The 2018 herping season started in the woods behind my house on a warm and wet January night. The first herp of the year was this Green Frog tadpole.
DSCN2004 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrObligatory Eastern Red-backed Salamander
DSCN2010 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrObligatory Northern Two-lined Salamander
DSCN2013 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrFrom a different night, but still from the woods out back. Northern Dusky Salamander. I wish I could turn these up more often! They are the most seclusive of the salamanders I have in the creek.
DSCN5493 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrOn February 10th, we had a major rain system push through with temps hovering around 50 degrees, making conditions perfect for road cruising. I went with some friends and road cruised Southern Maryland on a stretch of road that we saw only three cars all night. It was a superb night, as we turned up 120+ Spotted Salamanders, 20 or so Four-toed Salamaners, about 10 Marbled Salamanders, among others. We had to cease stopping for Spotteds as there were so many!
Southern Leopard Frog
DSCN5419 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2119 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrSpotted Salamander
DSCN5420 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrLarge male ready to breed (note the swollen cloaca)
DSCN5422 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrMarbled Salamander
DSCN5430 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrSpotted with an aberrant pattern (few spots)
DSCN5432 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrMarbled with an aberrant pattern (no crossbars)
DSCN5435 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrAnother neat Spotted
DSCN5433 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrAll three together!
DSCN5441 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrFemale Wood Frog
DSCN5447 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrAnother
DSCN2030 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrAnd another
DSCN2031 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrMore Spotteds
DSCN2023 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2026 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2038 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2042 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2068 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2108 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2109 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrYoung Spotted
DSCN2035 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrMany Spring Peepers were on the road...had to swerve to dodge some!
DSCN2027 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2063 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrBefore this night, I had only ever seen one Four-toed Salamander. It was great seeing them again!
DSCN2043 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2050 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2056 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2060 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2084 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2099 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrThey have the best ventral patterns out there!
DSCN2052 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrMarbled with light patterning
DSCN2070 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrGrab bag
DSCN2072 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2076 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2077 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2091 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2123 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
IMG_3795 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrRandom Devil Crayfish
DSCN2085 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrThis was one of the most unexpected finds of the night. This is an adult Red-spotted Newt transitioning from its terrestrial stage to its aquatic stage. It wasn't much larger than an eft!
DSCN2097 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrThis past weekend, I went out to western Fairfax County to check out some wetlands and a vernal pool during the rain. It did not disappoint! Wood Frogs were still calling, and the Peepers were out in full force.
DSCN2159 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrI was surprised to find these American Toad eggs! Seems early for them. I bet they were breeding last week when temps were near 80 degrees!
DSCN2160 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2174 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrWood Frog eggs
DSCN2165 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2168 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrPeeper
DSCN2171 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrI found a few Spotted Salamanders swimming around in a HUGE vernal pool that extended for hundreds of feet.
DSCN2187 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2189 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2199 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2205 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrI also saw a couple of Newts swimming around
DSCN2194 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrLast week, I went to check the woods out back for Wood Frog activity. To my surprise, I found more than four hundred using a single vernal pool deep in the woods! This pool was dry last year due to a drought, but the wet month we've had more than filled it up. I never imagined that we had this many Wood Frogs in this forest!
I divided this photo into quadrants and counted the individual eye shines. Approximately 420, with most being males.
DSCN5527 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrThe vernal pool during daytime
DSCN5560 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrOdd pattern on this male Wood Frog - it's white lip isn't very white!
DSCN2155 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrMale Wood Frog in a creek
DSCN5496 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrFemale arriving at the vernal pool
DSCN5505 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrCalling males
DSCN5509 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN5513 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrEvery female in the pool itself was in amplexus. Poor ladies must have been jumped the moment they got there.
DSCN5526 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN5528 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrEgg Masses a few days after the breeding explosion
DSCN2211 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2220 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN2244 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on Flickr
DSCN5566 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrTo wrap things up, I went herping during lunch on the one day it got up to near 80 degrees in Washington, D.C. I work at the Pentagon and found these turtles just a few minutes from the building!
Northern Red-bellied Cooter
DSCN5550 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrAnother
DSCN5553 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrRed-Eared Slider
DSCN5558 by Matthew Ratcliffe, on FlickrThat's all for now! I still hope to find some Spotted Salamander egg masses and some Marbled Salamander larvae before things warm up too much. And maybe I might still have a shot at Jefferson's Salamanders - we'll see. I expect things will slow down a bit, especially if I end up moving again this summer. I hope you enjoyed my post!
