Sunday, April 11, 2010

Firsts of 2010

First Salamander of the Year
March 23, 2010 Black Hawk County, Iowa














Blue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale)
It was perfect weather and I was in the area for work this day. I got out a little early and figured I would hit a spot that I always find blue spots at, to feed my early season crave for finding some BD. I think I found this guy flipping my second log, and proceeded to flip about a hundred more logs with no results. I headed to the other little area that they are found and found a second after a few minutes. These guys were too squirmy and I couldnt get a good shot.

First Snake of the Year
March 29, 2010 Polk County, Iowa
Red-sided Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis)
The weather was beyond perfect, temps reaching 70, wicked sunny skies, barely a cloud in the sky. I had heard from others that they had seen some snakes out and about in Iowa already and seeing as I had struck out a few days prior, I was on a mission to find something. It didnt take long before I saw my first, second and third snake, all eluding my grasp and slipping into holes or deep grass. It wasnt until seeing my fourth garter that I was able to get a hand on it.  After that I proceeded to find about a dozen more garters.

First Frog of the Year
Chorus Frog. No picture. Started hearing these guys around the second week in March. Didnt bother getting a photo though.

First Turtle of the Year
Painted Turtle. All the pictures I have are kinda boring and from far away, not worth posting. The first turtle of the year I saw was on March 19th.

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