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Joshsnakeman Dericka NICKNAME Repfanatic Joshsnakeman TIMSNAKR Scruffy~n~sage Greg9087

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Joshsnakeman
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Finally some Canadian herps

Our spring has been at least a week behind schedule, but finally the herps are starting to make an appearance. On April 6th I got out for the first time in almost two weeks. It was sunny when I left, but when I arrived, the clouds had moved in. It was relatively warm though, and I found my first herp of the year, a young Eastern Garter Snake.

The next night was still warm, so I checked out the same area. I walked to the boardwalk, scanning the water for frogs. Unfortunately none were found, and so I was content watching the flight displays of a couple Woodcocks around the marsh.
Eventually I came to a deeper pool, and in sat my first Green Frog of the year.

Next up were my vernal pools. The ice had barely receded and I didn’t find anything, so I continued to a farm pond which is good for Chorus Frogs. Only one was calling, and after about 35 minutes, I managed to track it down. I bagged it to take photos later.

I decided to start heading back on a forest trail towards my vehicle. I was waiting all winter to see this!

Blue-spotted #1

Not five minutes later, another.

These guys were surprisingly fast for being chilled on ice.

I soon reached the dirt road which led to where I had parked. A few more Blue-spots were crossing the road, even though the sky was clear.

And my favorite find of the night, a nice male Spotted Salamander crossing the road! Most of the salamander pictures are in situ so I didn’t wipe the mud off his face.

And a large Leopard frog I cruised on the way home.

Ill throw in this Blue-spotted Salamander picture from the day before.

Tonight the forecast was exactly the same: 11C (low 50s). Over the last couple of days, the peepers and chorus frogs had been erratic, but finally they were chorusing strongly in a flooded field/pond near farmland.

Around 9:00, I headed back over to my best spot. First on the agenda was to photograph the chorus frog, which I released again following the brief photo session.

As I was walking in the old field back towards the pond, this caught my eye.

This very beautiful Spotted Salamander was on its way to the little pond where I found the Chorus Frog.

Around and in the pond were a few Blue-spotted Salamanders, such as this one:

This individual looked a lot like a Jefferson Salamander. They have been recorded in the past at this locale, but it is unknown if there are any pure specimens.

Soon after, I found a few more Spotted Salamanders crawling down a hillsiide. They were quite easy to find when they were on the snow:

At the bottom of the hill was a large marsh/swamp. All around the edges the ice was gone, and I saw about a dozen Spotted Salamanders swimming around, including this one I pulled out:

Still no Wood Frogs, Ribbon Snakes, or Redbacks, but the season is now on!!!

Josh

04/09/08 12:29am