Went out for about 2 hrs today and had a nice little hike with the little bit of nice weather we had today.

Temp 65f
Partly Coudy

1 Queen Snake
6 N. Water Snakes
1 N. Slimy
1 Snapping Turtle
2 American Toads
tmtc A. Toad Tadpoles
3 Bull Frog Calls
10+ Bull Frog Tadpoles
and 3 Northern Orioles

Queen Snake:

Northern Water:

American Toad:

Snapping turtle:

Went out for a little while today to check if any Ravines were moving in two close by spots. The 1st spot I did not have any luck. The 2nds spot I found 2 Ravines and 2 Slimys. The areas was really wet from the rain last night. Also went and checked out along the creek and saw a good bit of Northern Waters, 1 Queen, and 1 Garter Snake that was in a tree, this is the 2nd time I have seen a Garter snake in a tree in that location. Not sure how common it is for them to be in a tree eaither.

Totals:
2 - Ravine Salamanders
2 - Slimy Salamanders
1 - Queen Snake
1 - Garter Snake
10+ Northern Water Snakes
1 unided frog.

Ravines:

What Ravines Eat-Carpenter Ants, Sow Bugs, and Harvest Mites

Slimys:

A Big one:

Queen Snake:

Garter Snake:

John and myself went up North for a trip to find some massasaugas. Location is not discolsed nor the people we meet up with. This was a great trip. 10 mins in to the walk John found the 1st one then one of the other guys found one shortly after that. All in all a good day to get to see two of these great snakes.

We also saw a few other things though out the day.

2-massasaugas
7-garters
8-redbacks
32-mt dusky’s
11-two lines
1-wood frog

Saguas:

Wood Frog:

5-6-08

8:30am - 2pm

John and I went down to Fayette County, PA on Tuesday to see what we could find moving in that area. We got a good bit of finds some nice stuff and some of the ol’ regular finds. We didn’t hit our main target that was copperheads but we did get a Northern Red Salamander and a few Spring Salamanders.

Inventory:
2-Two-lined Salamander
6-Newts
tmtc newt egg masses
2-Spring Salamander
1-N. red Salamander
7-N dusky Salamander
19-Mt dusky Salamander
6-Seal Salamander
11-Redback Salamander
3-Slimy Salamander
1-snapping turtle
green frogs (tmtc)
tmtc-wood frog tadpole
tmtc-American toad tadpoles and egg strands

Newt:

Spring Salamander:

Northern Red Salamander:

Slimy Salamanders:

Seal Salamanders:

Snapping Turtle:

Tadpoles: Wood frog - Green Frog

Green Frog:

A new project of mine that you can check out.

The PA HERP IDENTIFICATION project was developed as a guide for the Reptiles and Amphibians of Pennsylvania. The guides show Coloration and Pattern differences among species though out PA along with information on ID characteristics. The site had and ID page for each species that are found through out Pennsylvania that includes the characteristic information, detailed photos and range maps. PA HERP IDENTIFICATION project is an educational tool for the public on the herpetile found though out Pennsylvania. The project also aims to create knowledge to Pennsylvania residents not only through the internet, but also through interaction with the public, with the help of volunteers in the field to communicate with individuals on a personal level.

http://www.paherps.com

The 1st part of the day I meet up with John for awhile in Washington County PA. We did not do to bad, but did not get our targeted species which was Queen Snakes and Spring Salamanders, but we did get a few other things.

Then I went out to a place of mine near home and got a few Northern Waters and a Garter snake. One of the cool things was the orange colored N. Water Snake which was an unusual sighting.

Stats:
Temps:68
Overcast
10:45am-12:30pm
1pm-1:45

Washington County stuff:
2 Ravine Salamander
1 Slimy Salamander
2+ Two-lined Salamander
4+ Northern Dusky Salamander

Allegheny County:
4 Northern Water Snakes
1 Garter Snake

Ravines:

Slimy:

N. Dusky

Northern Water Snakes

Garter Snake:

Not much to report on this weekend. Me and my daughter went fishing and got a glimps of the 1st queen snake of the season which was a nice sight as i was getting a little worried about this spot and not seeing any yet this year. We saw a few other things and heard some frog calls. I did not get any photos sense I left my camera back at the house.

1 Queen Snake
2 N. Water
3 groups of american toads calling.
2 bull frogs calling.
2 Spring Peeper Groups calling.
and 3 unided turtles

Then today April 20th I dropped my daughter off at her great grandmothers house and on the way home I though I would check a spot that I have found a few ringnecks last year and a few other odd an end things. No luck with snakes but I did flip another Ravine Salamander in this spot. This makes my 4th location and futher research will go along with this area to determin a population size. I did only find one tonight, but it was getting late so I will try back later in the week. This habitat is not really the book type habitat for the Ravine Salamander, so it was a shock to find it where it was.

Heres the little guy:

Went out on another trip with John today down in Westmoreland county PA hoping to get some ringnecks or Leopard Frogs. No luck with those but we did manage to find a few other things and I got my first snake of the year. Just a Garter Snake but was a great find to break in the spring time.

Stats:
60 and sunny
No clouds.

For totals:
28-redback
10-N. dusky
14-mt. dusky
4-two line
1-spring(got away AGIAN!!!!)
1-green frog
1-eastern garter