Peggy's Cove photographs

A few years back while vacationing in Nova Scotia my family went to Peggy's Cove.  Peggy's Cove is a  small rural community located on the east shore of St. Margarets Bay in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality.  This spot offers great photographs.  The bay scenes include old worn boats, houses and a fantastic landscape.

Beautiful sunset photographs

These are a couple of my favorite sunset photographs I have taken over the last few years.  The first one was taken in August from the dam on Lake Grapevine.  There was little to no editing done to the image.  This was the most impressive fiery orange sky I have ever seen.

The next sunset photograph was taken on Lake Fork in October.  Some editing was done in Adobe Lightroom.  The sunset was pretty impressive.

The last sunset photograph was taken over Lake Worth.  It is an HDR photograph and was heavily edited in Photomatix.  I love how the photograph turned out even though it is not very close to what the scene really looked like.

All of these photographs were taken on a Canon 5D Mark II.  A tripod was used for all three because of low light conditions and for the bracketing process for HDR in the third shot.

Smooth Earth Snake photographs

These are some photographs of a Smooth Earth Snake I have taken.  I shot them with my Canon 5D Mark II.  My lens is a Canon MP-E 65mm 2.8 1x-5x macro lens.  You can take extreme macro photographs with this lens.  Smooth Earth Snakes are a common snake in Texas gardens.  I usually find a dozen or more every year.

 These small snakes only get about 8 inches.  They eat small insects and larva.  There are two types of Earth Snakes.  There are Smooth and Rough Earth Snakes.  Smooth Earth Snakes have smooth scales.  Rough Earth Snakes have keeled scales that make them feel rough.  These snakes are harmless and do not bite.
Smooth Earth Snakes are reptiles which mean they are cold blooded.  Like other reptiles these snake have to have the sun to heat there bodies.  They can sometimes be found in the open in grass soaking up the sun.  If they sense danger they will quickly retreat into the leaves.

These photographs of a Smooth Earth Snake were taken on some old white carpet in my garage.  I had found three of these in the yard that day.

Texas Blind Snake photographs

I have only found two Texas Blind Snakes.  I found both under a log near Austin Texas.  These Texas Blind Snake photographs were shot on a Canon 5D Mark II camera and a Sigma 180mm macro lens.  Ever year in June my family takes a trip to Fredericksburg Texas for a family reunion.  While there we have access to a camp ground on Redstone Ranch next to LBJ's ranch.  I always find a lot of animals while I'm there.  Last year I flipped over a log trying to find something new to photograph.  There were three Texas Blind Snakes under the log.  I was able to catch 2 of the 3 before the last one got away.  I then lost one of the remaining two snakes.

The one that I was able to keep I photographed.  These reptiles are pretty cool.  These are some cool facts about Texas Blind Snakes.  They only get a few inches long averaging about 7 inches with the largest specimen reaching 10 inches.

Many Blind Snakes are mistaken for earthworms.  They has a similar appearance but upon closer inspection they can easily be identified.

The one that I was able to keep I photographed.  These reptiles are pretty cool.  These are some cool facts about Texas Blind Snakes.  They only get a few inches long averaging about 7 inches with the largest specimen reaching 10 inches.

Texas Blind Snakes are blind and have two black eye spots underneath scales on there heads.  These tiny reptiles do not bite.  Even if they did, the mouth is so small they could not bite a human.  These snakes eat small larva ants and termites so they are consider beneficial.

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar photographs

These are some photographs of Black Swallowtail Caterpillars(Papilio polyxenes).  I planted some Parsley plants in my garden.  These caterpillars showed up and ate all of the Parsley.

Black Swallowtail Caterpillars are orange, white and black.  The pattern can vary quite a bit so its not easy to describe them.  They are usually mostly white with orange spots or stripes and black stripes.  Black Swallowtail Caterpillars like to eat Parsley and related plants.

Rough Green Snake photographs

These are some photographs of a Rough Green Snake(Opheodrys aestivus).  Rough Green Snakes are found in the southern United States mainly between Central Texas and Florida.  Rough Green Snakes are arboreal which means they like to climb.  You can find these reptiles climbing low vegetation.  They are diurnal meaning they tend to hunt during the day and sleep at night.  The Rough Green Snake eats small insects and occasionally frogs.  These animals are not aggressive and will rarely bite.  The Rough Green Snake reaches about 45 inches and it very thin.  These snakes are quick and will retreat if confronted.

The difference between a Rough Green Snake and a Smooth Green Snake is mainly that a Rough Green Snake has keeled scales.  The Rough Green Snake also gets about 3.5 feet long where the Smooth Green Snake will only get about 2.5.

Here is a photograph of the keeled scales of a Rough Green Snake.

Notice that the scales are not smooth all the way from top to bottom.  In the middle of the scales there are a dividing line that is rough to the touch.  This is called a keel and is where the reptile gets it's name from.

Both snakes are green on top and yellow on the bottom.  This gives excellent camouflage in vegetation.  These animals are excellent climbers.  This video of a Rough Green Snake shows how well they can climb.

Difference between an Alligator Snapping Turtle and Common Snapping Turtle.

When most people find a snapping turtle they assume its an Alligator Snapping Turtle.  In reality Alligator Snapping Turtles are much rarer than Common Snapping Turtles so you are much more likely to find a Common Snapping Turtle.  There are some key difference to help you identify whether you have a Common Snapper or an Alligator Snapper.

Alligator Snapping Turtles have a larger head.  They also have a beak on the top of the mouth.  As you can see in the first photograph below, the Common Snapping Turtle has a small head and a small beak.

The next picture is the head of an Alligator Snapping Turtle and you can see the head is much larger and the beak is very pronounced.  Also around the eye the Alligator Snapping Turtle has growths that almost look like a star.

The Common Snapping Turtle has an almost flat shell with minor bumps.  The Alligator Snapping Turtle has sharp protruding spikes on it's back.

Both turtles have tail ridges.

The Alligator Snapping Turtle has a worm like appendage in it's mouth.  It uses this to catch small fish which it lures into it's mouth.

Both of these reptiles are found in the same areas.  They prefer creeks and small rivers.  They can be found in any body of fresh water.  The Alligator Snapping Turtle is endangered in some states and it is illegal to keep or kill one from the wild.  The Common Snapping Turtle is far more common.  Even though they look similar and share common names, the Alligator Snapping Turtle and the Common Snapping Turtle are not closely related.

The Common Snapping Turtle only gets to be around 50 pounds at the extremely high end with most only reaching 20 to 30 pounds.  The Alligator Snapping Turtle can get over 200 pounds and is the largest freshwater species.  

Both reptiles will eat almost anything they can get.  The Common Snapping Turtle will actively forage for food and eat carrion as well as live fish, crayfish and amphibians.  The Alligator Snapping Turtle is an ambush predator and will almost never forage for food.  They prefer to wait with their mouths open for a fish to swim in.  When a fish is within striking distance the Alligator Snapping Turtle will bite with lightning speed.

You should never handle these turtles unless you are careful.  Both can deliver a powerful bite that is capable of removing body parts.  Never pick the turtles up by their tails as this will hurt the spine and possibly kill the turtle.

This photograph of snapping turtles shows the difference between a Common and Alligator Snapping Turtle.

Here is a video of an Alligator Snapping Turtle.