Lifers! But not birds

This weekend, I didn't see any life birds, but I did see two lifers of the reptilian/amphibian kind:

First, this snake was lying on our front walk (and scared the beejeesus out me). I thought he was sunning himself, but it turned out he was dead:

I'm guessing he was run over and was just able to make it down our steps from street-level before he gave up the ghost (do snakes have ghosts to give up?). Poor little guy. I looked him up online, as I'd never seen a snake like this before; he's an Eastern Milk Snake. Life herp!

Gretchen and I went for a very long walk yesterday and made a stop at the marsh, where I saw my first-ever snapping turtle:

His shell is about ten inches long--huge! He didn't poke his head up or anything, which was too bad--I kinda wanted to see him SNAP! (Not my fingers, though--a stick or something!)

Gretchen got a few lifers herself, including cedar waxwing, yellow warbler (which are now EVERYWHERE around the area), and muskrat.

Finally, I also found this feather in the water. Could this be a bittern feather, maybe? Can anyone help me out?