Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

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Berkeley Boone
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Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Berkeley Boone »

So Brick911's Delmarvelous post reminded me that I had some photos in a folder on my computer that have not seen the light of the internet. I lived just outside of Elkton MD (literally on the state line with Delaware) for a year a few years back.
Being a southern boy, I enjoyed the new critters that I got a chance to see, not to mention the new habitats.
Here is a selection of some of those photos. One disclaimer though: please excuse the color of some of these photos. One of the cameras I was using at the time had a white balance issue and most of the photos from that camera came out with a pinkish cast. I've tried to correct it, but with marginal success.
Nonetheless, Enjoy!

I moved up there from South Carolina the first week of October. Eleven days later, there was 10 inches of snow on my apartment doorstep. I hated my life. In that ten days before the snow, for a break from unpacking, I biked over to some local parks and saw a few stinkpots!
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And that was it for herps until the following March or so.

So I spent time substitute teaching at various schools around the region. I saw lots of interesting stuff there. Including the following picture for Fire Safety Week. Lesson learned: Never hide from a firefighter, except for this particular one, kids!
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In about April or so, I found a Queen snake at one of the local nature centers in Delaware and everyone there about freaked out. They hadn't seen one in years, and this one was just giant. It was around 32 inches long if I remember correctly.
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I also went back to the park where I had watched the stinkpots and saw a new species for me: redbellied turtles! That was exciting- though I never got one in hand, or even got really close-up photos.
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Then in June, I accompanied a few naturalists on a trip to the Delaware Bay to see the massive shorebird migrations. I found several large female Diamondback Terrapins wandering around looking for nesting spots. This one was digging right in the middle of the road.

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I watched the others using big scopes and stuff, so I improvised and used my binoculars as a makeshift scope. I got some fun pictures. This is an Oystercatcher:
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And a gull:
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I took a group of kids from the nature center out on a herp trip and we found a nice long tailed salamander.
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And a very nicely marked eastern box
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Over the summer, I got to meet up with Eitan, a fellow forum-member here, and he escorted me to the New Jersey Pine Barrens for a day trip. We had been through South Carolina before when he came down that direction for a herp trip, so he returned the favor for me up in his home state.

Our first find, underneath a dishwasher was this cute little milk snake. I was really hoping that it was a temporalis, but I think it was just a regular old triangulum.
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Next up was this jewel! We were walking along when we heard this girl crawling through the pine needles. I hopped over a small bush and almost stepped on her.
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Here is Eitan doing a photoshoot with the pine:
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Interestingly, after we got back, another old forum member (Justin Collins) went up there and found the exact snake, only freshly shed. He sent me a picture of her, and we compared patterns to verify. Here is Justin's picture of her, so you can see the difference in her color after a shed! Phot credit to Justin Collins.
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Here is a view of some of the habitat that we were walking around in.
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Then it was Eitan's turn to get excited! As we walked along, we heard more rustling in the pine straw. Eitan looked through the pine branches and there was another pine snake crawling on the ground! This one was a male, and a good bit smaller than the female we found first.
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But he had had some horrible accident and his face had been melted/chewed/pulled off. I was amazed he was still crawling around as well as he was.
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We found some other things as well (amphibians and lizards, and some other turtles), but nothing fancy, just the usual suspects.
We stuck around after dark to look for my absolute favorite lifer so far, Pine Barrens Tree frogs! We had huge choruses calling all around us, and were lucky enough to locate two for photos.
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Then in July, on my way to church one morning, I saw a serpent like shape on the white line on the side of the road. I pulled over and ran back to grab it, and it was a beautiful yellow hognose! Unfortunately it had been hit already, but it was fresh, so it didn't smell. These photos were posed later that afternoon next to the pond at my apartment.
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Those were some of the highlights from my time up north. If you're still with me, thanks for looking.
--Berkeley
TimCO
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by TimCO »

That firefighter cracked me up.

Monster queen, great Piney stuff too.
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monklet
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by monklet »

Some really great natural looking shots. I love the Queen Snake most ....didn't know 30 inches would be a big one.

The first pine is outstanding. I have B&W northern similar to that one post shed, but he doesn't get all rusty before a shed, just sort of dishwater dirty. The second is just tragic, but amazing. Tough beasts!
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Lovely pines. . .

Hognoses....mmm....
BradB
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by BradB »

That box turtle is sweet, I would have never guessed those were the same two pines. Do you have any close ups of that second pines face. He's pretty cute.
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brick911
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by brick911 »

Awesome retro post BB. Edit your topic to say something along the lines of "Is this a temporalis?" You'll get like 100 responses, or you can just make a separate post in the NE Chapter. Our longest beaten-horse threads always have to do with temporalis. :lol: ...I'd say it is, but I'm no expert.
bobassetto
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by bobassetto »

did the body blotches reach the belly scutes......from the traits i could see....it would/could fit the description of .....DRUM ROLL........temporalis..... :beer:
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Thanks guys!

