[vernalpool] Interesting observation in east central Vermont

I was certifying some vps in West Windsor , VT this past weekend and
found something interesting...wondering if y'all have noticed
this...First, wood frog egg masses at the edges of the pools appeared to
be total disintegrated. I was wondering if these were eggs that were
laid earlier and then froze? There were masses of whole, mostly
inviable eggs at the bottom of the pool and most of the surrounding
jelly matrix was gone. Secondly, and this fits with what some others
are seeing, older but small-sized Spotted and Jefferson's egg masses
mixed with brand new egg masses and loads of spermataphores. I am not
as familiar with Jefferson's and am assuming that they lay around the
same time as spotteds do...is this true?

Thanks!

Stephanie Schmidt
ISS/PRISM Shorebird Monitoring Coordinator
Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences
(508) 224-6521 ext.229
sschmidt@manomet.org <mailto:sschmidt@manomet.org>
www.manomet.org <http://www.manomet.org>

From: vernalpool@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vernalpool@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Brett Amy Thelen
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 3:01 PM
To: vernalpool@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vernalpool] salamander migration in southwest New Hampshire
last night. - Email found in subject

I've received field reports from our Salamander Crossing Brigades
<http://www.aveo.org/citizen-science/salamander-crossing-brigades/>
volunteers throughout the Monadnock region (Keene, Westmoreland,
Chesterfield, Rindge, Peterborough, Hancock, Harrisville, Nelson) and a
few
from further afield (Concord, Newport, Wilton, etc.) and it looks like
last
night was a big push away from the pools here in southwest New
Hampshire.
All total, my volunteers crossed nearly 250 spotted salamanders last
night,
as well as 77 wood frogs, 324 peepers, and a smattering of other species
(Jefferson salamanders, redbacked salamanders, pickerel frogs, green
frogs,
American toads, newts). Although some critters were heading into their
breeding pools or wetlands, the vast majority were headed back home to
the
woods. These certainly aren't record numbers for any of our crossing
sites, but they do represent the most concentrated migration we've seen
in
these parts all year.

Best,
Brett

-----

Brett Amy Thelen, M.S.
Program Director, Ashuelot Valley Environmental Observatory
Harris Center for Conservation Education
(603) 358-2065
thelen@harriscenter.org <mailto:thelen%40harriscenter.org>
www.aveo.org

mailing address
83 King's Highway
Hancock, NH 03449

physical address
Carroll House, Room 303
Keene State College
Keene, NH 03435

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