Blanding’s Turtle - Tortue mouchetée

            I posted an image of a larger, older member of the threatened species a few weeks ago, a creature I found in Ottawa. Well, sure enough, a second and closer encounter happened during my visit to Prince Edward County. 

Walking a trail around a swampy area, I caught sight of this Blanding’s heading from one wet area to another. We had a few minutes with the turtle, not wanting to block or slow down its mission. I lay down and grabbed some images (not actually head on, and obviously not as close as it seems, as I didn’t want to stress it). And then it continued in the direction it was heading, down into the swampy extension of Lake Ontario. 

This turtle would have only recently emerged from its winter hibernation in the mud at the bottom of Lake Ontario. The concave shaping of the bottom or lower shell, the plastron, suggests it is a male. 

I hadn’t realized that the Blanding’s, like the Box Turtle, has a hinged plastron - meaning it can partially seal its head and front limbs away from predators. This is also a better look at the speckling of the carapace (top shell) which gives rise to the creature’s French name.

Taken on: May 1, 2024

Tags:

Tortue mouchetée

Blandings Turtle

National Wildlife Area

Long Point Harbour

Spring awakening « less

Camera: Canon EOS R7, f/22.0, 1/125 sec, 324mm, ISO 640 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS R7
Lens:	RF100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM
Aperture:	f/22.0
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	324mm
ISO:	640
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Shutter speed priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Lightroom 7.2 (Macintosh)
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