I had an urge to go herping today, and decided
to explore some of the parks that I've never been to in the
area. I chose Castlewood State Park because the Meramec River
runs through it, and I thought a wooded area around a river
would be a great place to see herps. I found a trail that runs
right along the river, atop an embankment bordering the beach.
I call it a beach because it is quite sandy and I occasionally
saw people sunbathing. From the trail you could take smaller
trails down the embankment in order to access the beach and
the river. I did so, at every chance I could. Though I avoided
the areas where other people were around—they just chase
away the wildlife.
The first embankment I climbed down something
began hopping around by my feet. It was this tiny little toad
that I didn't recognize. After a few unsuccessful attempts
I finally caught it, and each time I began to open my hand
to photograph it, it would hop away. I had to re-catch it
at least 5 or 6 times! It was so small that it was really
hard to hang on to. When I did finally release it, the first
thing it did was find a shady area where it could hide, and
using its hind legs it buried itself in the sand up to its
head. I found dozens more toads on the beach, and after getting
my photos back, identified it as a Fowler's toad (new
find for me!).
I saw so many turtles in the river, mainly basking
on logs or rocks. I identified three species of turtle there
that day, ALL of which I have never seen before in the wild!
The false map turtle, midland painted turtle,
and spiny softshell. It was a very exciting turtle
day. If you click on the slide to the right, you will see
a story unfold. I kept clicking away as it happened, and it
was so adorable! Who says reptiles don't have personalities?
Unfortunately, it was impossible for me to get closer to the
turtles in these instances. In some cases the turtles were
on the opposite side of the river. In other cases they were
closer to my side, but there was no longer a beach that I
could access, and I was stuck on this much steeper embankment
with only the river below me.
I came across a "skink log" (as I
call them). And lo and behold, there was a five-lined skink
basking on the log. I was amazed at how close it let me
get as I took photos of it. It didn't seem to be bothered
by me at all!
On this one particular embankment, there was
a large bush with beautiful pink-purple flowers. I saw two
butterflies on the flowers and decided to take a photo.
Just as I was focusing in on them, something
began darting in front of the butterflies, around all the
flowers. It was a ruby-throated hummingbird! I was
able to take two photos of it before it disappeared and I
never saw it again.
Photos
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Meramec
River
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The beach
was covered with them
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Click
to watch the story unfold!
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Ruby-throated
Hummingbird
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Buried
in the sand
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Fowler's
Toad
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Fowler's
Toad
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False
Map Turtle
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Midland
Painted Turtle
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Five-lined
Skink
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Five-lined
Skink
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Leaf Jelly
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Ruby-throated
Hummingbird
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