Amphibian Project (I): From twigs to amphibians

Wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus)

The exercise of studying winter twigs over the last few weeks was very rewarding and as the first leaves begin I wanted to begin another mini project. With a late start to spring this year, the amphibian season is just getting started. Only in the last week have vernal pools begun to fill up with the froggy croaks of wood frogs and the high pitch peeps of spring peepers. It seemed a good fit to focus in on amphibians and to start recording my observations of amphibian breeding locations in Burlington on a more systematic basis.

Video above is from May, 2012

To do so, over the next few weeks I'll be somewhat systematically traveling to different sites around Burlington where I expect there to be breeding amphibians (and hopefully find places where I don't while exploring those). If anyone knows any good places, feel free to email more or leave a comment below. I've decided to use iNaturalist.org's project interface to start recording where these different breeding sites/courtship locations are. This also means that anyone else can contribute to the data set. Citizen science! I would love your help, so please feel welcome to contribute to the project by submitting observations through the project page. You may also pass along the link to your friends, neighbors, or Front Porch Forum communities. If teachers would like to be involved that would be great too. I planning on returning to this map annually. I'd like the project to fill in as much of the map as possible, so submit away, naturalists. 

Some good resources for amphibian identification and information can be found here:

• Vermont Herp Atlas
• North Branch Nature Center's Amphibian Monitoring Program 

Warm water and drainages

Green frog tadpole in pool at base of outflow pipe

What: Last fall the DOT put in a culvert running under I-89 about a quarter mile north of the Patchen Road bridge. They put a bunch of monkton quartzite boulders down to control flow below the culvert. The culvert is actually two pipes, one of which has a significantly slower flow. I was absent mindedly staring into the water watching detritus float whimsically downstream when a flash of movement caught my attention. It took a while for it to move again and when it did I was really surprised at spotting a tadpole!

Ecological notes: Green frogs, bullfrogs, and mink frogs (mink frogs are only found in the northeast kingdom) all have tadpoles that will overwinter. These little guys are green frog tadpoles. There were also some unknown (at least to me) species of fish. One that I was watching had its head pointed straight down into the muck (for more on what that muck was, you can visit one of my favorite websites).

Where: I-89 & Patchen Rd in South Burlington

Unknown fish species enjoying the relatively warm water (probably ~50 degrees) 

Other notes: Ground water temperature is roughly the same as the average annual temperature of that area. Here in Burlington it's roughly 45oF. So if you're a fish and the air is 27, it makes a lot of sense to huddle at springs and culverts where ground water meets the surface.

Amphibians moving

Wood frog (note black mask on its face)

What: Sophie, Sam and I headed down to New Haven last night after the Crow's Path potluck to check for amphibians. Amphibians start moving from their upland overwinter sites down to breeding grounds during the spring thaw. This usually happens late-March, early-April when temps are 37 or above and we get rain that soaks the ground. I can't find my records, but last year was super early and I think they started moving sometime around March 10th or so. I spend most of my time at Shelburne Pond, but that site doesn't see movement until after the New Haven site (the amphibians cross at the south end of SP, which is north facing and usually thaws around April 1).

We were out from about 9:30-10:15pm and here's our list

• Jefferson's salamander: 15
• blue-spotted salamander: 8
• Jefferson x blue-spotted hybrid?
• spotted salamander: 6
• Wood frog: 4
• Spring peeper: 2
• 4-toed salamander: 1
• eastern newt: 5 (all dead)

Ecological notes: The temp had dropped down to about 37 when we got out of the car. All the newts were dead (abbreviated DOR by herpetologists) and we wondered if they had started moving earlier when it was warmer out - maybe coinciding with when folks were driving home. In order of activity level in the 37 degree weather it seemed like Jefferson's were the quickest followed by blue-spotted salamanders and then spotted salamanders. Each had their own jiggly little dance. I'll try and post videos later this month.

