to Herpers: catching up, volunteers for data gaps

Herpers, reports are pouring in. Thanks for sending them in. I am still about 50 reports behind, so it will take me a while to catch up.

Spring has now arrived statewide. A small group of volunteers joined me to fill in some distribution gaps up near Craftsbury yesterday.

We successfully documented Eastern Red-backed Salamanders in the one remaining town in Vermont where that had not been done (Albany). We also documented Northern Dusky Salamanders in Albany and Greensboro, and Northern Two-lined Salamanders in Craftsbury. These species can be found quite easily if you turn cover in appropriate habitat (along the edges of small forested streams and in seepage areas). Tony S reports Blue-spotted Salamanders on the move in Victory.

Choruses of Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers are going full tilt in Belvidere, Craftsbury, Albany, and many other northern Vermont towns. We observed evidence of breeding congresses of Spotted Salamander (salamanders, spermatophores, or egg-masses) in almost every town we visited and Wood Frog eggs were widespread and abundant. That said, there were still very few Spotted Salamander egg-masses that far north. They are still arriving at their breeding sites.

We had an NBC TV crew join us yesterday morning in Craftsbury. If you are interested in watching that short piece, here is the link: https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/Vt-Researcher-Aims-to-Protect-Amphibians-From-Car-Tires-Other-Threats-509020111.html

Jim Andrews