More Illinois

Installment 2 is in!  Another 5 shots from Thanksgiving weekend:

Awesome Millipede!

Midland Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi wrightorum)

Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus)

Cope's or Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis or avivoca)

Long-tailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)

One more installment to come!

Kyle

Simcoe County Herps

Made it up to a favourite spot in Simcoe County this other day with a few friends in search of reptiles and and amphibians.  We had some excellent success, and it was just generally an excellent day!

Before I get to the photos, this seems an appropriate time to mention that I have set a date for my upcoming Reptile and Amphibian Photography Workshop!  I'm really excited to try this workshop format - it will be taking place at Scales Nature Park in Orillia.  It includes admission to the nature park, a private tour, an hour of photography instruction and two hours of shooting the live animals with the help of a professional wrangler.  The park houses the most complete collection of native (Ontario) reptiles and amphibians anywhere, and some cool exotics too!  The date is September 25.  Let me know if you're interested!

Ok, enough shameless promotion - on to the photos!

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)  See more...

Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)  See more...

Northern Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)  See more...

And the find of the weekend (not found by me though) - a neonate Massasauga!

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus)  See more...

That's all for now!

Kyle

Northern Two-lined Salamander

I am waaay behind on photo-sorting as usual!  A couple of weekends ago I made it to Haliburton County with my father in search of one of the few Ontario amphibians I've never seen - the Northern Two-lined Salamander.  I had some good intel on where I might find one (thank you friend!), so I was feeling lucky.

While searching, we did manage to find another amphibian that I had yet to see this year - a Mink Frog!

Mink Frog (Lithobates septentrionalis)  See more...

We also stumbled across some of the most interesting American Toads I've seen, including some very orange ones.

American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)  See more...

However, in spite of our small frog victories, hours of searching in the rain failed to produce the salamanders.  We decided to throw in the proverbial towel, but as we walked back towards the car we stopped by a promising stream for the third time that day, just in case.  This turned out to be an excellent decision!

Northern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata)  See more...

A glorious day indeed.

More photos to come soon, I promise!

Kyle

Herps!

As promised, I got out to a few favourite local spots for some photography today.  I missed some of the species I was after, but got a few decent shots nonetheless.

Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) see more...

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) see more...

Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens) see more...


Salamander (Ambystoma sp.) see more...

Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

That's all for now!
:)
Kyle

Black Rat Snake...sort of...

Well last weekend I took off to eastern Ontario in search of the elusive Black Rat Snake*.  Having only a day and a half to find one, I (and my intrepid co-herper) searched intensively.  We were very nearly skunked, and found only one individual hiding in a crack in an old timber building.  Hardly even counts as a sighting!  Here is the best look we got:

Black Rat Snake (Elaphe obsoleta**)

Fortunately, the weekend was not a total bust, as we did find a few other herps.

Red-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens)

Red-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens)

Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon)

That's all for now!

Kyle

*The powers-that-be would have you call this a Grey Rat Snake.  Until they can show me a grey one in Ontario they can bite me.
**The same powers would have you use any number of latin names (depending on which week you ask in).

More Amphibians!

Decided to take a stroll for salamanders last night.  Here are some results:

Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

Redback Salamander - Leadback Phase (Plethodon cinereus)

Blue-spotted (type) Salamander (Ambystoma sp.)

Red-spotted Newt - Eft (Notophthalmus viridescens)

I'm still in search of that elusive first snake of the year - it seems I am always the last to find one.  I can't believe it's mid-May and I am still without!  My eyes are peeled.

Happy herping!
Kyle

It Begins... (finally)

Well, with a slight increase in the temperature, I decided to try my luck at frogs the other day (Friday).  Sadly, the frogs were mostly quiet.  I did hear a few Chorus Frogs calling intermittently, but was unable to track them down.  Just as I was starting to head back to my car in disappointment, I turned up a very unexpected critter!

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)

Four-toeds are a reasonably uncommon and hard-to-find species throughout Ontario, so it's a nice one to nail down early in the season.  Although he looks like the more-common Redback Salamander, the constriction at the base of his tail and his spotty belly (see below) give him away.

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)

They're not exactly award-winners, but photos nonetheless!  I'm hoping this means the drought has ended, and there will be many more photos to follow.

Check back soon!
Kyle

Amphibians!

Hello!

Still haven't bought a calendar?  Let me give you the link:



Now that that's out of the way, here are some amphibian photos from the Illinois trip!  It was a much drier year than last, and the amphibian abundance was substantially lower.  There were still some good ones around though, it just took at bit more looking to find them.  Here they are!

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)

Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)

Central Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens louisianensis)

Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca)

Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca)

Bird-voiced Treefrog (Hyla avivoca)

Just one more Illinois upload to go.  Then I guess I'll have to take some new photos...what am I going to do??

:)
Kyle

A Great Day in the Woods!

Hello!

Spent my Canada Day in the woods (the Canadian woods).  Herps were the target, and I was back to my favourite amphibian spot with a couple of friends.  The herp scene started off a bit slow, but there were lots of other things to occupy me.

Red Mushrooms

A Cool Slug...

Hairstreak (Satyrium sp.)

Eventually we started to turn up some herps, much to my enjoyment.

Red-spotted Newt (Red Eft) (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens)

Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus)

Undoubtedly the find of the day (and not made by me) was this picture-perfect (no pun intended) Four-toed Salamander.

Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)

That's all for now!

Kyle

Updates!!

Hello!

I was recently reminded (probed...jabbed...) that I hadn't updated in a while.  Fortunately, I finally got out this weekend to do some photography.  Kind of a long post, so stick with it!  First, Ontario's only lizard:

Five-lined Skink (Eumeces fasciatus)

Moving on to the more avian reptiles, some Black-crowned Night-Herons with hilarious hairdos:

Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Like many patriotic Canadians, my Victoria Day was spent out looking for herps!  The perfect way to spend a holiday.  Salamanders were the primary target, and they did not disappoint.  It's been suggested that the Red-backed Salamander is Ontario's most common vertebrate, though I'll bet most Ontario residents have never seen one.  Too bad, as they are really pretty.

Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

The next salamander I came upon is an odd one - a genetic complex of two species.  The Jefferson's and Blue-spotted Salamander hybridize (in the least straightforward way conceivable) and are essentially indistinguishable in the field.  This has resulted in the two often being referred to collectively as the Jefferson's Complex (great name for an 80's rock band...).

Jefferson's Complex (Ambystoma laterale x jeffersonianum)

When I found my second Ambystoma of the day he had a surprise in store for me.  Presumably alarmed at my presence, he lifted his tail in the air and began waving it back and forth.  I have never encountered this behaviour before, and am not entirely sure if/how it would deter a predator.

Jefferson's Complex (Ambystoma laterale x jeffersonianum)

When herping, I always manage to find some other interesting creatures.  So, here's a couple of bugs I ran into in between salamanders.

Crane Fly (Tipulidae)

Millipede (Diplopoda)

That's all for now, hopefully I get out taking more photos sometime soon!

Kyle