Rainy Night Amphibians

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.

Salamander Eggs

My theory that salamanders migrated to the pond during the January 24 rain was apparently correct. Some of the ice finally melted from the pond yesterday and I was able to see a couple of dozen masses of salamander eggs. Now the race is on to see if these eggs can produce youngsters that will mature quickly enough to survive the pond drying up next June.

These eggs are most likely from the Jefferson’s Salamander. They are usually the first to appear in the pond each year. The adults have been known to stay in the pond for as long as two months before heading back to their subterranean homes. Since we haven’t had a rain since the one that brought out the salamanders, I’m sure they’re still in the pond. I should be able to see some once the ice completely clears away.

Unfertilized eggs almost immediately turn white from fungal attack. It looks like there were only a few bad eggs in these bunches. There are still plenty of things that can go wrong with the eggs before hatching. In some years the majority of the eggs hatch and in other years they all die.

It’s kind of difficult to get close to the edge of the pond. This is a pretty thick sheet of ice that will slide you into the water before you even realize you’re slipping.

Most of the pond is still ice covered and will probably grow more ice this weekend. Normally, the majority of eggs are deposited in the deeper water near the center of the pond and very few are near the edge. Since I’m seeing so many egg masses near the edge of the pond, it either means that the salamanders have changed their egg laying strategy or I’m going to see more eggs in the center than I’ve ever seen before.