On Wednesday, I was on the Conservancy’s Kismat tract with several others, and we were shocked at what we saw. No one could believe it. We saw what we believed to be a large, female giant garter snake. In winter! On a cloudy, chilly day! Speculation is rampant on why she wasn’t hibernating, as she is supposed to be doing this time of year. An aquatic snake, on land (see photo) in the winter. We’ll have to log this one in the record books.
Big bird
Photo taken by Conservancy staff at a Conservancy preserve, 2025. With this article is a photo of a Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) in flight. It’s on one of the Conservancy’s marsh complexes. While the Conservancy has prepared the preserves mostly for the benefit of the Swainson’s hawk (Buteo swainsoni), …