Amy and I decided to take off yesterday, and go camping down by the Wisconsin River. Most of the land along the river is managed by the DNR and is open for public use. There is a spot along the river we like to take our dogs to so they can run and play on the sand bars and in the river. I was a little conserned about exposing my camera geat to the sandy conditions but as the day went on, I got a little braver. I didn't get anything that I would consider spectacular, but here are a few that I liked.

This is our almost 2 year old golden retriever Jinjer. She just kept digging holes in the sand...

http://static.flickr.com/85/220572311_b2d4d61493.jpg

I found this guy swimming in the river. He came up on land so I grabbed him so I could get my macro lens and take a few shots. He was only about the size of a pencil. A Northern Water Snake I believe.

http://static.flickr.com/86/220572312_3af74f9feb.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/59/220572314_0de811074f.jpg

Some shore birds. Solitary Sanpipers I think.

http://static.flickr.com/68/220572316_be82cee59b.jpg

Part of a flock of Sandhill Cranes that flew over.

http://static.flickr.com/73/220573730_10bea1f66b.jpg

A couple of Great Blue Herons fishing for their supper.

http://static.flickr.com/79/220573733_4ad63c4119.jpg

Sunset on the river.

http://static.flickr.com/67/220573736_77310cb790.jpg

i love the shot of the snakes head in the grass, nicely timed to.

I'm a sucker for night time camp shots very nice and the snake tongue is awesome. Nice job.

Great images, nice to see someone getting out (of the house). The snake is a garter snake.

Erik.

A great series of pictures!:thumbsup:

Thanks Dylan. I was laying in the grass just waiting for him to stick his tounge out. I managed to get a couple shots of it before I moved to try something different.

Thanks Larry. I have been wanting to take a night time camping photo like this for a long time. It didn't come out as good as I would have liked it to, but it's a start and I have some ideas on how to improve it next time. I did take a few like this with my film camera and very long shutter speeds so I'm hoping to get some star trails too.

Erik, thanks for the ID. What kind of garter snake is this? The info that I have for Wisconsin only lists 2 types of garter snakes in the state. (22 snake species total in the state) The eastern plains garter snake and the eastern garter snake. Pics I have seen of both of them show very clear stripes running the length of the snake, this one didn't have any solid stripes like that. Is this just a different morph of one of those two?

Thanks for the kind words Bev!

M:

It is an eastern gartersnake thamnophis sirtalis. they are variable in color and pattern, but MOST easterns have one dorsal stripe, two lateral stripes on scale rows 2 and 3, and some form of checkerboard pattern in between. The plains garter has its lateral stripes on scale rows 3 and 4. Until you have seen a billion of them, that is the easiest way to differentiate between the two.

Northern watersnakes have their eyes conspicuously on the tops of their heads rather than the sides, and have a distinctly "banded" look when they are young. As adults they are usually a uniform dark color, sometimes with remnants of the juvinile pattern evident.

One other option that just came to me, that i cant really tell from the images, is the northern brownsnake storeria dekayi. They look similar to garters in some respects, they can also have a checkerboard like lateral pattern. Did this snake have a dorsal stripe? brownsnake have two very thin dorsal stripes, while garters decidedly have one thicker one. Any image from above, or a profile, can solve this dilemma.

regards,

Erik.

Thanks for the info Erik!! I have a few other images of this guy I'll try to post later tonight, or tomorrow.

Well since Erik already corrected your snake ID, I will confirm that those must be solitary sandpipers, thougfh the legs look too yellow to me(like a yellowlegs)

Here's another view of the snake.

Aha! That photo seals it, it IS indeed a brown snake, storeria dekayi. The dark marking under his eye (and he probably has another one on the sides of his neck, in the area obscured by his head flattening) is useful for ID. I don't often see them on the move, most of the time they are found by flipping debris.

Erik.

Thanks for the ID Erik! I'll be sure to look much closer the next time I run across another snake!

Wow, that snake looked garter at first, but this new image does indeed seal the ID. Nice job.