The turtles are a bit late laying their eggs this year but those that waited may have more successful nests than those that answered nature’s call and laid eggs during the horrid cold, wet weather. Turtle eggs can rot and attract parasites, especially in the damp….
I saw several painted turtles last week while they were laying eggs. Painted turtles are very common on Cape Cod and can be found in almost every pond and bog in every town. All turtles lay their eggs on land, whether they are sea turtles, pond turtles or land turtles like box turtles. Usually they lay their eggs in June but this has been an unusual year here.
This lovely lady was none too pleased about being picked up. She was done laying her eggs and heading back to the pond she came from. Even if you don’t see them laying eggs female turtles generally have short tails, long claws on their back feet for digging and a flat bottom. The males have longer tails and have a concave spot on the bottom, both of which are handy for mating.
This is a different female across the Cape but similarly occupied on the same day. She is filling up the hole she has deposited her eggs in and was more or less oblivious to me as I took her picture. I didn’t touch her or pick her up and left very quickly after taking these shots so I didn’t interrupt her.
This is another shot of her pushing that dirt back in the hole.
This is sort of fuzzy but gives you an idea about the roundness….
These fuzzy little guys were also everywhere. They were about 2-3″ across and very low to the ground.
This was my absolute favorite, found next to one of the ponds there. Doesn’t it look like someone spilled some yellow paint? It was definitely a fungus or mold of some sort. I plan to look it up…
Ponds are full of lily pads which in turn are home to frogs, turtles and dragonflies. Can you find the green frog in this picture?
Jack-in-the-Pulpits are not uncommon but they are often overlooked because they are so well hidden beneath the big umbrella like leaves that shade them. They may be mostly gone by now. Unfortunately their big bloom time was during all the rain.
Bullfrogs don’s mind a bit of rain. They don’t mind a lot of rain either, especially if there are frequent enough breaks for flying insects to be up and around. Bullfrogs aren’t picky eaters, though and will eat just about anything that moves if they can fit it into their mouths, even other frogs.
The omni present and ivasive multiflora rose has just about finished blooming along all our roadsides.
The bayberries are just starting to form….
Also, sarsparilla is coming up all over. It looks very much like poison ivy at this stage but note the bracket of 3 branches. It also has a little flower ball coming up just underneath it in many cases.
Starflowers are among my favorite spring flowers and they are just starting to bloom almost everywhere there’s a sunny woodland floor.
Look who had their babies this week! Baby ducks are called ducklings and baby geese are goslings. Do you know what baby swans are called?
