Salamander Movement Tonight
Spotted Salamander Smile
Allegany State Park has had some outstanding temperatures recently and I have been anticipating this night for the past few weeks! The migration of the Spotted Salamander starts each spring when these yellow spotted creatures emerge from the ground and slowly work their way towards their breeding pools.
Me holding the first of the year Spotted
Patty and I started our search around 9pm and quickly found our first Spotted Salamander for the year (CHECK)! Just the one individual at the moment but we continued along the roads to find a handful of skunks taking advantage of the free meals around them.
Red-backed Salamander
We found ourselves stopping for leaves, sticks and even a few rocks but it was obvious the migration was just starting and tonight wasn’t going to be “the night”!!! We looked in the grass and Patty said “Look a Night Crawler ., . . . O wait this one has legs”! Sure enough she found our first of the year Red-backed Salamander (CHECK)!!!
Spotted Salamander
Before heading home we were able to find a few other Spotted Salamanders and Woodfrogs (CHECK) that needed our help across the road. One individual was cute as heck with its bright yellow spots!! In the background we heard a thunder storm moving our way and we quickly did a little photo shoot. The storm kept moving closer and closer . . . . and we could hear a rumble quickly moving towards us!! Instantly we both popped up and said “time to get into the jeep”! Within a blink of an eye hail dropped from the sky and blanked the ground with marble sized pebbles. All I could think was poor salamanders being pumbled with hail!!
Hail that hit us!
Anyways . . . it wasn’t “the night” but with Patty’s daughter due most any second . . . . I am glad to have seen my great friends from last spring!
Woodfrog
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We had a awesome night !
22 March 2010 at 11:39 pm
Tom- What a great night, although it looks like it was cold!
23 March 2010 at 6:42 am
Thank you! I love herps and we haven’t heard so much as a peeper yet.
23 March 2010 at 7:27 am
So cute! Thanks for sharing.
23 March 2010 at 10:38 am
So cute!
Thanks for sharing.
23 March 2010 at 10:39 am
Hello, fellow New York nature blogger! I saw your blog highlighted on the networking post of Nature Blog Network’s blog this week (as was mine), and just wanted to stop by and say hello.
It seems your spring is a bit more advanced than ours up in Saratoga County. We had so little snow this winter I was worried that many vernal pools just wouldn’t be there this year. Where do frogs and other amphibians breed if their natal pools aren’t where they were last year? I think the rain of the last few days makes my question moot, but I still wonder about it.
23 March 2010 at 9:16 pm
Awesome! I live in FL, and can’t wait to get a head start on herping this year 🙂 Great bunch of Amphibians you encountered! Gotta love herps!
26 March 2010 at 12:22 am
I missed the salamanders this year, but have been enjoying the early spring.
6 April 2010 at 11:57 pm
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20 December 2012 at 3:04 pm