Due to the poor weather in the tidewater area this morning, I decided to head southward to Merchants Millpond State Park in Gates County, NC to do some sunny weather hiking to kick off my weekend. I opted to take the "Lassiter Trail" (~7 miles) as I'd done this past October, so I parked at the canoe headquarters and began my hike. After just the first few minutes of walking, the 65 mile drive had already become well worth it. While crossing the spillway, a small mink ran across the road directly in front of me and disappeared into the brush on the west side of the street. Already excited by just having seen that, I kept going and just moments later ran into a Yellow-bellied Slider on the roadside. I hadn't thought about it prior, but it was obvious now that the sliders were laying their eggs in soft sand wherever they could find it. As it would turn out, I saw about five such turtles in places I'm not accustomed to seeing them, all digging out for egglaying.
Continuing on the trail after taking a few photographs of the turtles, I caught a glimpse of black snake just before it sped away with all its might. I wasn't sure at the time whether it was some sort of racer or something else, but as I'd soon discover, it was more likely a Rat Snake, as I ran into three more in the next 2 miles of walking, one of which was calm enough to let me within about two feet to take a few photos.
Not only were the turtles, and snakes out in mass, but also another group of reptiles: the lizards. I've gotten fairly used to hearing the scurrying Ground Skinks everywhere I hike, and am now almost immune to their sound. However, today I got to see some lizards I don't see everyday, and, since I still act like a little kid when I'm out in the woods, I had to catch at least one for the day to be a good one:
Although the photo does no justice to this little guy, due in part to the fact that it's pretty difficult to hold something in one hand while taking photos from the other, he was definitely a colorful lizard. This is a Northern Fence Lizard, with beautiful blue throat patches, and a camouflage back pattern. I've yet to see any in the tidewater area, but it seems they were fairly common to this millpond region as I'd seen quite a few just today. I also was fortunate enough to see another type of lizard, which appeared from what I can figure, to be Common Tree Lizards:
I may be incorrect with my species assumption. Not many Minnesotans know their lizard types since, well, there's none up there, although I'm trying to learn. The only group of reptiles I didn't see today was the Alligator, which is said to inhabit the millpond, although I've not yet seen any. Aside from reptiles, bird life was abundant, and although my current camera, and my lack of speed with it, are inadequate for bird photography, I at least got to see several very beautiful species including: Summer Tanager, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Trasher, Eastern Kingbird, and various other warblers whose identity will have driven me mad if I'd tried to figure it out much longer. All in all, it was an extremely successful & beautiful day of hiking, and I hope to get back down Carolina way in the near future.
Due to the poor weather in the tidewater area this morning, I decided to head southward to Merchants Millpond State Park in Gates County, NC to do some sunny weather hiking to kick off my weekend. I opted to take the "Lassiter Trail" (~7 miles) as I'd done this past October, so I parked at the canoe headquarters and began my hike. After just the first few minutes of walking, the 65 mile drive had already become well worth it. While crossing the spillway, a small mink ran across the road directly in front of me and disappeared into the brush on the west side of the street. Already excited by just having seen that, I kept going and just moments later ran into a Yellow-bellied Slider on the roadside. I hadn't thought about it prior, but it was obvious now that the sliders were laying their eggs in soft sand wherever they could find it. As it would turn out, I saw about five such turtles in places I'm not accustomed to seeing them, all digging out for egglaying.
Continuing on the trail after taking a few photographs of the turtles, I caught a glimpse of black snake just before it sped away with all its might. I wasn't sure at the time whether it was some sort of racer or something else, but as I'd soon discover, it was more likely a Rat Snake, as I ran into three more in the next 2 miles of walking, one of which was calm enough to let me within about two feet to take a few photos.
Not only were the turtles, and snakes out in mass, but also another group of reptiles: the lizards. I've gotten fairly used to hearing the scurrying Ground Skinks everywhere I hike, and am now almost immune to their sound. However, today I got to see some lizards I don't see everyday, and, since I still act like a little kid when I'm out in the woods, I had to catch at least one for the day to be a good one:
Although the photo does no justice to this little guy, due in part to the fact that it's pretty difficult to hold something in one hand while taking photos from the other, he was definitely a colorful lizard. This is a Northern Fence Lizard, with beautiful blue throat patches, and a camouflage back pattern. I've yet to see any in the tidewater area, but it seems they were fairly common to this millpond region as I'd seen quite a few just today. I also was fortunate enough to see another type of lizard, which appeared from what I can figure, to be Common Tree Lizards:
I may be incorrect with my species assumption. Not many Minnesotans know their lizard types since, well, there's none up there, although I'm trying to learn. The only group of reptiles I didn't see today was the Alligator, which is said to inhabit the millpond, although I've not yet seen any. Aside from reptiles, bird life was abundant, and although my current camera, and my lack of speed with it, are inadequate for bird photography, I at least got to see several very beautiful species including: Summer Tanager, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Trasher, Eastern Kingbird, and various other warblers whose identity will have driven me mad if I'd tried to figure it out much longer. All in all, it was an extremely successful & beautiful day of hiking, and I hope to get back down Carolina way in the near future.
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