After this encounter, I finished up the day's hike, and headed home for some sleep to rest up for the next one. Fortunately for me, the next one came right as I woke up on Saturday when I headed up to First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. Arriving fairly early in the morning, and parking down near the 64th Street entrance I walked into the park and down the Long Creek Trail towards White Hill Lake. The first thing I noticed along the trail was the abundance of baby toads hopping all over the place. Trying my best not to step on the little guys I moved onward. When I reached the junction with the Osprey Trail, I took it so I could walk along the tidal marshes & potentially see some turtles and snakes. No sooner had I taken the trail then I found a Spotted Turtle crossing the middle of the sandy passage.
To illustrate how small these turtles really are, I provided the above photograph with my hand being the reference. Please note that this is a full grown adult, not an immature as it would appear. I set the turtle back down on the other side of the trail, and it continued off into the woods. The remainder of the Osprey Trail held true to it's name, as several Osprey nests were clearly visible, as were a half dozen of the birds soaring high above scouting for fish. The trails passes over two small bridges over tidal creeks. In each of these creeks' drainage area, a large Osprey nest sits supreme to allow visibility over the surrounding terrain:
Also in the nearby area, several small sandpipers of uncertain species were hunting along the water's edge. Also, several species of woodpeckers could be heard or seen, including Pileated, and Red-bellied. From here, the trail rejoins with the Long Creek Trail in the area known mostly as White Hill. The hill is the highest spot within the park, and provides some nice views of both Broad Bay to the south, and White Hill Lake to the north (see photo below).
I decided to turn back towards where I'd started from with the hope of finding the nesting Great Blue Herons I'd seen nearby last spring, but unfortunately they had either not arrived yet, or I'd missed them. Not long after passing their spot, a passerby explained how they'd seen a Gray Fox cross the path nearby, however it never did show itself to me. I've yet to see them in the park, but they are definitely populous in the region. The remainder of the trail yielded some Five-lined Skinks, as well as many songbirds, but before long, I was back, and would have to wait till the following day before heading out somewhere else to hike.
The final day of the weekend provided yet another beautiful day to spend outdoors. This time, remembering how much fun I had the past weekend, I headed back to North Carolina's Merchants Millpond State Park in the hopes of seeing some wildlife. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I would go home even more excited than the previous time. Starting again from the Canoe Launch & Rental area, I worked my way to the spillway bridge, and the first animal I came across was something I didn't expect to see. A Blue Crab was swimming under the spillway; I hadn't yet realized that the water here was so near sea level that the crabs could navigate all the way from the Albemarle Sound to reach it. Passing the spillway and starting on the Lassiter Trail, I again encountered several Yellow-bellied Sliders that were digging trenches to lay their eggs in. Along with the sliders, an abundance of Five-lined Skinks & Ground Skinks kept my ears occupied at almost every step till I could reach the dock jutting out into the millpond:
Moving on, I decided to take the Lassiter Trail in the clockwise direction this time, which would lead up over the high ground of the park before joining back with the shore of the millpond. As it were, I didn't see very much of anything while on the high ground, except a few Summer Tanagers, and several woodpeckers, one that I believe to have been a Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and another that was most likely a Hairy woodpecker. One day I'll get a camera that can handle bird photography, but until then all I can is save up. As I rounded the far eastern sweep of the trail, the wildlife started popping out. First was this Yellow-bellied Slider:
Several other sliders were seen over the course of the next mile or so, as the trail passes through an old fire-burned area featuring a large amount of sandy ground. I noticed probably a dozen or so places where holes had been dug and broken turtle eggs were laying nearby. I'd guess a fox was responsible, since they were the usual suspect in Minnesota, I don't see why it'd be any different down here. Next up on the wildlife platter was a couple of Eastern Box Turtles that were foraging in the underbrush, one eating a slug, the other keeping watch:
Although not as vibrant in color as some Box Turtles, these ones were just as friendly, sitting unafraid and continuing on their merry way as if I'd never even been there. The abundance of active reptiles didn't stop here however. As I was nearing a point on the north end of the millpond I decided to step off the trail to get closer to the water for a photo. Just as I stepped off the trail, a Rat Snake shot out from underneath where my next footstep would have fallen. After I jumped out of my skin, I tried to get close enough to him to take a photo. At about 5 feet or so away, I was taking the shot, just as I heard something I'd never heard before. The snake was shaking the last 8 or so inches of his tail through the air, causing a loud humming sound, it was almost like watching a hummingbird's wings. I'd never heard of a snake other then a rattlesnake doing this, so I decided not to get any closer as the snake was obviously not happy with my presence. I took a photo, and just as I did the snake thrashed backward, and was out of sight within seconds.
Feeling slightly unnerved by the speed with which the snake disappeared, and knowing how angry it must have been, I think my next encounter's photograph might be taken from a farther distance. Continuing on the reptile rampage, I was able to capture a photograph of a small Five-lined Skink that was sunning on the end of a sawcut log:
At this point, I couldn't believe all the animals that were literally popping out of the woodwork today. Arriving back at the spillway, yet again, I looked down on the riprap at the base, and noticed a 3-4 foot Water Mocassin sunning itself on the rocks. As I took my camera out of my pocket and waited for it to turn on, the snake became aware of me, and literally rolled off the rocks into the water, to never be seen again. Although I wasn't able to photograph this one, I had snapped this shot of one last year at First Landing State Park, just to illustrate the look of the most poisonous snake in the area:
With the disappearance of the snake, I decided to head back to the car, and quite frankly, after the 7-8 mile hike, I was exhausted, and out of the 2L water bottle I'd brought with. Now I can only look forward to next weekend, where if all goes according to plan, I'll be in the Blue Ridge Mountains making my first ascent of Old Rag Mountain, supposedly one of the most scenic hikes in the Mid-Atlantic region.
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