Still slow going...

.....at the drift fence.  Yesterday was a gorgeous clear day so no marbleds moving last night.   Did get to go release some from the other day.  In the above picture the salamanders on the left, in the plastic bin, have just had their photos taken and been measured. Then on the right is immediately post release.  It’s a blast to release them, after clearing a little leaf litter away we scatter a handful on the ground and watch them scurry.  I tried to take the photo before they got under the leaves, but they were too fast!  Most of the ones above on the right look headless!  Toss the leaves back over them and you can’t even tell they’re there.  Seeing that disappearing act always reminds me how much can be around us in the woods that we never see.  There was a little rain today but none in the forecast for tonight so probably only a few salamanders in the morning---on the plus side there’s no need to get there at the crack of dawn!

The season is under way!

Well, we didn’t get inundated with opacum, but I think the season has officially started.  Probably got between 100 and 150 marbled salamanders today--and a handful of Southern toads.  Was a nice easy transition into the mayhem that awaits.  Unfortunately the rain came down so torrentially yesterday that it just flooded most of the pitfall traps.  A flooded bucket doesn’t really make for much of a trap!  More time was spent bailing buckets than grabbing salamanders.  Well, I should be clear, I didn’t have to bail a single bucket.  I’m pretty much along for the ride when it comes to running the fence.  Not my job, I just love to help because I think it’s a really cool thing and I’ve got several research projects tied into the Rainbow Bay data set.  Anyway, the numbers were easy to handle, but it rained all day today so there will be more waiting in the morning.  I don’t think we ever had more than about 15 in a bucket today and that will surely change over the next few weeks.  Every marbled salamander coming into Rainbow Bay is brought back to the lab where it is photographed and a subset are measured.  If you look at the photo---better photos to come, I promise-- the white pattern you see is unique to every individual so by taking the photograph you essentially end up with an individual identification.  very cool, but a lot of tedious work.  Hopefully we’ll break 200 tomorrow.

Rain is here, tomorrow will be an early morning

Well the rain didn’t come until this morning and even then it was just a shower.  Only had one marbled salamander in the pitfall traps.  It was a youngster--it’s toe clip marking showed it to be one of the metamorphs from this past spring.  So far that’s who’s been showing up.  Usually that’s the case--the metamorphs leave the bay in the spring and don’t go very far in their first year.  As a result when it comes time to return to the bay they don’t have as far to travel.  The adults have further to go and for a lot of them it will take multiple rainy nights to make the trip.  Imagine only being able to travel when it rains!  You go as far as you can in one evening, hang out under some leaves and logs until the next rain, move a little further and so on until you reach your destination.  It’s rainy pretty good this evening and should continue for a while.  If I were at the bay right now I could watch them making their migration, but I’ll stick with watching the Red Sox game.  Hopefully there will be a good number of critters in the pitfall traps tomorrow morning.  All the adults that were ready to go and within one night’s distance could arrive.  On big nights it’s important to get to the drift fence first thing in the morning---the salamanders can get overheated as the day heats up and if you have a lot in one trap they can actually drown.  Good thing I think marbled salamanders are wicked cool because the plan is to be at work around 6am!  Not much photo opportunities at the fence today but the turkeys were moving like crazy so took the above photo on the way to Rainbow Bay.  My fingers are crossed for lots of marbleds.

The opacum are coming!

It’s about to start!  The opacums are coming.  Around this time of year the marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) are poised to move.  They are out in the woods just waiting for this year’s breeding season.  Unlike most pond-breeding salamanders, marbled sallies move to the “wetland” while it is still dry.  They will mate on rainy nights and females will lay a clutch of eggs and then stay with those eggs until the wetland fills for the season.  Once it fills the eggs will hatch and start their journey toward metamorphosis.  Marbled salamanders aren’t as adept in water as many other species so once the pond starts filling the females will head back to the woods.  It has been hot and dry here all month and only a handful of marbled sals have made their way to Rainbow Bay, but rain is in the forecast!  Probably not tonight, but definitely tomorrow.  That means on Monday morning there could be hundreds or thousands of salamanders in the pitfall traps along the drift fence.  Literally a single 5 gallon bucket can have more than 300 salamanders.  It’s a sight to behold.  It blows my mind each time I see it happen because you can walk all around the woods surrounding the bay and never see a salamander---but they are there---and if you go out on a rainy night in the right time of year you can see a wonderful spectacle.  It will mean some early mornings coming my way but I can’t wait.