northeast-flora-and-fauna

I'm pretty sure this Painted Turtle was out of the water and in loose sandy soil in order to lay eggs. (This picture doesn't show the carapace scutes well enough to tell if she's an Eastern Painted Turtle , though they are our most common subspecies of Painted Turtle.) There is another possible explanation for this turtle's presence, though it's also related to egg-laying. Apparently females will sometimes create a false nest, presumably to frustrate the many animals (like foxes, snakes, crows, raccoons, even some squirrels - basically any carnivore/omnivore that can find the eggs) that will eat turtle eggs. Sadly for turtles, a large number of them never get past the egg phase of their development. Our Eastern Painted Turtles don't lay a lot of eggs; usually a clutch will have around 5 eggs. Particularly large Painted Turtles generally lay more eggs at a time. This particular turtle seemed a little small so I wouldn't expect much more than 5. She might lay...

While my 1st picture shows a Wood Duck who's probably raising ducklings, the 2nd picture shows a Wood Duck who probably isn't the mother to those turtles.  These 2 pictures are of 2 female Wood Ducks in basically the same location and I found it interesting that 1 of them was surrounded by juvenile Wood Ducks while the other was surrounded by turtles ( probably Painted Turtles ). One thing that could be going on is intraspecific brood parasitism , where 1 duck mom ends up raising the ducklings of other duck moms. Perhaps the 2nd female's ducklings are being raised by the 1st female, and so she has no parental responsibilities and can hang out with her turtle friends instead.  Of course, there are probably dozens of other plausible explanations behind these 2 pictures. I'm just sketching out 1 possibility. June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 300988614, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 300...

These Painted Turtles look like they've been painted with loose vegetation from the reservoir. I doubt it's a turtle fashion statement and is instead indicative of the vegetation growing in the water, though this does add a little color to mostly-dark turtles. I've certainly seen other messy turtles like this Spotted Turtle , and our Common Snapping Turtles are frequently seen carrying vegetation around . I suspect this is mostly harmless, though maybe it makes their basking in the sun a little less productive? I'd recommend they take a bath , but since they probably got this way swimming in this water, it probably wouldn't help. June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 300987037, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a River Cooter along the Delaware Raritan Canal last May. I'm going to try and explain how I arrived at this identification. Despite living in New Jersey, they're not documented in my Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of New Jersey [1], so I went to the internet for some basic information . Here's what I can tell you: The plastron is yellow, not reddish-orange (female) or pink (male) that you would expect to see in a Northern Red-bellied Cooter . Also, Northern Red-bellied Cooters frequently have jet black heads and necks, while this turtle has noticeable yellow there. The carapace lacks the prominent lines around the scutes that you'd see in a Painted Turtle . It also lacks the rich tapestry of lines on the head/neck that you'd see in a Common Map Turtle . A Red-eared Slider normally has a prominent red blotch about where you'd expect an ear to be, and a Yellow-bellied Slider should have a prominent yellow blotch in that same spot. I also thi...

Many times when I'm trying to photograph them, turtles dive/fall off their basking spot into the water, almost certainly to avoid whatever dire fate awaited them based on my appearance. Fortunately there are plenty of times when the distance between us and/or the mood of the individual turtle combine to keep the turtle in my sight. Presumably distance and mood allowed me to get this picture, but I'd like to think this Painted Turtle felt safe hiding under this branch: "He can't see me under this stick, so I'm safe!". March 16, 2023 at the Raritan Water Power Canal Photo 267710630, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I have to admit my title is a little presumptuous. Turtles definitely get together for breeding (though these 2 almost certainly won't) but other than that they're considered solitary without forming actual friendships. Their tendency to be seen in groups is probably better explained by: There are only so many good basking locations in an area, so they're kind of forced to congregate at these locations. Similar to mixed-species flocks of birds, they're probably safer in a crowd where many eyes/ears have the potential to detect a predator. Even if they're not BFFs, this Pond Slider and Painted Turtle are at least tolerant of each other, suggesting more civility that you see amongst other groups (like the US political system). And although this picture is from last October, I'm seeing more and more turtles out as the NJ winter wanes. As long as you're willing to keep a respectful distance, you could probably meet a turtle around here today. October 11, 2022 ...

A couple days ago I showed a couple Painted Turtles basking above green waters ; today I'm showing Wood Ducks swimming through it. And similar to the Painted Turtle situation, it's at least possible the ducks would eat at least some of the green vegetation.  Though it's difficult for me to know exactly what the vegetation is comprised of, if there's duckweed out there, that's definitely on the Wood Duck menu. Though they'll eat small animals - mainly invertebrates - 80% of their omnivorous diet is comprised of plant material. Still, too much green in the water is usually a sign of fertilizer runoff that's polluting the waterway. This looks like a female (left) and male (right), though the male is without the more flamboyant breeding plumage in this picture. August 30, 2022 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 229848163, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another picture of Painted Turtles . I'm not sure I can claim it as an Eastern Painted Turtle (though that's the most common subspecies around here) since I can't see more than the side of the carapace, but even if I can't see scute alignment the carapace scutes are pretty definitive for a Painted Turtle. First, I'm somewhat surprised that these turtles managed to get onto this log without getting covered in that green vegetation surrounding them. I'm guessing that the stuff looks messier than it actually is. (When turtles climb onto these logs, could they be said to have "logged on"?) Second, that greenery - whatever it is - may look yucky to you, but it's likely that the turtles look at it much differently. Painted Turtles eat "aquatic vegetation and algae" (among other things), so they might look out at it and know they're not going to go hungry today [1]. Finally, though these turtles look to be the same species, with ...

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...