acastelein's Favorites

This is an interesting story with a happy ending. My friend David Ferry and I were driving along Hwy 87 at 60 mph near Crystal Beach, Texas, when I glimpsed what I thought was a Least Bittern standing on the very edge of the road with cars whizzing past. I made a U turn and went back where we indeed found a Least Bittern, resting back on its tarsus joints within inches of passing traffic. I picked up the bird and we stood on the side of the road to examine it. My best guess is that (1) it took a glancing blow off a car windshield, perhaps, or (2) It was totally exhausted from migrating across the Gulf of Mexico. It did not seem to be badly injured and its wings did not seem to be broken. Rather than just leave it here on the road to be crushed and killed I decided we would take it to a nearby marsh area off the roadway where it could die in peace and dignity. So we drove off with Dave holding the bird in his lap and heading to a marsh well off the road where I know Least Bitterns were present. We put the bird down on the edge of the marsh and it just stood there looking at us. I was about to just drive away and let nature take its course, but decided to take a few more shots of the bird. I got down low to the bird's level and it went into the characteristic bittern pose by stretching its neck high and trying to look like a swaying bit of marsh grass. It kept a watchful eye on me from both sides of its raised bill and image 1 shows this action. The bird then started slowly walking away from us. I bent down to take another shot and the bittern took flight and flew out into the marsh and out of sight. I choose to believe it recovered and is doing well.

near Crystal Beach,
Galveston Co., Texas
26 April 2018

Epic battle between RT hawk and large gopher snake. After a 45 minute struggle, during which the snake was able to wrap itself around the hawk's neck and wing, the hawk released the snake and flew away to preen without a meal.

Lifer! Found with 6 hours left in the year, this snake continued my streak to get me at least 1 snake a month for the whole year.

This was the last snake I expected to see because I thought they’d all be brumating this time of year, but maybe it was flooded out of its brumation spot by all the rain we had.

All around one of the most exciting herp finds I’ve had, though I had to rush for photos to get to a New Years party

The snake was engorged and most likely eaten a young ground squirrel. The snake had bites and was bleeding a bit. The mountain bikes were more of a danger than the squirrels. The snake did slither away safely.

A green chiton attached to a half crab. We observed this alien looking commensal beast while undertaking an intertidal survey on the reefs off Hawera. It made us jump when we first turned over the rock.

Young adult male (Tyrosinase positive albino?) collected AOR on Hwy 90 3.2 miles W of Brackettville by Cam and Brenda Posey on 6/11/2010 @ 12:50 a.m.

Pattern is consistent with area splendida (I have seen others from Highway 90 in the 1990s) and this type of albino is not represented in L. (g.) splendida in captive snake collections, thus it is not likely an escaped or released pet snake. The specimen was several years under my care (2015-2018) and acted like a wild snake as well (musking frequently even after years in captivity). It is still alive at these additional notes (May 2022) and has been bred by myself (first time in 2016) and Cam Posey producing six heterozygous offspring. None of those have been bred at this time.

Map point is approximate.