Creature of the marsh

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Creature of the marsh

April 6, 2015 by Mike Powell

Creatures of all sorts are stirring in the marsh now that the weather has warmed up, including this particularly fierce-looking one with amazing eyes. What is it? It’s an Eastern Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina serpentina), a species that is pretty common in my local marsh.

Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, spring, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Chelydra serpentina serpentina, Eastern Snapping Turtle, Huntley Meadows Park, snapping turtle, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, turtle | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on April 7, 2015 at 4:58 am | Reply Ed

Cool shot, usually they are at the bottom and exlellent detail of the eyes.. 🙂
- on April 7, 2015 at 5:16 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Ed. After a winter spend on the bottom of the pond, the snapping turtles may be a bit more sluggish than usual, but that could change quickly.
  - on April 7, 2015 at 5:27 am Ed
    
    Well I would’nt want to go bare footing in the marsh, thats for sure.. 🙂
on April 7, 2015 at 7:08 am | Reply Birder's Journey

Terrific shot of this cool subject – and what an excellent low POV.
- on April 8, 2015 at 11:06 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. I did make an effort to get as low as I could for the shot.
  - on April 8, 2015 at 11:17 am Birder's Journey
    
    As long as you weren’t in the water with him – yikes!
on April 7, 2015 at 8:39 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

Hungry, I’d bet. I hope no ducks or geese decide to have little ones near him.
- on April 8, 2015 at 4:29 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  In some past years, survival was really tough for Hooded Merganser babies, because of the large population of snapping turtles.
on April 7, 2015 at 9:36 am | Reply Lyle Krahn

That first shot really made me look to see what it was. Great work.
- on April 8, 2015 at 4:25 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Lyle. This was one of those nice cases in which my approach for the posting and the photos themselves worked well together.
  - on April 8, 2015 at 8:36 am Lyle Krahn
    
    I like my posts a lot better when it does come together like that. But some days …
on April 10, 2015 at 11:23 am | Reply krikitarts

The bejeweled eyes of the snapping turtles are so fascinating! I usually see the alligator snappers in Minnesota at least once each year. In the canals and lakes of the American southeast, they can live for 100 years and grow to a rather frightening size, the record being around 220 lbs.
- on April 11, 2015 at 10:00 am | Reply krikitarts
  
  Correction: The snapping turtles in minnesota are not alligator snappers (Macrochelys temminckii, which are found in the southeastern states), but rather common snapping turtles, Chelydra serpentina. Sorry for the misinformation.
  - on April 11, 2015 at 5:06 pm Mike Powell
    
    No problem. I’ve heard about the alligator snappers and it would be cool to see them sometime. I’ll have to check out their territorial range.