The first and most plentiful species of the day was the Northern Water snake, Nerodia sipedon. These juveniles were feisty and more than willing to musk:
Becky scared up this American Bullfrog (Rana/Lithobates catesbeiana), one of three Anurans of the day. The frog momentarily escaped into the water, but Jim's dip net won the round:
Moments later, I spotted this huge Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica). After we got him out of the water we realized that he had only one eye, a leech stuck to his front leg, and some heave battle scars on his carapace. Even so, he was one of the day's most impressive animals:
Becky with the turtle to put his size in perspective:
Obviously a waterfall isn't where you'd normally find a map turtle, but I liked the aesthetic:
Jim turned up this Queen snake (Regina septemvittata), which was surprisingly the only one of the day. This one was also willing to musk liberally:
At a seep coming out of the stream bank, Jim found this Streamside salamander, Ambystoma barbouri; for once habitat, geographical location and morphology all worked together to provide an easy identification. This was the first Ambystomatid I'd ever seen at the site... a completely unexpected surprise.
Next Becky found this adult Madtom catfish (not sure on the species or taxonomy since my freshwater fish field guide is AWOL). Again Jim's dip net came in handy and we got to get an up-close look at this unique creature:
This Northern Water snake had slightly different ventral coloration than the others we'd seen, and had the worst temper of all:
As the snake tried with singular determination to bite my nose, Jim called out that he'd found another salamander. Turning and stooping down to help ID the species, I momentarily forgot how angry the snake in my had was; for my lapse in concentration I received a solid bite to the neck, much to the amusement of everyone. The salamander turned out to be a Long-Tailed salamander (Eurycea longicauda):
Jim tried admirably to get this young Green frog (Rana/Lithobates clamitans) to settle down, but to little avail; this photo was snapped a millisecond before the frog took off back into the safety of the water.
At this point it was starting to rain more heavily, so we started back to our cars by walking along a set of train tracks. Becky spotted this little American Toad (Bufo americanus)... how I don't know... perfectly camoflauged among the stones:
All in all we were pretty pleased with the day's finds; the only "usual suspect" at the site that didn't make an appearance was the common snapping turtle. The unexpected Ambystoma and large Map turtle were the icing on the proverbial cake for me. Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures!