Tim, yes, the firefighter was pretty freaking hilarious! The student teacher that showed me that one and I had a good laugh about it while the kids were at lunch that day.

Brad, thanks! I strive for those nice natural shots- I'm glad it pays off and someone else appreciates them too! The pine I think was just super dirty from doing what they do best in the wild: burrow. So they accumulate quite a bit of junk on those rough scales from dragging around in the dirt. In captivity, I have hardly seen as dirty a pine. But yeah, she cleans up, don't she?

Ha ha ha Josh! We'll see what we can do here soon....

I'll look Brad B. I'm not sure if I do have close ups or not, I may be able to crop some though. Yeah, that pic got sent ot me and I was like 'nice pine!' Then I noticed the pattern on both shots.

Ha ha Brick! I may have to do that! To you and Bob A, I thought it was a temporalis too, but ol' KW ripped me TWO new ones when I said it was. But that was what Eitan and I both thought- we didn't think t. triangulum occurred there. Bob, I am not sure if the body blotches touched the belly or not. From the pics posted, some of them appear to, and others not so much. I'll look back in my folder and see if there are any other belly shots.

Thanks for the comments yall!
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Mike VanValen
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Mike VanValen »

Nice post. That milksnake is iffy to me, but it is a very nice snake. Nothing like walking up on an adult pinesnake! :thumb:
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Thesee
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Thesee »

That Queen snake shot is Amazing to me for some reason
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Thanks Mike and Thesee! Glad you enjoyed it.
Yes, you are right Mike- there's nothing like it!
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Mike Pingleton
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Mike Pingleton »

Nice stuff Berkeley! That's a real nice shot of the Queen (she doesn't get out much these days) :crazyeyes:

Cool pines and PBTFs! One of these days....
-Mike
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MHollanders
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by MHollanders »

The terrapin is awesome! So were the pine barrens tree frogs and pine snakes.
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monklet
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by monklet »

Thanks for the reply Berkeley. Guess what got me is that she looks like a "red", not like dirt. ...poor me, never seen one in the field. :(
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Thanks Mike! That queen was a tough one to photograph- she did not want to sit still! But it turned out pretty well, I think. I hope you get up there sometime soon- it really was a great day of herping!

MHollanders- thank you sir! I was pretty excited about that terrapin. It was the first one I had seen nesting, and she was very cooperative. Unfortunately, my camera was not, and the batteries died as I took that picture. It was the last picture I took on that trip, and I am so glad it turned out. (Now I take spares......)

I'm glad you and Mike liked those tree frogs- there are not many seen on here these days!

Brad- no worries, I see what you mean about looking like a red phase. We'll fix your trouble as soon as we can! :)

Thanks for the comments yall.
--Berkeley
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Andy Avram
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Andy Avram »

Pine Snakes and Pine Barrens Treefrogs... either of those would be worth any trip for me. Nice work.

As for your Queen Snake shot. I am sure it is very nice but my eyes won't leave the disgusting greenery in the background. Yuck!

Andy
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Ha ha! Thanks Andy. Glad you enjoyed those two species.
I take it you are referring to the 'garlic mustard' or whatever that crappy plant is? I had never heard of it before living up there, and it was a nasty little plant. Everywhere too.
I was just pleased that the queen sat still for long enough to take a photo, AND with her head visible! I wasn't overly concerned with background at that point.... Ha ha!
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Andy Avram
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Andy Avram »

It is Garlic Mustard and one of the most invasive plants in the NE and parts of the midwest. It is really bad in Ohio and we (I included) spend a lot of time trying to eradicate it in areas where it is just starting to get a toehold. It is amazing how truely terrible that plant is to the environment - killing off mycorrhizal fungi, attracting a native butterfly to lay eggs on it instead of the native mustards and the caterpillars end up dieing on the plant, forming HUGE monoculture stands with an absence of native wildflowers. Hate that stuff. BUT that is one heck of a big looking Queen Snake in your shot and a nice pose.

Andy
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Thanks for the info on the garlic mustard, Andy. I didn't know most of that stuff- unfortunate that it is so thick up there. We've got our privet and bush honeysuckle down here, so I feel your pain.

I appreciate the kind words on the photo, too. Thanks man!
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victor
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by victor »

Great findings considering your nothern location! :beer:
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Berkeley Boone
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Berkeley Boone »

Ha ha! Thanks Victor! Though, to be clear these were from a few years ago, and not anytime in the recent past.
But thank you for the kind words.
--Berkeley
Brandon, !
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Re: Time Spent in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey

Post by Brandon, ! »

Awesome post. I remember seeing those pictures from Eitan way back when. Sorry guys, but I'd definitely call that a Jersey "temporalis", or "syspila", or cool looking "triangulum". What ever! No neck collar and dorsal blotches are good indicators.. also your snake lacks for the most part the dorsolateral blotches.
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