northeast-flora-and-fauna

If you're an ectotherm like these Red Admirals (or an Northern Red-bellied Cooter ), nothing warms your heart like sunlight. Be careful about lumping all lepidopterans into the ectothermic camp though; some winter moths are actually considered endothermic . Back when I was a kid we were taught that all birds and mammals were endotherms and every other animal was some sort of ectotherm, which is a mostly-but-not-entirely true simplification. Red Admirals though do fall squarely into the ectotherm camp; they're not someone you'll meet in the winter. Note that these butterflies look fairly different, with the 2nd picture having faded coloring and somewhat ragged hind wings. It sounds like Red Admirals can brumate as adults, so it's possible that the 1 in the 2nd picture survived the winter while the 1 in the 1st picture may have emerged from its chrysalis within the last month. Remember, they got the "admiral" part of their name because they were admired , not...

Here's an Eastern Garter Snake I met last March. March is a funny time of year in that some of the days can be pretty cold while other days can get fairly warm. This was the 1st snake picture I got this year. Given our snakes brumate over the winter, they're probably pretty eager to take advantage of warm days to get out there and forage. (Unfortunately I didn't think to bring a salamander for it to eat.) My recollection is that this guy was basking on the paved path until I came along and (as usual) terrified it into slithering into branches and leaf litter. March 22, 2023 at the Raritan River Greenway Photo 269153773, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I don't remember exactly how small this Painted Turtle was, but I remember thinking it had to be pretty young to be that small. (I can assure you that the turtle isn't on a fallen Giant Sequoia tree.) My impression is that pet Painted Turtles can grow 3" in their 1st year, and then their growth rate slows down to more like 0.5" per year. But wild Painted Turtles probably don't grow much in the winter while brumating , so their growth rate is probably slower. I wouldn't be surprised if this turtle hatched in the fall of 2021. The scutes on the carapace also look a little funky; I suspect this turtle is shedding scutes as it grows . My impression, backed up by no data, is that juvenile turtles are a little less likely to dive into the water as I approach. I'm not sure why that would be. Perhaps younger turtles need the sunlight more, or maybe they're young and reckless enough to risk having me around. July 15, 2022 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 2...