After a long month of cold weather in March it was finally time to step back outside in search for amphibians on March 27th. With heavy rains and higher temperatures in the forecast it was inevitable that the salamanders would finally be starting their migrations.
Amphibian migrations take place every spring with different species moving at different times. Each species will travel from their overwintering habitat to the vernal pools that fill up with water in the spring from snow melt and rainfall. Usually the earliest arrivals are Jefferson Salamanders who will often enter these pools as soon as there is a large enough gap between the ice and the edge of the water for them to slip under.
In the last few days of March I have managed to witness the Jefferson Salamanders migrating through the forest floor, across ice, and swimming and breeding within the vernal pools they occupy.
Ambystoma jeffersonianum
Ambystoma jeffersonianum
Along with these Jefferson Salamanders came the unisexual complex salamanders that contain mixtures of Jefferson and Blue-spotted Salamander DNA. They are all females (although there have been very few unisexuals found to be males) that will steal the sperm from male mole salamanders and use it for their own reproduction.
Unisexual female complex Salamander
The Blue-spotted Salamanders were also in motion on these rainy nights although they were much less abundant as this area does not contain a high number of Blue-spotted individuals.
Ambystoma laterale
And, as if seeing all of these salamanders wasn't enough, one of the most beautiful (in my personal opinion) salamander species, the Spotted Salamander, was also seen when the vernal pools became a little more thawed out. With such warm rain the ponds melted quickly and the Spotted Salamanders started showing up. They were even the most abundant species seen over the week, having personally observed over 200 individuals at a single site.
The males are first to arrive to the pools. Here they will await the arrival of females which they will then cluster around in these balls in an attempt to mate with her.
Ambystoma maculatum
A few particularly striking individuals seen on my outings were this male with orange spots on his head (compared to the normal yellow).
Ambystoma maculatum
And this large female, who had an extreme abundance of spots, especially on her head.
Ambystoma maculatum
During this time I also started seeing frog species make their way to vernal pools as well to start their breeding cycles.
The next post will hopefully include many of these frog species.
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