OK, first of all, I'm a Canadian and while I do have an atlas open beside me as I type, I'm not exactly au fey with the climate differences and macro-gegoraphy of the states involved.

According to press, the sals are already on the move in Alabama.

AS for Virginia, the only thing I could find is a reference from 2001. And salamander meanders vary according to local weather and climate over the winter.

I hope that the following may be of some modest utility in giving you an idea of whom to contact in your local rea for more specific details on potential local salamander dates.

= = = = =
2001 FRIENDS OF BULL RUN MOUNTAIN
Get on your hiking shoes! The Nature Programs sponsored by theFriends of Bull Run Mountain in Broad Run, VA, are a great way toget familiar with our mountain. So much to see! So much to do!Feb 20th, 21st, and 22nd, 7-9 p.m.Salamander SearchSpotted salamander migration is one of the more predictable eventsin nature. Adult spotted salamanders will make nightly migrationsto breeding pools year after year. Join Friends of Bull Run in thefield as we visit a breeding pool in hopes of a glimpse. Choose oneof the three dates. Pre-register, $6 per person.
http://www.brmca.addr.com/news/JAN-FEB 2001.pdf

BIRMINGHAM NEWS (Alabama) 23 January 06 'The salamanders are migrating, the salamanders are migrating'- Salamander watchers heed call of the wild (Patrick Hickerson)
Minutes after midnight Saturday, Ken Wills parked his sport-utility vehicle in a Homewood High School parking lot, pulled on a poncho, clicked on a flashlight and started down a dark stretch of South Lakeshore Drive looking for salamanders.
He had gotten the call - the salamander call.
"I just laid down to bed, so it was excellent timing," Wills said.
Dozens of people, methodically alerted by the Friends of Shades Creek, ventured to South Lakeshore Drive to watch the first wave in the annual migration of the spotted salamander down Shades Mountain.
The migration has absolutes: It will be wet, and it will be dark.
The nocturnal salamanders usually surface during a warm rain after a stretch of cold weather. They slither down to temporary pools to mate and lay eggs.
For hours people decked in rain gear walked along South Lakeshore Drive, sweeping their flashlight beams across the two-lane road like homicide detectives looking for a shell casing.
Those who stayed for hours counted about 10 salamanders.
Caitlin Creed, a senior at Homewood High School, pointed to one 6-inch salamander with a dark blue skin that sported just a few yellow spots.
"I found another one earlier that had more spots," she said.
Bill Mathews, Samford University vice president for business affairs, is a veteran of four migrations. Mathews said he hopes one day to record video of the salamander's mating dance, which is supposed to be elaborate. He has still photos.
"They didn't go out for a swimming jaunt," Mathews said.
A study done last year by a Birmingham-Southern University student counted 34 salamanders, which is considered a portion of the total population. The migration also comes in waves.
Henry Hughes, Friends of Shades Creek executive director, said the migration also calls attention to the salamander's home in the Homewood Forest Preserve, which is city-owned land that stretches up Shades Mountain.
The migration began a week before Homewood's Salamander Festival, scheduled for 4-7:30 p.m. Saturday in the new city hall in Soho Square.
"San Juan Capistrano has its sparrows," said Brad Creed, Caitlin's father. "We have our salamanders."
Those who come out asked to be paged about the migration, which has taken place as early as 9 p.m. and as late as 3 a.m. Michelle Blackwood, Friends of Shades Creek president, keeps the numbers with her at all times during the migratory months of January and February.
Hughes still has his 2005 notice on his answering machine that came from another salamander follower.
"It says, `The salamanders are migrating. The salamanders are migrating,'" Hughes said. "I couldn't erase it."
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/113792493764740.xml&coll=2

[ Show Entire Thread ]