Looks like a drizzle is coming and then some flurries. I will find either:

A. a spotted salamander on a very early start to the 2014 migration
B. a salamandersicle
C. nothing at all

With lows hitting the single digits later in the week, tonight is the best chance for anything moving toward the vernal pool breeding sights. After tonight, my guess is that nothing will be moving for another 2 weeks. groundhogs…

And the answer is C. Nada. Under the leaf litter is still frozen, and the mole salamanders that are the first to migrate are more then likely well beneath the frost line. I turned a couple of logs and not even a worm. It is still fun to observe the conditions because one never knows what is out there unless one gets out there.

Here’s the road leading up to Whipps Ledges. When the first warm rains begin, this road will be covered with dozens of Spotted Salamanders making their way from the woods to the breeding pond which is to the right. All but impossible to find during the summer months, the Spotted Salamanders are out in force. I can only imagine how many go unnoticed as they trek across the forest floor. This area is mainly pines and I’ve heard many Barred Owls calling in the early spring.

This is the East Branch Rocky River feeder into Hinckley Lake. When the rivers freeze over, they become highways for the smaller woodland animals as evidenced by the tracks on the right.

This is a center of the pond view, I would be thigh deep and very cold if the ice wasn’t so thick! I mainly use this pond as my Wood Frog location. Although they are common, this pond is where I first heard a full chorus and got my best audio recording. Route 271 is very close to this area, and there is the constant rumble of traffic, but one evening there was a fog bank so thick, it muffled the traffic and made for an outstanding recording!

Here is a vernal pool where I record Chorus, Leopard and Pickerel frogs. It has a nice mound to the right that makes a perfect location to place the recorder for an overview of the action.

This is my main pond by Red Lock. A storm is moving through dropping a couple inches of snow. It should be a good spring frog season because of the late snowfall filling up the ponds.

Another view of the pond as a squall approaches. This section has most of the action due to the vegetative cover. So far I’ve seen Snapping turtles, Painted turtles and a Softshelled turtle lurking about. The larger frogs are more spread out and in the far side which is deeper. The only frogs that don’t use this pond in great numbers are the Chorus frogs. They seem to use the vernal pools that offer more cover.