Nature Photography (Formally Spring is in the Air)

[Tapejara1122]

Great pics Doug! Those turtles were especially nice. I was planning on taking pics of my turtle, but shes off to hibernate for winter so I didnt want to disturb her. 

[Doug Watson]

Great pics Doug! Those turtles were especially nice. I was planning on taking pics of my turtle, but shes off to hibernate for winter so I didnt want to disturb her. 

Thanks, turtles have a lot of personality, I think next to Chipmunks they make me laugh the most.

[laticauda]

Great stuff! I love those map turtle shots, Doug. Do you just have G. geographica up there? I know G. pseudogeographica gets pretty far north too. Halichoeres - My gut feeling is that that's a red swamp cray, Procambarus clarkii. I think you have an introduced population there (most places do - I saw some in an irrigation ditch in rural Japan!)

I just went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. Highly recommended, and well-populated with turtles (including several species of map turtles).  And no, if anyone's wondering, they don't have those awesome salamander toys anymore. They do, however, have a number of actual salamanders. Photos to come!

I was taking a break from the DTF because my opinions were getting me in trouble again but I guess I am safe on this thread. I have never seen G. pseudogeographica and according to a publication by CMN, The Turtles Of Canada all we get is the Northern Map Turtle  G. geographica

In New York I do not think we don't get the false map turtle either, I think they only come as far east as Ohio. 

[Viking Spawn]

Great pics as always Doug!  I need to locate a pond area where I won't have to worry about Ticks.  (unfortunately)   The weather has been awful in Ohio the past couple of days.   Lots of bitter wind.

I was able to get some more shots before Mother Nature became cruel... 

[Doug Watson]

Great pics as always Doug!  I need to locate a pond area where I won't have to worry about Ticks.  (unfortunately)   The weather has been awful in Ohio the past couple of days.   Lots of bitter wind.
I was able to get some more shots before Mother Nature became cruel... 

Last Sunday was into fall and I swear it was the nicest day of the year, not the hottest but overall just the nicest, sunny and comfortable. Now we are freezing at 14 celsius in the day and it goes down to 3 at night.
Great shots yourself especially that Katydid, really makes me sorry I haven't spotted one all year.
And is there any animal that looks more miserable than a Tree Frog? They must have known what was coming weather wise.
Going kayaking tomorrow, I may have to break out the long johns.

[Tapejara1122]

Great pics Doug! Those turtles were especially nice. I was planning on taking pics of my turtle, but shes off to hibernate for winter so I didnt want to disturb her. 

Thanks, turtles have a lot of personality, I think next to Chipmunks they make me laugh the most.

I agree! They do look oblivious at times though.

[Halichoeres]

Halichoeres - My gut feeling is that that's a red swamp cray, Procambarus clarkii. I think you have an introduced population there (most places do - I saw some in an irrigation ditch in rural Japan!)

Sounds reasonable to me! Thanks for at least giving me a decent hypothesis. I bet you're right because all the ponds in this neighborhood are artificial.

[Newt]

I gotta start working on improving my crawdad ID skills. I know the major genera, but not many species. And I live in mudbug central! I think we have 70-80 species in the state.

VS - very nice shots! I really like the katydid and the stinkbug. Is that second treefrog a pet? It sure likes like H. arborea or one of its Palearctic kin.

Here are a few images from my recent trip to Chattanooga. We stopped at two lovely waterfall-themed state parks: Burgess Falls and Fall Creek Falls.

Burgess Falls features several falls along the appropriately-named Falling Water River as it drops off the Eastern Highland Rim into the Central Basin (both are part of the Mississippian Plateau, a massive limestone slab that comprises most of central Tennessee and Kentucky and adjacent parts of Alabama and Indiana). Unfortunately, the highest (136 ft/41 m) falls was not accessible due to storm-damaged overlooks, but here are some of the lesser falls:







And here are some of the several falls at Fall Creek Falls State Park, along the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau (the western rampart of the Appalachian mountains):

Cane Creek Falls (85 ft/26 m) on the right and Rockhouse Falls (125 ft/38 m) on the left.


Fall Creek Falls (256 ft/78 m), the tallest single-drop waterfall in the eastern US, from an overlook. The damp spot to the right is Coon Creek Falls (250 ft/76 m), reduced to a bare trickle after the summer. All of these falls are much more powerful in the spring.


