For what it's worth, here's my winter blast through spring break report...

Paybacks for missing so many snow days are coming now in the form of LONG Monday afternoon meetings for teachers and the school year stretching till June 8th...ugh!  I did make use of the cooped-up time by laying the foundations for an AR Herp Atlas...which is now close for having some portions ready to share with others (county record status, range maps, etc.).  Progress has just been painfully slow as of late due to other obligations.

With plenty of snow still covering the ground, a fellow teacher brought in this unlikely find!

As I understand it, it was pretty well just laying out in the snow half-frozen.  The teacher had a suspicion that perhaps some dogs or coyotes had dug it up, but as it was it surely would not have survived...  In any case, after it warmed up a bit, it became pretty lively.  I held it till warmer weather allowed for a suitable release near where found.

With ice still covering a large portion of this lake, a warmer day brought out the Cricket Frogs along the shoreline.  One frog even jumped onto the ice, but was too far out for me to retrieve...so, hopefully it made it back.

A few birds and herps near my home in Bella Vista began to stir in early spring.

I was able to get out one night of a light, misty rain to revisit a location for Chorus Frogs.  As far as I am aware, this population near Pea Ridge is the only confirmed occurrence of Boreal Chorus Frog in Arkansas (on the basis of samples I submitted for analysis last year).

I collected a couple of additional specimens for deposition in museum and took advantage of the opportunity to improve my photographs of the species under more controlled conditions.

I also had an Ozark Zigzag Salamander on-hand I had collected for a herp talk a few days earlier.

Significantly warmer temperatures and sunny weather happened to hit on a Saturday I could get out for a bit.  I think Penny and I were both still feeling pretty cooped-up from the winter, so I decided to bring her along in hopes of following up a lead for a Collared Lizard locality.  Ended up being a bit early, I think, on the Collareds, but it was nice to just get out.  Look how fat I let my dog get this winter.      I'm ashamed.

So, I figured I'd better at least try to get a picture or two of the closest, largest Moon in 19 years...or something like that.

The first hard-work, high-reward herp outing of the year was planned for my second day of spring break in search of Arkansas Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes.  I was very close to cancelling due to the tenuous health conditions of my 93 year old grandmother...but, having seen her quite a bit the previous days and not knowing how long it would take for events to unfold, I went ahead and got out for the day.  I met up with Matt and Rex in the afternoon...conditions seemed perfect!  Too bad no one apparently told the snakes because we pretty well struck out...as in the total whiff kind!  A tail of a Coachwhip and a scant number of Praire Lizards were all that we could claim, despite a noble effort.

I was literally on the phone with my Dad on the drive back home when my grandmother passed on.  House, family, and funeral obligations tied me up through Thursday.  So much for spring break. 

I woke up late Friday morning and just needed OUT.  I decided to drive south to a WMA I'd never been to before with the thought that I might pick up a swamp-inhabiter or two from my herp wish list...or at the least just scout it for a future effort.  I pulled my truck over for my first stop at a little illegal dump-site I had spotted and was hardly out of the truck before a wildlife officer drove up.  He gave me the whole 9-yards...What are you doing here?  Can I see some ID?  Do you mind if I check your vehicle?...the whole business.  For a moment, I thought I was back in Arizona or something!  HA!

That site turned out to be a total bust anyway, but the second stop looked much more promising for my indented targets.  This time, the first log I flipped had a nice little Cottonmouth coiled EXACTLY below and mere inches from where I had wrapped my fingers!

I didn't see anything else of note, but found the site worthy of a revisit in the future.  With overcast skies and temperatures hovering around 55F, I pretty well just piddled some time away.  At dusk, I found myself at a lake and was surprised by a little walk along the shore in the turtles I turned up.  Along with some washed up shells, I picked up about 5-6 Mud and Musk Turtles as they were just foraging and otherwise going about their business in the shallows.

I just slept in my truck...and crashed surprisingly hard.  By the time I stirred around Saturday morning, the weather was looking no better...too little rain to trigger amphibian activity and too cloudy/cold for reptiles.  I decided to postpone my swampy efforts in favor of Ouachita sallies.  After a 2 and 1/2 hour drive, it was already afternoon and I was practically on a time crunch from the get-go.  First and primary target was the one that had most been a stickler in my side on past efforts...

