Hey guys,
Evidently I haven't posted much this past year, and since I finally have free time, I decided to do an end-of-year post. In the next couple days I'll post my finds from summer and fall, but for now here's late winter and spring.
During winter in central Kentucky, there are still several interesting salamanders to be found. The most obvious target is the streamside salamander. Central Kentucky in winter is just about the best possible time and place to find them. We found quite a few.
Streamside Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Streamside Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Streamside Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Streamside Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Another winter-active species we like to target is the Kentucky spring salamander.
Kentucky Spring Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern two-lined salamanders are ubiquitous in central Kentucky streams in winter. Many are in breeding condition during this season.
Southern Two-lined Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern Two-lined Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern Two-lined Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
In some places northern dusky salamanders also show up in winter.
Northern Dusky Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
In eastern Kentucky, seal salamanders are common enough that you can usually find a couple in winter:
Seal Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Stream habitat:
Bluegrass Region Stream by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
As long as the temperature is above about 40 degrees, we can usually find northern zigzag and southern ravine salamanders in winter.
Northern Zigzag Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Northern Zigzag Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Northern Zigzag Salamanders by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern Ravine and Northern Zigzag Salamanders by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern Ravine Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
By driving about 45 minutes south of Lexington, we can find southern zigzag salamanders.
Southern Zigzag Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern Zigzag Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern Zigzag Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Habitat:
Eastern Kentucky Stream Valley by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Occasionally slimy salamanders also turn up in winter:
Slimy Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Jefferson's salamanders can be found in the vicinity of breeding ponds in late winter in central Kentucky. We began to search for them in winter this year, and had positive results.
Jefferson Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Jefferson Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Jefferson Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Warm snaps also allowed us to find spotted salamanders as early as the end of january!
Spotted Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spotted Salamanders by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
On one February day, my friend Kevin, his dad, and I decided to check out a couple vernal ponds in south-central Kentucky. To our amazement, we flipped up almost 30 spotted salamanders!
Habitat. The log in the foreground produced 5 spotted salamanders. Kevin's dad had found 6 before Kevin and I had even gotten out of the car!
Spotted Salamander Habitat by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spotted Salamanders by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spotted Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spotted Salamander #2 by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spotted Salamander #3 by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
The warm snap also led to frog breeding in January and February.
Wood frog:
Wood Frog by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Mountain chorus frogs:
Mountain Chorus Frog by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Mountain Chorus Frog by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Mountain Chorus Frog by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Upland chorus frogs:
Upland Chorus Frog by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Upland Chorus Frogs by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Miscellaneous winter finds:
Eastern Bluebird by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern Leopard Frog by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Red-spotted Newt by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
In late February, during a heavy rain event, we drove an hour west of Lexington and cruised up my first ever eastern tiger salamanders.
Eastern Tiger Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Eastern Tiger Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Other species seen that night:
Streamside salamander
Streamside Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spring peeper
Spring Peeper by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Pickerel frog
Pickerel Frog by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Bullfrog
Bullfrog by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
In early March we spent a day in the Red River Gorge area, finding double digit salamander species.
First we visited a couple vernal ponds:
Eastern Kentucky Vernal Pond by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spotted salamander:
Spotted Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Four-toed salamanders:
Four-toed Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Four-toed Salamander Guarding Eggs by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Newts:
Red-spotted Newts by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spring peepers:
Spring Peeper by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Spring Peeper by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Next we visited a ridge top. I don't know why, but this high, somewhat xeric ridge is a surefire spot for red salamanders.
Red Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Red Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
In a moist rock face, Kevin found this allegheny mountain dusky salamander, a very rare find in this part of Kentucky:
Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
While I found a green salamander, a locally abundant but awesome species:
Green Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
In the stream valley below the ridge, we found tons of seal salamanders:
Seal Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
And a few black mountain dusky salamanders:
Black Mountain Dusky Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Other species seen included two-lined, slimy, and ravine salamanders.
Red River Gorge Vista by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
My first reptiles of the year were snapping turtles, garter snakes, queen snakes, and northern water snakes in my neighborhood.
Eastern Garter Snake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Queen Snake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
During our spring break (end of March and beginning of April), Kevin, his dad, my dad, and I embarked on a trip to Arkansas and Missouri. I never got around to making a forum post about it (I think Kevin did), but I'll put some highlights into this post. I should mention that we received tons of help from a couple of very knowledgable people; thanks so much to everyone who helped us out!!!
Mississippi map turtle and red-eared sliders:
Mississippi Map Turtle and Red-eared Sliders by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Southern painted turtle:
Southern Painted Turtle by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Lesser siren:
Western Lesser Siren by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Western Lesser Siren by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Scissor-tailed flycatcher:
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Many-ribbed salamander:
Many-ribbed Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Razorback musk turtle:
Razorback Musk Turtle by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Caddo mountain salamander:
Caddo Mountain Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Fourche (pronounced "foosh") mountain salamander:
Fourche Mountain Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Rich mountain salamander:
Rich Mountain Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Western milk snake:
Western Milk Snake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Flathead snake:
Flathead Snake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Western pygmy rattlesnake:
Western Pygmy Rattlesnake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Smooth earth snake:
Western Smooth Earth Snake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Rough earth snake:
Rough Earth Snake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
The rest of spring I didn't get to herp as much as I usually do, but we still saw some cool stuff.
Black mountain dusky salamander:
Black Mountain Dusky Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Queen snake:
Queen Snake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Brown snake:
Brown Snake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Cave salamander from a storm drain in my neighborhood:
Cave Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
I did get to do some birding this spring. I'll spare you most of my mediocre pictures, but here are some anyway:
Black-throated green warbler:
Black-throated-green Warbler by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Palm warbler:
Palm Warbler by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Rough-winged swallow:
Rough-winged Swallow by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Chestnut-sided warbler:
Chestnut-sided Warbler by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
In May we got to visit one of my favorite places in Kentucky, a very thin, deep gorge in the northeastern part of the state. I already made a post on this outing (http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... 11&t=23551), but here are some highlights:
Black king:
Black Kingsnake by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Allegheny mountain dusky:
Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Longtail:
Longtail Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Cumberland Plateau salamanders:
Cumberland Plateau Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Cumberland Plateau Salamander by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
The beautiful scenery:
Eastern Kentucky Stream by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Eastern Kentucky Stream by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Eastern Kentucky Gorge by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Eastern Kentucky Gorge by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Eastern Kentucky Cascade by Ananth Miller-Murthy, on Flickr
Happy herping everyone!
-Ananth
2016 Review Part 1: January-May
Moderator: Scott Waters
- Aneides Aeneus
- Posts: 47
- Joined: November 15th, 2014, 8:54 am
- Location: Lexington, KY