Where: North St in New Haven, about a mile north of Plank Rd. Super hot spot, usually one of the first spots in the Champlain Valley to see movement.

Red Spotted Newt

Posted by Sophie Case. Sophie is a senior Environmental Studies student at the University of Vermont. She loves speaking Spanish, cooking fresh and delicious foods, and playing music. 

While hiking in the woods one dreary fall afternoon, something flashy and bright red caught my eye. It was scurrying across the ground quickly, and stopped for a quick break on top of a branch. I took a closer look, and realized that I had never seen this creature before. It looked like some sort of salamander, but I wasn?t near any running water. I quickly snapped a picture, and decided to investigate further once I got home.

As it turns out, the creature I saw was a red eft (Notophtalmus viridescens), which is the the juvenile stage of a red spotted newt, also known as the eastern newt. I found that the red spotted newt is actually quite common in North America, and tends to live in small lakes, ponds, streams, or wet forests. The range for these newts extends from South Ontario to Nova Scotia and as far south as eastern Texas and Florida. The adult stage of the red spotted newt lives mostly in aquatic environments, while the juvenile stage is a terrestrial creature. Adults range in color from from olive to brownish green, have red spots on their back, and yellow bellies. Red Efts have a completely bright orange or red body.

Red spotted newts breed in April and May. Breeding is instigated by the male who attracts the female newt to him with his bright red spots. He then releases and odor while wiggling, which further attracts the female. The two mate and lay eggs that hatch in three to four weeks. Thus begins the three stage life cycle of this amphibian. The first stage is aquatic larvae (the eggs), the second stage is terrestrial efts (the red eft), and the third and final stage is the aquatic adult. Female red spotted newts lay between 200 and 400 eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the efts spend most of their time hunting.

Their diet consists mainly of caterpillars, invertebrates, spiders, and flies. Red Spotted Newts are one of the easiest newts to keep as a pet, as far as maintenance goes, but one has to be aware that they can live up to 20 years, so it may be more of a long term investment than most pet owners are ready for. Although the ref eft isn't too uncommon to see around the woods, I was excited to see a bit of wildlife on a rainy autumn day!

Jefferson Salamander

By: Frankie

What: Jefferson Salamander (Ambystoma Jeffersonianum)

Ecological notes: The Jefferson Salamander is one of Vermont's three mole salamanders. This particular species has a solid gray brown body with tiny flecks of white on the underside of its body. Full grown, the Jefferson Salamander can reach up to 7 inches long. Salamanders are nocturnal but can be spotted during the day when it is mating season. This species is one of the first signs of Spring. The salamander pictured above was seen late March just as the snow melt was beginning to end.

Where: The Jefferson Salamander prefers a habitat of upland forest with well drained deciduous or mixed forest close to a pond or small stream. They hide under logs, loose soil and leaf litter, using the near by pond for reproduction during the early spring months.

Other notes: This particular species is listed as a threatened species in Canada because of loss of habitat. It can also be hard to identify because it hybridizes with the Blue-Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma Laterale).

Wood Frog eggs

What: Wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) have been singing in Centennial Woods for about a week now (sounds like a bunch of ducks quacking). Yesterday I was out and found several egg masses in various stages of development.

Ecological notes: Along with spring peepers, wood frogs are one of our first amphibians to emerge in the spring. Spending their time literally frozen for the winter, they revive with warming temperatures and head from their upland overwintering sites down to their breeding ponds. With the upcoming cold weather, this should slow down the development of the eggs considerably, and the tadpoles won't emerge for another 10 days or so.

Where: Wood frogs breed in shallow seeps, cattail marshes, and vernal ponds (particularly fond of the latter) and just about anywhere else there aren't fish to eat their tadpoles.

Other notes: There was a couple of inches of water on top of a thick sheet of ice at the bottom - must have frozen all the way through this winter. The little "pool" of water is at the bottom of a seep and slowly filters into Centennial Brook. The water on top is probably from increased flow of water as frozen ground water has been melting.