Snake Road, Union County, IL April 2014

55-210 Sony lens. This was my first time shooting with a zoom lens. I'm not sure why I thought that would be a good idea...

The first shot is my best, I think. This cottonmouth was very calm. She let us take a ton of photos of her, and then sat with us while we ate lunch.

The second snake is the first cottonmouth I found "by myself," by walking the base of the bluff. Sounds easy- but you have to climb like a mountain goat up a steep slippery slope to get there. There is a semi-beaten path along the base of the bluff. The snakes are still in their winter hibernaculums, venturing out for a few hours of sunshine each day. When the temps warm up, they will disperse out to the river basin.

First is one of a pair of I think Five-Lined Skinks that were running around on a log. They were REALLY far away from me- 30 feet?? I'm surprised these turned out okay. Many didn't.

Second is a big Broad Head Skink, who was basking at the base of the bluff.

Last, a small what I think is a Zigzag Salamander. I believe according to the range map, the Red Back is not found in Union County. We saw a LOT of these under logs. I guess the lens did okay with these- I'd prefer to be closer to such a tiny subject, though.

And Rich, up at the base of the bluff.

Nice photos Nanci. Snake Road is a real great place to see a variety of herptiles. Perhaps a bit early for prime time viewing though.

We posted more photos in GCC. We saw 9 cottonmouths, 2 ribbons, 1 Dekays, 1 yellow belly watersnake (the new love of my life!!) and various salamanders and skinks and frogs and one toad. Not bad. Vacation time kind of dictated the dates- I was up at Rich's for New Years, and he was coming down here for Memorial Day, and I only had enough PTO for one vacation in between, and didn't want it to be too close to Memorial Day, so that is what we ended up with. I think next year I'd like to go a week or two later.

Great photos Nanci! Thanks for sharing. Rich looks very happy.

Awesome pics. Love cottonmouths. It sure would be interesting if we had some hots native to Manitoba.

Awesome pics, I'm super jealous since we've barely seen anything up here in Jersey yet except for a couple frogs and salamanders

Nice stuff! That's one of my favorite places to visit...and I have yet to find a Zigzag Salamander.

Really neat. I guess it's one of those 'grass is always greener' things, but I'm always jealous of the wildlife in areas other than my own. I wish we had skinks here!