10 April 2013
Last night we finally took a night to rest after 5 straight days/nights of herping and I had every intention of writing this post. But wouldn't you know it our internet was down, so I'm doing it during my lunch today. It was a pretty good weekend here in central Missouri. Jenna and I decided to head out Thursday night and see if you could find any frogs. The high that day was 58 degrees and it was still in the mid 50's when we arrived at Forum Nature Area about 8:30 p.m. In the ponds there were calling Boreal Chorus Frogs, Spring Peepers, Southern Leopard Frogs, and Pickerel Frogs. Jenna also found some salamander egg masses that appeared almost ready to hatch. Unfortunately I decided not to carry my camera bag that night which contains all my spare SD cards. This would have been handy since the card out of my camera was in my computer at home.
On Friday night the 5th, Andy joined Jenna and I at Forum again. The temperature was warmer that day with a high of 67 degrees. The same frogs were calling as on Thursday night. Andy found a Common Snapping turtle baby that appeared to be deceased for no apparent reason. Jenna caught the smallest salamander larvae I have ever seen. It was less than 1/2 inch in length. I didn't get a picture of it that turned out. After a while we walked to the 3M wetlands and looked there. The same frogs again. Here are a few pictures from that night.
 |
| Smallmouth(?) Salamander Larvae in egg mass |
 |
| Smallmouth(?) Salamander Larvae in egg mass |
 |
| Frog Eggs |
 |
| Boreal Chorus Frog (Pseudacris maculata) |
On Saturday morning Jenna and I met Ryan at Three Creeks CA to look for snakes. Under the first rock Ryan flipped was our one and only snake of the day.
 |
| Northern Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata) |
 |
| Northern Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata) |
We also found 15 Five-lined Skinks. Ryan thought it would be a good idea to fasten one to his nose until it drew blood.
 |
| Skink on Ryan's nose |
 |
| Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) | |
 |
| Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) |
After a couple hour nap, Jenna and I decided to visit Strawn Road Park. The birds were happy with the 74 degree weather on we thoroughly enjoyed listening to them. Especially the Louisiana Waterthrushes.
 |
| The trees are ready to leaf. |
 |
| We found a shy Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene ornata ornata) |
 |
| The warm temperatures also bring out the nasty critters. |
Later that evening Jenna had a 5k with some friends so I visited Grassland Trail at Rockbridge Memorial State Park. All I found were a few more peepers and chorus frogs. Here is a picture I stole from Rochelle of their 5k.
Sunday was my favorite day of the weekend. Jenna and I got up and decided to drive to Montgomery country to visit one of our favorite areas. We weren't in a big hurry since early in the morning it was only in the low 50's, but it didn't take it long to reach the high of 76 degrees. We flipped rocks like crazy. Not too long into our adventure I found this .
 |
| Little Brown Skink (Scincella lateralis) | |
| After about 6 hours of searching we had turned up seven Prairie Ring-necked Snakes, an Osage Copperhead, a Western Wormsnake, a handful of Five-lined skinks, and more than 20 Prairie Lizards. We also enjoyed the company of Northern Parulas, Louisiana Waterthrushes, Black-and-White Warblers, and our first of the year Chipping Sparrows. Here are a few pictures from Sunday. |
 |
| Prairie Ring-necked Snake(Diadophis punctatus arnyi) |
 |
| Jenna holding the Prairie Ring-necked Snake(Diadophis punctatus arnyi) |
 |
| Osage Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix phaeogaster) |
 |
| Osage Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix phaeogaster) |
 |
| Western Wormsnake (Carphophis vermis) |
 |
| Small Bluets (Hedyotis crassifolia) |
Here are a couple pictures of Jenna and I taking photos of the Copperhead.
Sunday night, Quentin and Andy invited us over for a BBQ and herping. While Andy was grilling, it started to rain. After we ate it was still raining. When it comes to finding herps, you can't let rain stop you. We got drencehed, but found several Northern Watersnakes, a ton of Ring-necked Snakes, several Southern Leopard Frogs, and our first of the year American Toads. It was raining so I didn't have my camera.
On Monday night we all went out again only it wasn't raining. It was still in the mid 70's after sunset after a high of 78 degrees. The amphibians weren't out in force like the night before, but we again had a lot of Northern Watersnakes, a lot of Ring-necked Snakes, a Bark Scorpion, and a Red-bellied Snake. Here are some pictures from Monday night.
 |
| Neonate Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon) | |
 |
| Prairie Ring-necked Snake next to a quarter | |
 | |
| Striped Bark Scorpion (Centruroides vittatus) |
 |
| Northern Flicker Feather |
 |
| Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon) |
 |
| Northern Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata) |
Between 2:00 this morning and noon, Sanborn Field here on MU's campus has reported .92 inches of rain. If the weather holds in the 50's until after dark, it could be a good night for amphibians. We'll just have to see.
Edit - 10:06 p.m.
Jenna and I spent a couple hours cruising some gravel roads in the Missouri River floodplain in the rain this evening/night. After dark we saw one toad that evaded capture and two Southern Leopard Frogs. Other than that, we could hear some distant Spring Peepers and Boreal Chorus Frogs. The temperature was 54 degrees the entire 2+ hours we were out this evening and we had almost 2.25 inches of rain today.
No comments:
Post a Comment