We continued to find Queen snakes, both adults and juveniles, as we moved downstream.  One large piece of slate was lifted to reveal two small adult Queens, who lay perfectly still as we looked at them and took pictures.  Walk Indiana creeks a few times, catching adult and juvenile Queens. and a pattern begins to emerge; the neonates and juveniles tend to turn up in the creek itself, under stones with just a thin layer of water.  Larger snakes stick to the creek banks, under larger rocks and in brush dams.  I see the same trend in the Midland water snakes found here - brothers under the stones and why not?  One hunts the soft crayfish and the other fishes and frogs, both competing only for the best rock.  We were finding plenty of both.

A light and intermittent rain began to fall as we reached the end of our little creek, where it joined the larger Sugar Creek.  The water levels here were down quite a bit, allowing us to reach what is normally a rocky gravel bar out in mid-stream.  Here we found a number of Midland water snakes, small adults around eighteen inches or so.  Some pleuralis are rather drab, while others have contrasts of rich colors - deep reddish-oranges, dark browns or lighter buckskin.

A 'keer-keer-keer' from somewhere up in the wind got our attention, and we watched a medium-sized raptor wing its way up the creek.  Looking like a cross between a seagull and a falcon, we were a bit perplexed, until something dribbled up from the depths of my brain.  "Holy cow, I think that was a Mississippi Kite," I said.  Back at the car we confirmed my guess.  These kites do wander afar in summer, but I hadn't seen one this far north before.

Other than a fat female Fivelined skink and the usual gang of toads, nothing else presented itself, and then it was time to head back home, just ahead of a couple inches of rain sure to make toads dance and kites think of turning south.

Species Observed:

Longtailed Salamander (Eurycea longicauda)
Southern Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera)
Redback Salamander (Plethodon serratus)
Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus)
American Toad (Bufo americanus)
Fowler's Toad (Bufo fowleri)
Blanchard's Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi)
Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanota)
Pickerel Frog (Rana palustris)
Queen Snake (Regina septemvittata)
Northern Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii)
Midland Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon pleuralis)