One Last Paddle

I was hoping to get out for one last paddle in early October. Unfortunately, the weather would not cooperate or align with my schedule. Luckily, Curtis, a fellow paddler and turtle enthusiast called me and mentioned he would be in town and that the weather looked good. Well, it looked good for October. The plan was set in motion quickly.

We got out late in October. The day started sunny but ended cloudy with the threat of rain. It was not really all that warm out.

My brother David joined us. Here he is preparing for his first kayak experience.

The paddle was long and mostly uneventful. There was a large turtle that slid in early on, but no one could ID it. Curtis spotted another turtle later, and initially thought it was a woodie, but it turned out to be a large snapping turtle trying to soak up what little sunlight was available.

This river started out very tight and challenging. Dave was doing well and paddling cautiously. Unfortunately, like all people who paddle frequently know, flipping your boat can happen to the best of us. He was tricked by the overhanging branch that "looked flexible". He was swept into it and tried to push it out of the way. Well the branch didn't give an inch, and Dave was quickly upside down. It was not a good day to get wet and he left his change of dry cloathes in the car. I lent him a jacket though and luckily he did fine as we still had more than half our paddle to go.

 Soon after, I was paddling under an overhanging tree trunk. The trunk was about 6 or 7 feet off the water. Right as I went under it there was scurrying sound from above and then a loud plop and splash about 6-12 inches off the right of my boat. I though someone threw a large rock at me. Turns out Curtis caught a view of a plastron shell as it dropped out of the tree above me and almost landed in my boat! I wish it had as we never could ID that turtle as well. Odd stuff happening in October...

The paddle was getting long, the sun had traded with the clouds hours ago and we were getting tired and cold. Finally a mud bank held our prey, a lonely wood turtle basking in the evening light. This was a new county for me and made our day.

I doubt I will paddle for turtles again this year. Some of my records show it was a banner season. I paddled around 41 hours and 95 river miles over the course of 10 paddles on 9 different rivers. The turtles were frequent but not always a sure thing. More importantly I explored a ton of new ground. Can't wait for spring already...

Happy Herping!

BH

2012 Wood

The paddle season is coming to an end quickly.  Despite the new boat, I was late to get on the water this year.  I wasn't able to take her for a maiden voyage until midAugust.  Since then, we have paddled far and wide though, so I guess I have been making up for lost time!  In the past month, we have paddled six rivers, a few of them involving multiple trips.  Turtles have been fairly hard to come by, mainly because I have been trying for a couple county records, but I have still seen a few here and there.  This will be short on dialogue, but blessed in turtles!

Every shot in this series is in situ - I tend to leave these beasties alone!

A few of these turtles were notched, part of someones research study.  Another good reason to leave them as you see them and move on down the river quietly!

I have a few days off next week I might try to hit one of my nemesis rivers again.  It is sorta close to home, and I have now paddled it twice without seeing any turtles or any species.  Historically, woods should be present.  Unfortunately, I usually hit the river under poor conditions and don't give it a chance to work out.  Seems like this year will be no different.

BH

Northern Wood and Rattles...

I was fortunate enough to get to tag along on one of Molly's business trips up north to the Traverse City area in September.  The weather was still nice, although it had started to cool down.  I of course took every opportunity to get outdoors, and selected a new river to kayak, and some nice swamps and fields to check out.  Like all my trips up north, main targets included wood turtles, green snakes, hog-nosed snakes, massasauga rattlesnakes, and blue racers.  It ended up being a very good couple of days...

I hopped on the river early morning, and things were pretty quiet.  The water was frigid, and the ambient temperatures really were not all that much better. Two hours into my paddle I noticed a mink exploring the side of the creek.  This always makes my day, and I was even more excited to be able to get to the shore and snap some pictures.

American Mink Neovison vison

I was pretty pleased, and about 50 yards downstream I rounded a bend to see a wood turtle basking in the shallows!  While getting to the opposite bank for in situ pictures, a second mink (maybe the same one?) popped out of the grasses about 3 feet away.  I quickly tried to frame them both for a shot, but this mink bailed in a few seconds.  The wood turtle cooperated, and hung out all day for pictures.

It doesn't get better than this...

The rest of my paddle was uneventful, but I was alone on the water and pleased with the mornings success.  I headed a bit north, finding a few fields and power line cuts to explore.  Despite flipping cover till I was blue in the face, smooth green snakes continued to evade me.  I was also surrounded by sandy soils, and hognoses also decided to stay hidden.  I did roadcruise this very small redbelly snake, which always makes my day.

