The weekend storms were perfect for getting amphibians out and moving. It wasn’t great for photography. I was having some trouble aiming the flashlight beam and focusing the camera while trying to keep raindrops from splattering the lens. I managed to find a Jefferson’s Salamander walking beside the pond. He looked happy to see me.
As Jefferson’s age, they tend to display fewer of the blue patches. This one must be a fairly young specimen. It was traveling towards the pond, so I’m not sure if it’s just arriving or if it has been in the pond for a while and is just out walking around.
There was a lot of Wood Frog activity. These frogs have been calling now for several days. Several pairs were preparing to lay eggs. They usually wrap up their breeding activity fairly quickly and leave the pond.
Spring Peepers are still moving to the pond. I can hear them calling from far out in the fields and woods. In a week or so there will be enough around the pond to make you think your head will split from the sound. This individual is displaying the classic X pattern on its back.
Peepers show a lot of variation in the pattern on their back. Sometimes there is little of the X to be seen. I often wonder if there might be another species in the mix, but when I sit and listen to the calls, it’s all Peepers.
The weekend storms were perfect for getting amphibians out and moving. It wasn’t great for photography. I was having some trouble aiming the flashlight beam and focusing the camera while trying to keep raindrops from splattering the lens. I managed to find a Jefferson’s Salamander walking beside the pond. He looked happy to see me.
As Jefferson’s age, they tend to display fewer of the blue patches. This one must be a fairly young specimen. It was traveling towards the pond, so I’m not sure if it’s just arriving or if it has been in the pond for a while and is just out walking around.
There was a lot of Wood Frog activity. These frogs have been calling now for several days. Several pairs were preparing to lay eggs. They usually wrap up their breeding activity fairly quickly and leave the pond.
Spring Peepers are still moving to the pond. I can hear them calling from far out in the fields and woods. In a week or so there will be enough around the pond to make you think your head will split from the sound. This individual is displaying the classic X pattern on its back.
Peepers show a lot of variation in the pattern on their back. Sometimes there is little of the X to be seen. I often wonder if there might be another species in the mix, but when I sit and listen to the calls, it’s all Peepers.
Handsome salamander! I had to avert my eyes at the Wood Frogs. No Peeper calls yet but I'm sleeping with the window barely cracked, waiting, waiting.
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