Amphibians Are On The Move

Thus spring is just around the corner (do planetary orbits have corners?).

It's like we never even had winter. Mainly because we didn't. I'm still waiting for the first actual snow of the season. Not looking good. Today was in the 50's °F.

But back to our story ...

Tuesday we made our annual trip to Beekman Road, a section of which is closed off this time of year when conditions are right for amphibian crossings.

And Tuesday the conditions were right.

Wood Frog

There were several species of frogs out and about.

Northern Spring Peeper

All heading to a big meet up at the vernal pool.

Bull Frog

But we don't travel an hour away to stand in the rain and gawk at frogs we have in our yard. No, the stars of the show are the Spotted Salamanders.

And stars they were. We saw five of the critters. Some guys who traveled just as far as us, who arrived twenty minutes or so prior, saw eight. But the folks who where heading down the road as we were turning back saw none (hopefully they had better luck after we left). Timing is crucial, as we learned last year when we got skunked.

No skunking this year as the critters made up for their no-show last. And to top it all off, no rain! Our best visit yet.