Herping Downstate
Cuddebackville, NY
Thursday 1 August 2024
84 °F
MONDAY, JULY 29:
This morning I found myself in Schenectady, NY staying with my friend Will M in order to go out herping with him before another week in New York City!
We were out by 7:15am and enjoyed a two-hour drive of lively conversation down to the redneck town of Cuddebackville, NY which was our herping destination for the day. 
And a quick pit stop along the road yielded common species like GRAY CATBIRD:
We soon made it to our herping destination for the day where we hoped to hike 9 miles (round trip) up to a snake den that is known for Timber Rattlers and Copperheads. This long hike involved first passing through (yes, very legally) a hunting lodge property which was honestly kind of creepy because nobody was around:
Abandoned buildings also adorned the trail, really classing up the vibe:
This pretty Green Frog hopped out of our way along the trail:
Female DOWNY WOODPECKER — Will enjoyed the birds as he is taking a master naturalists’ course and bird sightings (especially with photos) count for credit.
Female-type AMERICAN REDSTART:
Brief view of a hen WILD TURKEY crossing the path; thanks Will for the spot:
EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE:
After a long, hot, three-hour ascent, we finally made it to the west-facing ledges where these snakes are known to persist! The views were beautiful from up here.
Will spotted our first snake of the day which was a medium-large female Eastern Gartersnake, Thamnophilus Sirtalis.
Then, I spotted the shed snake skin of a Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus Horridus) — surely a good sign for serpentine productivity!
Lo and behold, as we made it to the summit of this bluff, just as Will had predicted, it appeared that the snakes had moved up here for the summer. I spotted this immature (year old) Timber Rattlesnake that had blue eyes, indicating an impending shed: 
Very cool! Herping can be hit-or-miss in the height of the summer; however, the fairly moderate 80-degree temperatures allowed us to be successful up here on the ledges. From our way back down, here’s another view of the delapidated old house that was out in the middle of nowhere:
Suddenly, as we were hiking down the trail, a piquant buzz rang out from the tall grasses and logs alongside the trail. I froze, spotted the source of this warning, and moved back to a more controlled distance — it was a pair of adult Timber Rattlesnakes!
The larger (4-foot) male in particular was one of the largest Will had ever seen, and the second-largest I had seen, only surpassed by my lifer Timber which was undoubtedly the most beautiful snake I have seen in the wild. So cool, what a beast!
We admired for a solid five minutes as the male unsuccessfully attempted to mate with, and then pursue, the female snake.
A few last looks at the large specimen:
Wow, very cool and this sighting alone definitely made the trip down here worth it! What was surprising about these snakes is that they were so far (2 miles) from the known denning site. Our best guess is that a population of this species has moved into one of the run-down houses alongside the trail. We learn more every time we get out in the field!
On the rest of the way out, there was nothing else of note. Here’s another DOWNY, this time a male:
I enjoyed a long but uneventful commute to Queens, NYC for the rest of my evening. Thanks so much to Will for driving, hosting, and herping with me and bird-of-the-day goes to a HOODED WARBLER that annoyingly remained unphotographed. Stay tuned: I am in NYC this week where I hope to do a bit of birding, and then next week I fly to Vienna Austria for a week of conducting and singing!
Happy birding and herping,
Henry
World Life List: 1304 Species
Why did I read this right before bedtime? 💤 😬
by skwclar