Just because I could, I first snapped a few pictures of one of the many Southern Red-backeds.

A Cricket Frog hopped off and then another incidental was flipped...

After pushing towards two hours of searching, I wasn't feeling too good about the prospects.  While the surface of everything visible was soaking wet, the ground underneath logs and rocks remained surprisingly dry.  Then...FINALLY!

With the primary target checked off, I worked on the next...  Along the way, I kicked up a couple of Many-ribbeds but couldn't seem to get them in hand for pictures...not that I wanted to waste a lot of my time with it anyway.  Here's a crayfish I temporarily kicked out of a little dip of water while trying to rodeo a rogue Many-ribbed.

After another hour or so flipping, I got target 2:

...or maybe not?  Well, I'll just say that by recently confirmed specimens it is spot-on as to locality for Kiamichi.  (I'll concede it does have a slightly darker chin than I might expect, but I haven't been able to pull up many other pictures for comparison.  I'm still going with Kiamichi.)

With all going well, I decided to dart a hair northward for a surer get as darkness crept in.

I first flipped a "leadback" Southern Red-backed and couldn't resist snapping a few pics...

Then, in the waning twilight and after flipping more than the job should have required, I turned up a final target.

I thought at the time--working under near darkness--it was going to be a pretty dull and ugly specimen.  Turns out, add some good lighting, and it isn't so bad...

Another two hours of daylight and, who knows, I might have picked up a Caddo and Dusky, too!   

That pretty well wrapped up my time.  With rains threatening, I did swing by a spot along the Arkansas River I've had my eye on for a couple of years.  Absolutely nothing was happening...no rain, no frogs, nothing.  I got to my parents' house (the night's lodging) around midnight.

And that's pretty much it so far for me in 2011.  As a bonus, here are a couple of Cottonmouth pics Miriam sent me the other day...

My 2011 herp list so far:

Dwarf American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus charlesmithi)...MAR 4...Benton Co.
Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris blanchardi)...FEB 13...Madison Co.
Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)...FEB 17...Benton Co.
Cajun Chorus Frog (Pseudacris fouquettei)...MAR 4...Madison Co.
Boreal Chorus Frog (Pseudacris maculata)...MAR 8...Benton Co.
American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus)...FEB 17...Benton Co.
Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans ssp.)...MAR 4...Benton Co.
Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus utricularius)...JAN 2...Benton Co.

Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum)...MAR 4...Benton Co.
Dark-sided Salamander (Eurycea longicauda melanopleura)...MAR 29...Benton Co.
Many-ribbed Salamander (Eurycea multiplicata)...MAR 26...Polk Co.
Western Slimy Salamander (Plethodon albagula)...FEB 28...Benton Co.
Ozark Zigzag Salamander (Plethodon angusticlavius)...FEB 19...Benton Co.
Fourche Mountain Salamander (Plethodon fourchensis)...MAR 26...Scott Co.
Kiamichi Slimy Salamander (Plethodon kiamichi)...MAR 26...Polk Co.
Rich Mountain Salamander (Plethodon ouachitae)...MAR 26...Polk Co.
Southern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon serratus)...MAR 26...Scott Co.

Western Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma)...MAR 25...Conway Co.
Eastern Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum flagellum)...MAR 20...Yell Co.
Western Wormsnake (Carphophis vermis)...MAR 26...Scott Co.
Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus ssp.)...FEB 28...Benton Co.
Eastern Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)...MAR 18...Benton Co.
Western Smooth Earthsnake (Virginia valeriae elegans)...MAR 4...Benton Co.

Prairie Lizard (Sceloporus consobrinus)...MAR 12...Carroll Co.
Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus)...MAR 19...Benton Co.
Little Brown Skink (Scincella lateralis)...FEB 13...Madison Co.

Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)...MAR 25...Conway Co.
Mississippi Mud Turtle (Kinosternon subrubrum hippocrepis)...MAR 25...Conway Co.
Eastern Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus)...MAR 25...Conway Co.