Fall Creek Falls from the base.

[Newt]

Some critters from Fall Creek Falls:

An unusual gray squirrel with stylish white-tipped tail at the campground


(Our campground was visited just after dark by a clean-up crew of two young raccoons and a striped skunk. The skunk came nearly up to our feet while we were sitting at the picnic table. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera in hand, and didn't dare try to fetch it!)

A nonchalant whitetail. She was only ten feet or so from me when I took this.


Some daddy-longlegs getting it on


One of several Phosphila turbulenta caterpillars happily feeding on a greenbrier vine


This anomalonine ichneumon laid an egg in one of them


This copperhead was resting in the trail near dusk. After photographing it I tired to coax it off the trail. It was a bit perturbed by this.


But eventually it went on its merry way, melting into the leaf litter.

[Doug Watson]

Great shots Newt. My favourite of course is the Copperhead, what a beautiful snake and a good sized one as well. I am truly envious, in all my numerous trips south I have been hoping to spot one of your venomous snakes with no luck.

[Gwangi]

Growing up in downstate NY I used to see copperheads all the time, now I live in western NY and outside their range. They're a beautiful snake and I miss seeing them.

[Newt]

Thanks Doug. If you're interested in coming to my neck of the woods next spring, I can definitely help you find some cottonmouths. Copperheads and timber rattlers are a bit more of a crapshoot, but we can quite likely find some of them too.

[Viking Spawn]

Beautiful images again Newt!  That must have been a great trip!  I need to take my family there!

As for my frog images, neither were pets.  Just random critters I located while searching for insects.   

[Gwangi]

The frogs appear to be grey treefrogs and/or Cope's grey treefrogs.

[Arul]

Very beautiful snake, nice photos Newt 

[Newt]

Thanks Arul! I'm sure we would all love to see some photos from your country (hint hint)!

VS - Do it! It's well worth seeing, and there are many other beautiful attractions in eastern Tennessee. Just stay away from the whole Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville mess (unless you like tourist traps...I guess some people do).

Gwangi - You're probably right, but that second one doesn't look like any gray treefrog I've ever seen. The very smooth skin and brilliant green color look like some very young gray metamorphs, but it doesn't otherwise look like a metamorph. Peculiar.

[Gwangi]

Gwangi - You're probably right, but that second one doesn't look like any gray treefrog I've ever seen. The very smooth skin and brilliant green color look like some very young gray metamorphs, but it doesn't otherwise look like a metamorph. Peculiar.

It has to be, the gray and Cope's are the only two Hyla species in Ohio. I agree that the second photo is very deceptive. At first glance I thought it was a Pine Barren's tree frog but that would be way outside of its range.

[Doug Watson]

The Provincial Park closed last weekend and we were there for the last day. It was actually warm at 20 celsius but a steady wind made it a bit chilly whipping the cold off the water. Since then we have seen snow twice and frost in the mourning so winter is around the corner.
Here are some shots from the last two kayaking weekends of the year. My next shots will probably be from cross country skiing.

Some fall colour.



Some more colour.



A Monarch Butterfly on the beach, hopefully it makes the trip south.



This Paper Wasp fell into the lake and was treading water. I scooped it up with my paddle and put it on my kayak. After staying with me for a while around the lake it warmed up, dried off and then flew away.



A Ruby Meadow Hawk. There were still lots of these guys around.



A Brown Water Scorpion



Painted Turtles were still out in numbers.



This one had an iridescent sheen to its carapace.



Except for one large one in the water all the Map Turtles seen were young ones like this.



Bullfrog



I found three of these Jefferson Salamanders under the same board.



A Great Blue Heron hunting and catching something.

[paleoferroequine]

   And now, for something completely different, das Panzerschwein, the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus)

[Viking Spawn]

Fall is in full force where I live and I'm starting to rake leaves DAILEY!!!

Beautiful pics as always Doug!  Its almost sad to see the warm season come to an end.   I'll have to share some of my fall pics shortly.

As for the Armadillo, I've never seen one in the wild.  Me and the family are planning a vacation trip out west next summer, so I hope top finally stumble upon one.