Just a few pictures to share...
It's hard to match the serenity and beauty of this place at dawn and dusk (pictured). You can see a big log jam in the first picture from the recent flooding.
Creek below the spillway.
One of my favorite plants...chlorophyllless!
"Leaves of three..."
Birds of prey program.
Bats program.
Coon.
Razor-backed Musk Turtle -- Took lots of pics of this one; another new species to mark off my list!
Copperheads and Cottonmouth (not pictured) are *extremely* common in the area.
Central Newt - eft stage.
Common Snapping Turtle baby...OK, I'm pretty much tired of people thinking these are an Alligator Snappers. And practically EVERY turtle I showed the campers (even my Box Turtle!), they would ask if it was a "snapping turtle"...as if it wouldn't attempt to bite them unless it was? Alas!
Green Treefrog.
Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake -- This specimen was NOT found at camp; it is the W. OK specimen I recently acquired as an educational animal. It did okay all things considered, but is a little more high strung than would be ideal; had to be careful or it would keep striking the glass. The pics with the white background were taken with the animal on a white sheet and then cleaned up in processing.
Timber Rattlesnake - This rattlesnake came crawling right through camp right by the bleachers--the busiest part of the camp!--literally within 5 minutes of releasing the campers to the field for a game. It was really, really thin and we were able to feed it a House Mouse that was caught in a live trap in the kitchen. The snake was released a few days later after camp.
Gulf Crayfish Snake -- This specimen was NOT found at camp; it was brought in by Renn from the Arkadelphia area.
A couple of notable tidbits:
* Spoke with a local who sees "more Diamondbacks than Timbers". I was pretty much on the right track for where to look anyway, but the Moon was very bright on the couple of nights I had to road cruise and the weather was perhaps too unwaivering (no notable weather events to get things stirring).
* Got to observe the Gulf Crayfish Snake eat...really neat! Since I have some questions about it, I'll post separately.
This species list is pretty much from memory, but should be close:
Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)
Broad-headed Skink (Plestiodon laticeps)
Little Brown Skink (Scincella lateralis)
Southern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix)
Western Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma)
Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
Southern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor)
Speckled Kingsnake (Lampropeltis holbrooki)...AOR-Crawled off too quick!
Texas Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus)
Plain-bellied Watersnake (Nerodia erythrogaster)
Midland Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon)
Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)...DOR
Eastern Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis)...DOR
Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)
Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica)...First time to see one of these at the reservoir.
Eastern River Cooter (Pseudemys concinna)
Razor-backed Musk Turtle (Sternotherus carinatus)
Dwarf American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)
Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri)
Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi)
Cope's Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis)
Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)
Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis)
American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)
Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans)
Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus)
Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum)
Western Slimy Salamander (Plethodon albagula)
Central Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens)