Salamanders and frogs

[rmb...@istar.ca]

I drove out to my laneway pond to see how the activity was
progressing, and holy mackerel it's lively out there tonight. Had on
my new boots, took my small pocket camera and cellphone, big light,
and net and moseyed over to where I had seen the salamanders last
year. Frogs calling: it was DEAFENING! My ears are still ringing.
Peepers, a handful of chorus frog creaks, 2 leopard frogs, a toad,
and a whole bunch of wood frogs. There was a continuous shrieking of
peeps, then about every 5 minutes the wood frogs would start quacking
for couple of minutes. I took some video of frogs chasing each other
but don't know how to upload, will have to play with that tomorrow.

I saw about 7 spotted salamanders, big guys, and managed to scoop one
with the net. They're not yet into the masses milling about, I
suspect in the next few nights they'll be gathering in larger numbers.
I took a few pics of the one I caught and then let it go, it popped
over the edge of the net and dove down into the leaves at the bottom
of the pond with surprising speed. The water is about 9 - 12 inches
deep.

Rose-Marie