my thumb. I've seen it several days in a row in the same spot, and I have to admire it every time. I love its mottled green skin, and those tiny baby wings are sooo cute:
 

When I saw this katydid most recently (I'm 99% sure it was the same individual, with that same missing leg and the same pattern of dots on its back), its little wings were bigger! Grow, baby katydid, grow:
 

Other cool creatures include this little cricket with antennae so big I couldn't fit them in the frame (they're about two or three times longer than this picture shows):
 

And this tiny adorable jumping spider who couldn't decide whether to focus more on the giant camera lens looming over its head...
 

Or the huge pink blob (i.e., my finger) that had invaded its home leaf:
 

The little spider was probably keeping an eye out for a meal, and there are tons of other predators all over the garden. Long-legged flies are particularly prevalent, little sparkling jewels in green, blue, and orange that cruise around looking for even tinier bugs to eat:
 

Mmm, this one got something!
 

But the long-legged flies can become meals, too.... This one wasn't very lucky, but I bet the spider's happy with its catch!
 

Robber flies are common predators around here, too. This one was hanging from the Pokeweed stem and munching on a nice fat beetle:
 

Finally, speaking of predators, I was very happy to find an American Toad living in the garden. I took this picture with my phone (I clearly need to always have my camera with me) in early July, but I saw the toad again last week, so I'm hoping it's sticking around:
 

This individual has just the most wonderful deep brown/maroon color, the likes of which I don't remember ever seeing on a toad before. I think it's a gorgeous creature, and I love that it's been out there on bug/slug patrol. Eat away, lovely toad!
 

Whew, so many things to see, and I don't even have to leave my yard! Summer is such a lively time, and I'm looking forward to meeting more cool creatures in my garden as the season continues.