In situ on the road

I found some tin I spread out a bit, although who knows when I will return this far north.  The mid-afternoon found me in a marsh I had read a little about.  The temps were now low 70s and the skies were bright.  Leopard frogs were hopping along the trail, and a number of hatchling snapping turtles were moving as well.  I had a couple garter snakes get away, but my hike was fairly uneventful.  Nearing the end of the trail, near the march, I noticed a large dark snake take off in a hurry from the edge of the boardwalk.  It was fairly heavy bodied and I figured it was a watersnake, until I heard the tell-tail sound of a rattle!  My first northern Michigan massasauga and I was a happy camper...

Pure Michigan

I head back down south and roadcruised while exploring around some lakes.  Again no greens or hogs, but I found a DOR blue racer which is interesting, as well as a skink.  A nice end to a wonderful day.  The next day or two I got rained out, but the last morning I headed to areas I have hunted before in the west.  A couple garters later and I had to call it a day.  No greens or hogs this trip.  I did manage to find some a nice board site though and am excited for next years season already.

Happy herping,

BH

The Perfect Turtle Kayak?

As you might have realized by now, I spend much of my free time kayaking and canoeing for turtles in northern Michigan. My goals involve having fun on the rivers, enjoying the outdoors, finding turtles, and photography. Unfortunately, problems occur when "having fun on the rivers and photography" collide.

"insert here picture of me soaking wet, with a flipped boat, holding my camera gear above my head"

Luckily, that picture doesn't exist. Oh it happened twice this season, but no one photographed it.

I had until this point been happy borrowing kayaks from friends, or renting kayaks and canoes from various liveries. I found the smaller kayaks miserable, as my legs constantly cramped up and went numb. I also was constantly toying with disaster, as I found they were relatively easy to flip if one wasn't paying attention. I was lucky in that both times I flipped, all my gear was stowed away in dry bags, but it wasn't hard to imagine my spotting a turtle, pulling out the camera and lenses, focusing on the turtle (not the river) and ending up in the drink...

Turtlers enjoying the paddle

When I was fortunate enough to canoe with a partner, I enjoyed the added stability and often would float with my camera in my lap, ready for the turtles. I wondered if I could find that kind of stability in a kayak...

One of my favorites taken from a canoe

I started looking at sit on tops kayaks as well as fishing kayaks. Sit on tops seemed a bit more stable, but often gave up on storage and maneuverability. I did like that I could just slide off the side of the boat if I decided to go in the drink after a turtle. Fishing kayaks are designed with the fisherman in mind, often with things that would benefit the intrepid turtler. They have ample storage, increased width/stability for the fisherman to stand(!!!) and cast, and often incorporate sit on top models with super comfy seats.

You gotta be able to slide in nicely for em...

 

Luckily, the worlds aligned for me. On my perfect day of turtling, I found the perfect kayak.  I asked the owner of random livery I had chosen to rent my kayak that day if he had any sit on top or fishing kayak models.  He seemed perplexed by my lack of fishing gear, and I explained my true intentions of photographing turtles.  He mentioned he had just received a new boat that he thought would be perfect.  It was love at first sight...

Wouldn't this be nice...

This day was epic for many reasons.  I found a crap load of turtles, and fell in love with a kayak.  I hope to be the proud owner of a Jackson Kayak Coosa for the next season if I am lucky.  It has the leg room, stability, comfy seat, and room to slide in I am looking for.  You can even add a drag chain to "drop anchor" and slow down if I spot a turtle I want to photograph.  This kayak was made for fishing rivers, and I am convinced it is the perfect turtle boat.  I may have only spent one day with it, but I hope to spend many more in the future.  I am sure you will be the first to know if I do.  A true Cinderella story...

Got Wood 2011

As you may have noticed from previous posts, I highly enjoy searching for wood turtles during the warmer months.  I my opinion, there is nothing better than cruising in a nice canoe/kayak down a northern Michigan river.  Each year I try to add another river or two to my list, and hopefully a new wood turtle as well.

I probably won't get out again, but I won't completely close the book on the season yet.  Anyway, this year was extra successful.   I kayaked 5 Michigan rivers this season on all parts of the state.  3 of those were new for me.  One of the repeats was a river I have yet to see a wood turtle on yet, and it is unclear if they are even still there.  I will most likely do this river each year at least once in hope of getting lucky.  The only day I got skunked was on this river, and it did rain all day early in May.

I want to share with you a magical day in mid-July. I was looking into a few rivers to paddle in NW Michigan, near where my wife and I vacation for a few days each summer.  The friend we stay with mentioned he fishes one of them and told me it was by far his favorite river.  I was hooked.  I applied some of my past experiences in deciding how to attack the river, and drew up a game plan.  

