In late December I was in Akron for the holidays and decided to take a go at a species I haven't bothered searching for yet, the Moutain Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus ocrophaeus). They only occur in NE corner of the state and when I have been home in the past, I just always had other things on the agenda. Well up by the lake, there was around 18 inches of snow, so I figured why not give them a go? I called up a buddy who lives up there, Andy Avrum, and we set a date.
That day Andy, his buddy Greg and I met was a great time for a walk through the snow. The temps were in the mid 30s and the sun was shining hard. Some of the snow was slowly beggining to melt and we hit the bottom of the hollow with high hopes.
After about 15 minutes of walking along the frozen creek, and attempting to flip rocks frozen into the ground or water, we managed to find a spot were the water was actually flowing out of the cliff face. I wasn't sure if this was due to all the melting snow, but we started flipping. Andy found the first deadly snowmander, but I realized most of the sallies were a couple layers of rock down.
These were much smaller than the duskies I am used to seeing, and much more attractive.
While December was cold and snowy, January has been unseasonably warm. I was finally able to take advantage of the weather and get out on Fri.
I managed to turn up a couple Spring Salamanders Gyrinophilus porphyriticus. In this part of the state they are considered the Kentucky form, duryi. These had some real nice speckling on the chin and sides.
A little farther up the way I started digging around in a muddy seepage. I really had my hopes set on a mud salamander, so imagine my suprise when I found this under a rock. I had hoped I would find one of these here eventually.
Streamside Salamander Ambystoma barbouri
I also saw a bunch of two-line salamanders, dusky salamanders and a green frog. Jefferson salamander eggs were also present in a vernal pool at another location. Looks like spring is right around the corner!
Hope you all enjoyed
Jason
-----
www.buckeyeherps.com
