It's cold, dark, and raining, and we're tired and hungry.  Time to find some food and take a load off.  We headed for Dolly's over in east Vienna (highly recommended by the herping crowd) for a late supper and to talk over the past few days.

No doubt about it - we had done very well, despite the volatile weather conditions of April.  It's hard not to have a successful day down in southern Illinois - this mix of biogeographical regions has an incredible amount of diversity and abundance of flora and fauna.  I was very happy to show some of that richness to my new pals.

It was great to make some new friends out of the experience.  Jeff, Matt and Jim are passionate about herping, are extremely knowledgeable, and are just good folks that I enjoyed being with.  I am sure we will be heading out to herp again in the future!

Matt and Jim's accounts of the trip can be found at www.herpjournal.com

Second Day Results

ZigZag Salamanders (Plethodon dorsalis)
Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi)
Copperbelly Water Snake (Nerodia erythrogaster neglecta)
Midwest Worm Snake (Carphophis amoenus helenae)
Slimy Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus)
Longtail Salamanders (Eurycea longicauda longicauda)
Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculata)
Smallmouth Salamander (Ambystoma texanum)
Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)
Southern Black Racer (Coluber constrictor priapus)
Northern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus hyacinthinus)
Ground Skink (Scincella laterale)
Fivelined Skink (Eumeces fasciata)
Eastern Ribbon Snakes (Thamnophis sauritus sauritus)
Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis)
Western Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma)
Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis obsoleta obsoleta)
Redbellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)
Shawnee King Snake (Lampropeltis getula niger X holbrooki)
Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)
Western Smooth Earth Snake (Virginia valeriae elegans)
Cave Salamander (Eurycea lucifuga)
Central Newt (Notopthalamus viridescens louisianensis)
Upland Chorus Frog (Pseudacris triseriata feriarum)
Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)

Some Cool Birds:

Redtailed Hawks
Pileated Woodpeckers
Wood Ducks
Barred Owls (heard)