Back on Track!

 

Hoka hey, guys! Long time no see, eh?
Sorry to let you wait that long but many things happened in my life. I mean, Corona hit us all, but there is also another illnes I have to deal with. The weather wasn't that great this spring so when I had time there was cold or rain - or both. So no snake patrol for me. But I don't want to complain about the weather here. It's okey and today I finally was on a photo safary by the ponds again. It was AWESOME! Let's have some pictures under the cut!

My partner and I used the few dry hours before rain and visited a bigger pond complex by my parents place. All I wanted to see was some yellow-bellied toads (and snakes!). And there were some of these little cute toadies! <3

I only saw two gronw-ups, but there were also some very small baby toads! They were only as big as my thumb fingernail.

Have some more amazing critters from our stroll!

A wasp spider! A few years ago it used to be a bigger population. I only counted about 6 individuals, but that doesn't mean that I spotted every wasp spider there. Their camouflage works very well and the males are tiny.

A big "chonk", the caterpillar of a swallowtail! Amazing colors!

Female common wall lizard.

This big grasshopper was as green as the grass. It's also a female. It seems it just laid eggs.

Close ups, close ups!

Love my old camera <3 When the light is right, it shoots some nice macro pictures. But only when the light is right...
Have some bugs! first a rose chafer.

A little excitement: Rutpela maculata!

Then, when walking back, I just spotted the highlight of the day: a ringsnake! And not a small one, oh no. This one was about 60cm long and just longed for some rare sun rays. It just laid there, relaxed. Normally the snakes in this area are super-shy. At home, when I looked closer to the photos, I saw that the eye of the snake was white as milk. I think it soon starts to shed its skin.

Well, what a day! I hope this day is just the start of many more awesome strolls, because I need days like this so much <3