jaster
New member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2009
- Messages
- 136
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- Location
- Boone, North Carolina
- Country
- United States
It finally worked out that I had time to catch the tail end of our spotted salamander migrations. I accompanied the ASU Biology dept with their yearly data gathering, like all previous years, it was a blast! Temps were in the high forties/ fifties and rain had been intermittent throughout my time there, a perfect night to watch all these amphibians become active since winter. The bio team had been out a few weeks prior where they had to deal with some wicked winds and freezing rain/ snow. I am glad I skipped that night....
Things aren't so bad working out of the back of two cars. They were recording body condition, collecting any present leeches and taking photos of each spotted to add to the collection. I arrived after everyone had been assigned jobs and retrieved the salamanders they needed, so I just got to have fun.
One road lies between the breeding site and a nearby hillside which is where we 'cruise' (walk) for animals, and I set off to see what else would turn up. It would not be a disappointing night.
Spring peepers were out in force creating a wonderful and deafening chorus from a ditch which follows the road. I wanted to test myself and find one calling, but it took almost ten minutes to find one, and it was a female.
I turned around to continue on the road and about stepped on this one!
A good shot showing the unmistakable cross.
There were a few toads out calling, but not many on the road. Took one voucher for this guy.
Anaxyrus americanus
This night would turn out to be one for the Pseudotriton, many did they show up! Here's the first P. ruber I found.
This was also the first time I have found a caterpillar on the road (besides our woolly worms). Any ideas to what it is?
Lithobates catesbiana also showed up.
After that monster, it was time I started finding other whoppers. These were some of the largest muds (Pseudotriton montanus) I have seen, and there were at least 5-6 of them crawling around.
Holy **** they were huge. The largest one topped about at about 17.8 cm. Weird how no large P. ruber were around, all of them were under 5 cm easily/ By the time I found that last large, patternless one, the rain had picked up and nearly coated my camera lens. Luckily I have one super sturdy camera.
Some other road travelers this night.
P. ruber
Desmognathus monticola, among three found that night. There was also a D. fuscus walking around but I didn't take a picture of it. Seen too many of them.
Ambystoma maculatum. This was the only one I found that night. Surprising! It was also headed away from the breeding site. I'm guessing they already did their deed.
Lithobates clamitans
A foggy, wet shot of another P. ruber.
Ah, a nice Lithobates palustris to round out the night. These are probably my favorite ranids on the east coast, I have always liked them and hold onto fond memories of wet meadows and these guys hopping around everywhere.
This was the day I had been waiting all winter for, and this years was quite long. All previous years we had witnessed the spotted migrations in late February and early march, mostly within the same week. This year the wood frogs started early, finished, nothing happened for a month and then everybody else showed up. Now that its nearing May, I hope the cold has passed. There is always a looming threat. My first or second year in Boone, we got a storm that dumped seven inches of snow in the first week of May, let's hope that doesn't happen again!
Things aren't so bad working out of the back of two cars. They were recording body condition, collecting any present leeches and taking photos of each spotted to add to the collection. I arrived after everyone had been assigned jobs and retrieved the salamanders they needed, so I just got to have fun.
One road lies between the breeding site and a nearby hillside which is where we 'cruise' (walk) for animals, and I set off to see what else would turn up. It would not be a disappointing night.
Spring peepers were out in force creating a wonderful and deafening chorus from a ditch which follows the road. I wanted to test myself and find one calling, but it took almost ten minutes to find one, and it was a female.
I turned around to continue on the road and about stepped on this one!
A good shot showing the unmistakable cross.
There were a few toads out calling, but not many on the road. Took one voucher for this guy.
Anaxyrus americanus
This night would turn out to be one for the Pseudotriton, many did they show up! Here's the first P. ruber I found.
This was also the first time I have found a caterpillar on the road (besides our woolly worms). Any ideas to what it is?
Lithobates catesbiana also showed up.
After that monster, it was time I started finding other whoppers. These were some of the largest muds (Pseudotriton montanus) I have seen, and there were at least 5-6 of them crawling around.
Holy **** they were huge. The largest one topped about at about 17.8 cm. Weird how no large P. ruber were around, all of them were under 5 cm easily/ By the time I found that last large, patternless one, the rain had picked up and nearly coated my camera lens. Luckily I have one super sturdy camera.
Some other road travelers this night.
P. ruber
Desmognathus monticola, among three found that night. There was also a D. fuscus walking around but I didn't take a picture of it. Seen too many of them.
Ambystoma maculatum. This was the only one I found that night. Surprising! It was also headed away from the breeding site. I'm guessing they already did their deed.
Lithobates clamitans
A foggy, wet shot of another P. ruber.
Ah, a nice Lithobates palustris to round out the night. These are probably my favorite ranids on the east coast, I have always liked them and hold onto fond memories of wet meadows and these guys hopping around everywhere.
This was the day I had been waiting all winter for, and this years was quite long. All previous years we had witnessed the spotted migrations in late February and early march, mostly within the same week. This year the wood frogs started early, finished, nothing happened for a month and then everybody else showed up. Now that its nearing May, I hope the cold has passed. There is always a looming threat. My first or second year in Boone, we got a storm that dumped seven inches of snow in the first week of May, let's hope that doesn't happen again!
