Wells State Park (7/2)

[OK, so I'm a week behind on my posts again. But I hope to catch up in the next few days.]

On Saturday my sister and I went out to Wells State Park for a short hike. We specifically went to check out the Black Rat Snakes that live in the trees at the park. These guys are really easy to find if you know where to look. Fortunately someone had brought me to their tree last year so I knew where it was. So, withing 30 seconds of getting to the ttree we found one large snake double folded on a limb. We also found a second snake curled up in a ball on a higher limb. Both snakes appeared to be resting but it was great just to see them. I would love to see them "climbing" up the tree though.

This was a great way to start the morning and it gave us a preview of the fantastic herp day that we were going to have. After enjoying the Black Rat Snakes for a while we decided to try some of the park's trails. As we were walking along the main road up to the first trail we found a Spicebush Swallowtail looking for some flowers to nectar on. Slightly further up the road we came across a small access road. We decided to give it a try. The sun was out and there were dragonflies buzzing around on both sides of us. The offshoot was relatively short but before we got to its end we found another snake. This one was curled up in the bushes. I think that it was a Garter Snake.

After coming to the dead end of the path, we backtracked and found another trail to explore. This one brought us deeper into the woods and closer to the water. We passed several small pools many of which supported Bullfrogs and Green Frogs. Proceeding down the trail, we spooked an American Toad who promptly hid under a log. We continued along the water, at times blazing our own trail as we lost track of the established path. Just before we broke thru to the powerlines, my sister found another frog. This one was a small Wood Frog.

Once onto the powerlines, we decided to head in the general direction of the parking lot. To get there we needed to cross a portion of the road which had been flooded. As we sloshed thru the flooded area, we saw a Fishing Spider that was very similar to the one I had "saved" a few weeks back.

Before heading out for lunch, we took one more side trip on a trail that I'd never tried before. It went deep into the woods and there wasn't too much activity. But we did find a Northern Pearlyeye and I was able to get one clear shot of it for documentation.

We headed back to the car along the trail that run along the pond at the enterance of the park. We spotted a couple Painted Turtles sunning themselves on logs in the water. As we continued down the trail, our eyes were drawn to the ground where several baby toads were hopping out of our way. I thought that they must be American Toads but halfway down the trail I found an adult Fowler's Toad. I never knew that these guys could be found at Wells. It was a great ending to the trip.

Birds - American Robin, Red Wing Blackbird, Northern Cardinal, Prairie Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Ovenbird

Herps - Black Rat Snake, Garter Snake, Painted Turtle, Fowler's Toad, Green Frog, Bullfrog, American Toad, Wood Frog , Pickerel Frog

Butterflies - Northern Pearlyeye, European Skipper, Little Wood Satyr, Spicebush Swallowtail, Mourning Cloak, Red Admiral, Silver Spotted Skipper