Posted in Art, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Reptiles, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, coiled snake, Huntley Meadows Park, Nerodia sipedon, Northern Water Snake, Northern Watersnake, snake, water snake on April 12, 2014| 14 Comments »
Sometimes a coiled snake is prepared to strike, but this Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon) was definitely not ready for action. The snake seemed total relaxed as it basked in the sun, curled up above the surface of the water on some dried up vegetation.
I really like the texture of the snake’s skin, but there was no way that I was going to reach out and touch it. Telephoto lenses are a good thing in situations like this.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Art, Macro Photography, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, forked tongue, Huntley Meadows Park, Nerodia sipedon, Northern Water Snake, swamp, water snake on April 8, 2014| 10 Comments »
Spring has definitely arrived, bringing with it an abundance of snakes in addition to the profusion of flowering plants. Most of the snakes have been all curled up, basking in the sun. This Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon), however, was slithering through the water and stuck out its tongue and hissed at me before disappearing below the surface of the water.
I really like the way the colors of the snake’s skin match those of its surroundings and even the reddish color of the forked tongue is repeated in the fallen blossom.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Nature, Photography, Portraits, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, Huntley Meadows Park, Nerodia sipedon, Northern Water Snake, snake, water snake on October 7, 2013| 5 Comments »
In the shallow water of the marsh, this Northern Water snake (Nerodia sipedon) patiently waits for its unwary prey, probably a frog. At one point its body began to vibrate violently and I thought it was getting ready to strike, but it turned out to be a false alarm. In the end, the snake turned out to be more patient than I was and I left without observing the snake capture its next meal.
Click on the photo to see a higher resolution view of the snake.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Posted in Art, Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged Monet, Nerodia sipedon, Northern Water Snake, red-eared slider, red-eared slider turtle, snake, Trachemys scripta elegans), turtle, water snake on November 10, 2012| 2 Comments »
I haven’t seen a frog in a couple of weeks, but the turtles and snakes still make an appearance when the sun is high overhead, seeking somehow to warm themselves in the rays of the sun.
The first shot is a red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans), a type that I have featured before in blog posts. I find them to be amazingly photogenic. In this shot, I particularly love the reflection that he is casting. The blue of the water is a little unusual and reminds me a little of some of Monet’s paintings in which he used a similar blue.
Sunning turtle in the fall
The second image is a head shot of a Northern Water snake (Nerodia sipedon). He was stretched out in a grassy portion of the marsh, probably trying to expose the maximum amount of his body to the sun. I got down pretty low to get the shot and, as you can see, the grass made it difficult to get an unobstructed shot.
Sunning snake in the fall
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posted in Nature, Photography, Reptiles, wildlife, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Huntley Meadows Park, Nerodia sipedon, Northern Water Snake, snake, water snake on September 18, 2012| 15 Comments »
Throughout this dry summer, the water level in the marsh area of Huntley Meadows Park has continued to drop. I was shocked to see how low the levels were today. In an area where the water had previously been deep enough to support large snapping turtles (an open area outside of a beaver lodge), I now saw snakes, at least four or five of them. They were swimming in the shallow water and even burrowing into the soft mud in search of food. I am pretty sure they were all Northern Water snakes (Nerodia sipedon), a fairly large, non-venomous snake.
Face-to-face with a Northern Water snake
As I was watching the snakes, a couple came by and they said that they sometimes like to pick up these kind of snakes, examine them, and then release them. In passing, they mentioned that the snakes will bite hard and will release musk when handled. I don’t know why they thought I wanted to play with the snakes (trust me, I had no such desire), but they warned me not to be surprised if the bite wound bled a lot. According to the Wikipedia article on Northern Water snakes, the snake’s saliva contains a mild anticoagulant.
Northern Water snake, full-body shot
I did not see the snakes catch any prey, but the Wikipedia article states that during the day they hunt among plants at the water’s edge, looking for small fish, frogs, worms, leeches, crayfish, salamanders, birds, and small mammals. At night, they concentrate on minnows and other small fish sleeping in shallow water.
Northern Water snake focusing on a potential prey
One other interesting fact about the Northern Water snake is that—unlike many other snakes—they do not lay eggs. According to one academic article, the mother carries the eggs inside her body for three to five months and, on average, gives birth to 26 babies, each about 7-9 inches long. Once they are born, the babies are on their own; the mother does not care for them at all.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 