March 2015 Trip to Pigeon Mountain and Okefenokee Swamp Geo

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Daniel D Dye
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Location: New River (Brooker), Florida
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March 2015 Trip to Pigeon Mountain and Okefenokee Swamp Geo

Post by Daniel D Dye »

On March 13, 2015, my son Michael and I left north Florida early morning with Pigeon Mountain as the destination. We arrived late morning only to run into Jake Scott and Don Filipiak on their way out heading north to another location. It was cold and raining, just plain miserable! But, that didn't stop us. We were to meet up with Ashley Tubbs and Justin Oguni later. Two wonderful field herpers we've had the pleasure herping with in the past.

One of the first finds was this beautiful Red Salamander.
ImageRed Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

The next was a Red Eft Red-Spotted Newt.
ImageRed-Spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

Ashley and Justin arrived and we decided to check out some caves and look for a few more species of salamanders found on the mountain.
This is Michael crawling out one of the caves.
ImageMichael Crawling out of a Small Cave by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

Ashley and Justin taking photos of a salamander, I don't remember which species this was.
ImageAshley and Justin by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

Here's the group searching the rocks for Pigeon Mountain Salamanders.
ImageAshley, Justin and Michael by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

Yours truly.
ImageMe Standing next to Water Fall by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

We found this nice Southern Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon ventralis).
ImageSouthern Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon ventralis) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

And this Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga).
ImageCave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

We also found this monster Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinous).
ImageNorthern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinous) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

On the way out from the cave system, I found this Eastern Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis) hanging just above my head on a tree branch.
ImageEastern Red bat (Lasiurus borealis) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

We then set out to find a Green Salamander, which we did! Thanks to the sharp eyes of Justin Oguni!
ImageGreen Salamander (Aneides aeneus) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

We went down the mountain in search of other species and found this large Spring Salamander.
ImageSpring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

Ashley and Justin had to head out to meet up with Dale Wilson, so Mike and I hit a few more spots before heading south to find a place to over night.
ImageMichael and Jeep by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

We found a hotel and settled in. Here's the face of a worn out man!
ImageMichael Worn Out by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

We later met Ashley, Justin and Dale near Okefenokee and settled in at the place we would spend the next couple of days. Then we started road cruising. We found plenty of snakes, most I photographed with my iPhone for documentation only.

Here are some of the finds.
ImageGlossy Crayfish Snake (Regina rigida rigida) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

ImageStriped Crayfish Snake (Regina alleni) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

ImageBrown Water Snake (Nerodia taxispilota) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

Ashley has a keen interest in spiders so we spent some time looking for some. Here's a couple finds.
ImageBowl and Doily Spider (Frontinella pyramitela) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

ImageStarbellied Orbweaver (Acanthepeira stellata) by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

ImageAshley and Dale by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

ImageMichael, Ashley, Dale and Justin by Daniel D Dye II, on Flickr

That's it for this trip. Thanks for looking.
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: March 2015 Trip to Pigeon Mountain and Okefenokee Swamp

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Nice Zigzag! Looks like fun all around, Dan, thanks for posting.


-Josh
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Kyle from Carolina
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Location: western MA and NC

Re: March 2015 Trip to Pigeon Mountain and Okefenokee Swamp

Post by Kyle from Carolina »

Great photos, Dan. Did yall end up finding any pigeon mtn sals proper?
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JakeScott
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Re: March 2015 Trip to Pigeon Mountain and Okefenokee Swamp

Post by JakeScott »

It was fun and random that we ran into each other up there, but I wish Don and I could have stayed and herped with you guys.

I know you found ample petraeus, why no post? Already have enough photos of them that you didn't photo any this trip? I know that's what happens to me every time I go there and yet I still want to see them badly every time.

-Jake
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Daniel D Dye
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Re: March 2015 Trip to Pigeon Mountain and Okefenokee Swamp

Post by Daniel D Dye »

Thanks, guys.

Kyle, I have so many Pigeon Mountain photos, I didn't bother to take any.

Jake, you right on!
kwross
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Joined: October 17th, 2013, 1:55 pm
Location: Florida keys

Re: March 2015 Trip to Pigeon Mountain and Okefenokee Swamp

Post by kwross »

What were the temps ?
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