I found some new salamander egg clusters in the pond, so I’m
assuming that another species made its migration during one of the recent
rains. I’m guessing the evening of
January 26. It rained through most of
that day and night with a total accumulation of just under two inches. Jefferson
and Smallmouth salamanders are the two species I’ve found in the pond, but they
don’t always arrive at the same time.
Based on what I’ve witnessed in past years, I would guess these to be
Smallmouth eggs.
I’ve had Spotted salamanders breeding in the water garden,
but I’ve never seen them in the pond.
They usually do their egg laying in March. I’ve not noticed any difference in the egg
clusters between the three species.
The January 26 rain raised the pond water levels much above
normal. This resulted in some egg masses
being attached to the branches of the dogwoods that lean out into the
water. These egg clusters are
susceptible to exposure to the air as the water level fluctuates. Fortunately, most of the salamanders did as I
had intended and attached their eggs to the rush stubble that was purposely
left in the deepest section of the pond.
Egg clusters may be easy to view when they bob on the
surface of the water, but their chances of hatching are very low. The white spots are eggs gone bad.
The water is about a foot deep here, so I just broke the
dogwood stems to reposition the eggs near the pond bottom. Even if we enter a period of drought, the
eggs will hatch long before the water level drops that far. I’m looking forward to seeing large herds of
salamander larvae prowling the pond bottom later on.
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