Part of that plan was trying out a sit-on-top kayak or a fishing kayak.  I had already flipped a canoe with my dogs this spring, as well as a small kayak randomly and am trying to avoid that as much as possible.  I pulled up to the store around 830-9 am and asked about renting a kayak for the day.  I was informed I was in luck, not only did have have a couple sit-on-top boats, but he had a new one that just came in that he thought we would perfect for me (we can visit the perfect boat subject later).  He also mentioned they see tons of turtles on the river.  Needless to say, I was getting excited.

I was dropped at the put-in site a few minutes later.  I usually explore around a little, but I was too anxious today.  After a short prep with the new boat, I was on the water.  I paddled under the bridge overhang, looked to my left and noticed a wood turtle basking right there.  We were off like a herd of turtles...

Seriously, that easy?

It was about 930am.  I will spare you the intimate details, but basically I spotted 10 turtles in the next 2 hours, and 14 for the 4 hours.  It was unreal.  I would climb in the boat, paddle a little, then see a turtle, turn around, find a way to photograph it, rinse and repeat.  Again.  And again.  It rocked.

And finally, the last of the day, about 20 yards away from the bridge I would get out at.

This day was pretty awesome.  I only saw 1 other turtle, a large snapping turtle.  I can't believe it is always that awesome, but the owner of the shop did say they see tons of turtles...  Have to check it out again next year as well.

So how was the kayak?  Ahh more to come on that later...

BH

Another Woody Summer

I have mentioned before that I don't find many things as enjoyable as hopping into a canoe or kayak on a northern Michigan river and looking for turtles.  It is a perfect way to spend a couple weekends during the heat of the summer.

This year I invited Carl Brune and his son Ryan up and we were able to plan a tight trip up north.  It was quite the haul for the two of them, and I hope they enjoyed the trip.

They had come up to Detroit the night before, so we were able to get a real early start to our first day.  We pulled up to the canoe livery sometime before noon, and were soon loaded up into a canoe and kayak.  I had planned on bringing both dogs, Cid and Joy, but Joy had a sore paw and ended up having to stay home. 

We started with a river my brother Brian and I had canoed last year with some luck.  We managed to see a bunch of different animals, but struck out on wood turtles in the river.

Today would be different.  We were on the river about an hour and I spotted a turtle on the bank.

Wood Turtle Glyptemys insculpta

It was nice to get that one off our backs.  Cid was well behaved during the photo shoot.  Later he would decide to try and jump out of the canoe.  He quickly remembered he doesn't like swimming.

We didn't see any more woods here but saw plenty of snapping turtles and map turtles.

Map turtle  Graptemys geographica

We found a nice muddy flat with some snappers hanging out in it.  Ryan spent some time catching the turtles, while letting his kayak and paddle float away.

Another map

We finished a long day, and headed to the campsite.  Cid was enjoying the car while we slaved away and set up camp.

We were up early the next day, broke camp, and set off to our next river.  This would be a new one for me and I was excited to get out there.  We spent some time flipping logs in a wooded field but turned up a disappointing nothing.  It poured on and off while driving to the next river, and we were wondering if the livery would even be open.  Sure enough it was, and we were the only car in the parking lot when we pulled up.  We took some time to eat a snack and pack up, but were on the river fairly shortly.  It was maybe 5-10 minutes down river when I noticed an obvious wood turtle crawling out onto a log to bask.  I got a very crappy shot off before it realized it was spotted and dove back down.  We looked hard in the area but were unable to locate the turtle.

Wood Turtle

A while later I looked off to my right and saw an odd looking "rock" under the overhang of the bank.  I quickly spied it with some binocs and realized it was a turtle.  We looped back around against the current,

and luckily the turtle was still there.  It was floating very oddly, bobbing unnaturally, and not at all bothered by the canoe approaching.  I snapped a few shots and decided to hop in after it, wondering if it was dead.

 I managed to swim right up to the turtle and quickly grabbed a very alive and fiesty turtle.  An idea briefly popped into my head and my other hand shot out into the murky water - a second turtle was swimming away!  I felt bad for disturbing this imperiled species, but it was amazing to witness evidence of reproduction.

Just shortly down the river, Carl spotted this basking on a river bank.

We were exploring that same bank, and I noticed another turtle hanging out.

The streak continued, soon we spotted another basking turtle.

We ended  up seeing another basking wood turtle right there but it got away before we could get shots of it.

More map turtles were seen.

As well as a few basking water snakes.

All in all it was a great couple of days.  The herp diversity was way down compared to the trip with my brother last year, but 8 wood turtles in 2 days is pretty amazing.  It was also great to see Carl and Ryan, its hard to hook up as much these days.

BH