After the snowiest winter in Washington’s recorded history, the amphibians have finally made their way to the vernal pools to signal the beginning of spring. They are bit later than usual in this area. Late February is typically when spring peepers, wood frogs, and spotted salamanders make their first appearance in the DC area. This year, due to abnormally harsh winter conditions, they were about two weeks or so behind.
Last Friday night a few of the team members from Reptiles Alive had the special opportunity to visit a wetland area that is usually off-limits to the public. Off limits because it is behind a shooting range! We were invited by master naturalist Greg Zell along with a handful of other professional herpetologists and naturalists.
We met up at dark in the cool rain. Perfect weather. Well, maybe not perfect for humans, but definitely perfect for amphibians! On the road into the park, we discovered our first amphibians of the night – American toads!
After putting on our rain gear, we crossed the shooting range walking over millions of broken clay targets until we reached the wetlands. Immediately someone yelled “Spotted!” Then more shouts were heard, and we realized, we were in the middle of hundreds, possibly thousands of spotted salamanders! It was AWESOME! They were everywhere! Large female salamanders were being surrounded by 5 to 10 males at a time. Salamanders were almost everywhere you pointed your flashlight, crawling through the mud or swimming like fish in the cold, clear water. After an hour or so, spermatophores from the males began to fill the water as the ancient amphibian breeding rituals took place. It was the most amazing salamander sight I have ever witnessed.
We spent a few hours observing them, photographing them and discussing them before we all decided it was time to come in out of the rain and dry off. A few of us headed to Dogfish Head to warm up and have a late night dinner, but that, is another story…