Snapping Turtle with a Green Hairdo

Huntley Meadows Park is a small yet very nice park. It has a lake, lots of fauna and flora and is a great location if you are into bird photography. Even if you are not into photographing birds, there is a lot to see and shoot. If you happen to be in the Alexandria area, don’t forget to swing by and enjoy the scenery. More information about the park can be found at the Fairfax County website.

The turtle in the photo is a Chelydra Serpentina or Snapping Turtle. I saw a couple of them and everyone of them sported an algea (or moss?) based head decoration, some also had their shell covered with it, with some mud stuck on the shell as well.

I don’t know what this turtle as in its mouths. Could be twigs or maybe legs?

Meta-data for the photo at the top:
CAMERA: Fujifilm X-T1
LENS: Fujinon XF 55-200mm f3.5-4.8 R LM OIS @ 200mm (300mm)
EXPOSURE: 1/350 sec
APERTURE: f/4.8
ISO: 200