New to Maryland - First 2016 Outing

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lassa8
Posts: 7
Joined: February 19th, 2016, 6:42 am

New to Maryland - First 2016 Outing

Post by lassa8 »

Edit: Changed photos to a reasonable size.

I moved to Maryland from Missouri last summer, and I've only had time for a few outings since the move. I'm especially excited about the new salamander species I might encounter in this part of the country.

We had some wet weather followed my mild temperatures a few weeks ago, so I visited the only spot I know so far to see what might be out here in late-February. I was hoping for some Ambystoma at some fishless ponds, but the ponds were totally frozen over and nothing was hiding under nearby cover.

It took a bit of searching, but a Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus f. fuscus) was my first find of the day.

Image

Moving away from the seep/stream yielded quite a few Eastern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereous). I seemed to be too early for Northern Slimy Salamanders.

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My last salamander of the day was a larval Northern Red Salamander (Pseudotriton r. ruber)

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My totals on the day:
Northern Dusky Salamander – 4 (3 adults, 1 larval)
Northern Two-lined Salamander – 1
Eastern Red-backed Salamander – 15
Northern Red Salamander – 1 (larval)
Green Frog – 2
Pickerel Frog – 5

I have a full writ[*][*]e-up on my website: http://www.vertebratequest.com/herping/ ... lamanders/
lassa8
Posts: 7
Joined: February 19th, 2016, 6:42 am

Re: New to Maryland - First 2016 Outing

Post by lassa8 »

Went back to the same location this morning and finally met up with the Spotted Salamanders I was after last time!

My first rock of the day yielded a couple Eastern Red-backed Salamanders.
Image

But it wasn't long before I found the first of several logs hiding at least one Spotted Salamander near a fishless pond. Thinking back to my time in Missouri, I don't think I've ever personally found this species under anything other than downed logs.

Image

Image

One large log near the pond held this group of 12 individuals.

Image

When I was walking up and down the creek I noticed a Red Salamander walking along the creek bottom.

Image

Image



My final tally for the ~45 minutes I had to go herping this morning:

Eastern Red-backed Salamander - 12
Spotted Salamander - 17
Red Salamander - 1
Pickerel Frog - 2
Spring Peeper - 1 (heard only)
Tyler Hake
Posts: 23
Joined: April 28th, 2013, 9:43 pm

Re: New to Maryland - First 2016 Outing

Post by Tyler Hake »

lassa8 wrote:Went back to the same location this morning and finally met up with the Spotted Salamanders I was after last time!

My first rock of the day yielded a couple Eastern Red-backed Salamanders.
Image

But it wasn't long before I found the first of several logs hiding at least one Spotted Salamander near a fishless pond. Thinking back to my time in Missouri, I don't think I've ever personally found this species under anything other than downed logs.

Image

Image

One large log near the pond held this group of 12 individuals.

Image

When I was walking up and down the creek I noticed a Red Salamander walking along the creek bottom.

Image

Image



My final tally for the ~45 minutes I had to go herping this morning:

Eastern Red-backed Salamander - 12
Spotted Salamander - 17
Red Salamander - 1
Pickerel Frog - 2
Spring Peeper - 1 (heard only)
Nice finds, welcome to the North East! (I guess)
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Kyle from Carolina
Posts: 221
Joined: May 3rd, 2012, 8:12 pm
Location: western MA and NC

Re: New to Maryland - First 2016 Outing

Post by Kyle from Carolina »

The aquatic shots of the larval red salamander are awesome, as is that single flip that produced 12 spotted sals. That must have been fun to uncover.
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