Nature Photography (Formally Spring is in the Air)

[Gwangi]

Love that kingsnake, Lampropeltis are some of my absolute favorite snakes. Great find, and great save!

[Newt]

Thanks! I've lived at my current house for two years now, and this is the first herp I've seen in the yard (though I've seen garter snakes and box turtles and heard Cope's gray treefrogs in the neighborhood). The suburbs just don't have the herpetological action of the more rural area where I lived before.

[Halichoeres]

That kingsnakes seems like a good reason not to mow your yard  No doubt he'll have better hunting in the tall grass/weeds.

[Gwangi]

Thanks! I've lived at my current house for two years now, and this is the first herp I've seen in the yard (though I've seen garter snakes and box turtles and heard Cope's gray treefrogs in the neighborhood). The suburbs just don't have the herpetological action of the more rural area where I lived before.

I know the feeling. Although I'm still quite rural I recently moved from New York to Maryland. Athough MD offers more herps by way of species diversity I'm struggling to find any. I was an avid herper in NY and it was a guarantee I would find something on every trip. In Maryland I get skunked more often than not. Still need to find an eastern king!

[Newt]

Halichoeres - Not mowing the lawn will get me a visit from Metro. Gwangi - Good luck! Have you tried meeting up with local herpers?


Some fun bugs I saw on a recent trip to a park near my house:


Varied Carpet Beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) eating pollen.


Assassin Bug (Pselliopus barberi) proving assassins don't have to be drab.



Tachinid Fly (Cylindromyia spp.) doing a headstand for perfectly sound fly reasons.

[Halichoeres]

Damn, that is some quality macro photography. Nice bugs!

[Newt]

Thanks! I can't take much credit - I'm a photography ignoramus. I just put the camera on auto, point, click, and hope for the best.

[Lizerd]

Ahh spring. The snow is melting and plants are growing, and all the while I am locked inside drowning in mucus. But the flowers are pretty   

[Halichoeres]

Went to Black Creek Marsh near Albany, N.Y., and the ground was composed of approximately 50% leopard frogs:


(Lithobates pipiens, unless I'm quite mistaken)

[suspsy]

Today while walking around the suburbs, we came across a pond full of singing and mating toads. 'Twas neat!

Untitled by Suspsy Three, on Flickr

[Ravonium]

Just an assortment of random things I've seen in local parks (mostly related to breeding waterbirds for some reason):


Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) with chicks in nest.



Mute swan (Cygnus olor) with eggs in nest.



Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) egg. These ducks nest in trees, so the egg fell out somehow. Quite amazing that it's intact.



Animal burrow, most likely Eurasian badger (Meles meles).

[Gwangi]

Everyone's posting frogs, I don't wanna get left out. I started putting up a pool this spring but took too long with it, now frogs have taken over the standing water inside. They're cope's gray tree frogs (Hyla chrysoscelis). I guess I'll finish the pool after the tadpoles grow up and leave.

[Newt]

Went to Black Creek Marsh near Albany, N.Y., and the ground was composed of approximately 50% leopard frogs:


(Lithobates pipiens, unless I'm quite mistaken)

Nice! Definitely L. pipiens, though missing the typical dark spot on top of the snout. For some reason their range is almost perfectly congruent with the formerly glaciated areas of the northeast. I always look for them when I'm up that way, but have yet to spot one.

[Newt]

Just an assortment of random things I've seen in local parks (mostly related breeding waterbirds for some reason):



Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) with chicks in nest.



Mute swan (Cygnus olor) with eggs in nest.



Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) egg. These ducks nest in trees, so the egg fell out somehow. Quite amazing that it's intact.



Animal burrow, most likely Eurasian badger (Meles meles).

Fantastic stuff! I'm a little envious; I've seen very few waterfowl nests, and never a badger set.

[Ravonium]

Fantastic stuff! I'm a little envious; I've seen very few waterfowl nests, and never a badger set

Thanks for the nice comments!

Honestly, I've not seen too many waterfowl nests either (especially not as close as I got in those pictures), and this is only the 2nd badger sett I've ever seen! (and I've never seen any actual badgers, which is a shame; compared to their almost brutish looking cousins across the pond, Eurasian badgers are quite cute, and at least somewhat less aggressive.)

[Halichoeres]

Nice photos, Ravonium and Gwangi! Frogs are such cooperative subjects compared to many animals.

I would definitely rather find a Eurasian badger in a dark alley than an American one.

[Gwangi]

Found this rat snake (Pantherophis) chilling under my chicken coop. Not worried about the chickens, he's big but still too small to eat the chickens. It's fine if he helps himself to a few eggs though.

[ITdactyl]

I just go to this thread to trigger my herp-envy.

My neighborhood used to look like that Hayao Miyasaki film: "My Neighbor Totoro".  Now it's just houses and people.  The birds are trying to survive, but almost no more bugs and herps.  Except for the occasional baby snakes that like to sleep in my shoes.

[Halichoeres]

Ooh, that's a pretty snake. Glad he found you and not a less tolerant chicken-owner.

[Gwangi]

Ooh, that's a pretty snake. Glad he found you and not a less tolerant chicken-owner.

Yeah, well he wouldn't have to go far. I live in town and always end up worried about these "suburban snakes". I've already told my neighbors on both sides of my house to let me know if they need a snake removed.