As I hiked, I could hear Spring Peepers calling off in the distance, but there calls were scattered and sporadic. The first herp of 2013 was a much bigger frog than a Spring Peeper – American Bullfrog.

In the same area while looking through the underbrush, I spotted my first reptile of the year – Midland Painted Turtle. I could hear lone Spring Peepers calling off in the distance, but these herps were right in front of me, so I photographed them.

I wasn’t the only one herping today – Red-tailed Hawk.

Here’s male a Midland Painted Turtle courting a female. To express his affections, he scratches her cheeks with his extra-long front fingernails.

She did not seem impressed with his technique.

These Ground Beetles are cool. They have big jaws and “play dead” by freezing in this position when they feel that they’re in danger.

Soon it began getting dark. I decided to track down one of those Spring Peepers that I’d been hearing throughout the day. Finding one can be tricky, they are very small and tend to stop calling as they are approached. But persistence paid off.

Not a bad outing for January 12th in the Greater Cleveland area!

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Turtle buddies – Midland Painted Turtles.

American Bullfrog, there were a bunch of these hanging out, though most were in the water. A few Spring Peepers were calling, but finding one would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

I was pleased to see this Northern Water Snake out basking.

I decided to get a shot of it from another angle, because snakes are cool.

Red-eared Slider and its reflection.

Redback Salamander.

What I saw the most of were Midland Painteds – it sure was a nice day to be out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I noticed this Black Rat Snake’s shed skin up in a tree. It’s the second shed that I’ve found in this spot. I have yet to see this serpent. Black Rat Snakes are my favorite snakes.

Then I saw this female Bullfrog too – there were lots of frogs out.

Here’s a Sulphur Butterfly on a Cup Plant. Why is it called a Cup Plant?

 Answer: Because its leaves hold water!

There were many Painted Turtles out.

How can a baby Muskrat be both cute AND be a rodent at the same time?

Little Turtle/Big Turtle.

Young Wood Ducks that hatched earlier this year hanging out with their mother (in front).

This Painted Turtle isn’t going to catch many rays while covered in Duckweed.

A Green Heron that kept staring intently at the water, waiting for a small fish to swim by.

I like turtles and there were more turtles than you can shake a stick at!

 It was a good day for hiking the towpath.

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Are you ready to spend a week in the desert? Click here for the full trip report.

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It’s time for some west coast herping. Click here for the full trip report.

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There’s a bit of a contest between the students as to who can locate the first one (it’s not as easy as you might think). This year Andy found the first one. He had a bunch of good finds last night.

After the students got an understanding of the challenge and were given the basic overview of why frogs call, satellite males, breeding competition, etc., it was time to head into the valley.

We could hear the long trills of American Toads as well as the occasional “snores” of Leopard Frogs through the constant calling of Spring Peepers. This wasn’t a herp, but it is one of my favorite invertebrates – an Eastern Toebiter – we also saw a few Water Scorpions.

We’ve never found reptiles on previous trips to this location this early in the year, but last night was different.

Northern Brown Snake

Then Andy started catching turtles; a few turned up in the floodplains yesterday.

Can I get a closer picture of that Midland Painted Turtle, Andy?

Spring Peepers were what the students were finding the most of, but bigger frogs were caught as well.

Northern Leopard Frog

Megan caught the second snake of the night.

Eastern Garter Snake

Although they are rather loud, Spring Peepers are very small. It can be a frustrating experience to locate one, even if it’s only a couple of feet away and calling. This photo gives an idea of how tiny they are.

There’s no time like Toad Time, and a fair number of American Toads were found, though they were not calling in full force yet.

Most of the twenty-something students found and/or caught an amphibian.

My 10 year old nephew Max and I were bent on catching a Western Chorus Frog. We heard a few calling, but they eluded us. We had a pretty good time anyway.

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Alison and I took a boy named Evan out to see some signs of spring (which officially is only a week away). We heard frogs calling from woodland pools, so we stopped to check it out.

All those ripples and swirls are from Wood Frogs swimming around, looking for mates.

There were a few Wood Frogs on land too, heading for the water. This one was pretty colorful.

So we caught it, to check it out more closely. These amphibians can be easily identified by their “robber’s mask.”

Evan decided that further investigations were in order.

A bit of log turning revealed a Spotted Salamander.

They spend most of their life underground, but head to the pools in March to lay eggs. Then they return back to the woods.

Of course Evan would hold it, but the big question was would Alison hold it?

She did!

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“OK,” I replied. So off we went.

We soon found out that finding wild herps isn’t as easy as looking at pictures of them on the internet. We could hear the “clucking” of Wood Frogs and the chirps of Spring Peepers, but where were they? Logan thought that lifting logs was a good strategy.

Then we found that if we were quiet, still and patient, our quarry would soon reveal itself.

Hey, what’s inside this log?

Not everyone is stoked about finding their first Spotted Salamander.

But Lance is.

And so is Lauren – we found four in total.

A non-migrating Redback Salamander.

Salamanders are sweet, but we won’t be happy until we catch a frog.

Lauren taking the “Wood Frog Challenge,” those frogs simply did not want to get caught.

 It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

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Third Eye Herp
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