Autumn colors on the way to work

My outdoor time is so limited, due to my incredible school hybrid classroom workload, that I have taken to enjoying the autumn colors as we whiz by in the car. Our bit of the planet is a riot of reds, oranges, and yellows.

Snapping Turtle Hatchlings and False Alarm

Sort of false alarm...This morning, we spied the nest hole opening to the turtle nest and expected to see an exodus of baby snapping turtles during the day. This seemed to be right on schedule at 95 days from being laid. Strangely enough, that did not happen. Drew saw three tinier than usual turtles that had emerged, but when he came back to check a little later, they had disappeared. All I can think is that those three were able to crawl under the fencing and escape. Since then, the fencing has been secured and there has been no activity.

So, Drew put an endoscope into the nest cavity (about 3.5" under the surface) to see what was going on down there. Not much as you can see. There were at least 30 eggs laid, and you can see some of them poking up through the sand, with the rest still completely covered.

Check out the rounded bumps of the eggs under the sand. Cool! I expect lots of activity by the weekend and into next week, but never have I seen just a few hatchlings and then nothing... 

Wood Frog in the back woods

I went on a short walk in the woods behind our house in an area I haven't been able to access for over two years as my knee has been such a mess. As I stepped onto the main trail I saw something brown hop out of my way. It was a gorgeous wood frog. We hear them calling loudly in the springtime, but rarely see them. I love the black masks over their eyes. They are the Zorro of the frog species!

The trail was very nice to walk on and I appreciated the lack of rocks. I have been traversing so many rocky paths of late. Here, I only had to watch out for roots.

I was so happy to soak in the sights and sounds of this part of the forest. It had been brutally cut about 7 years ago and the land is starting to regain its beauty. The ferns are stunning in this open area.

American Toad

It's toad season! They are hoppity hopping all over the forest trails! We have to be careful not to step on them.