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

Myself and John went down to the place we went the other day in Washington county to try out a few more locations. Well we tired another one atleast. The trip went well, we found a few things in that area we did not set out to find but we only found 3 species of salamanders, two were not on our minds to find for the day or the area. Out of the blue John flips a Ravine Salamander under a board and then 2 more under logs. Not real typical for this species and two were with in 5 ft of the water, again not to typical. I also flipped a nice sized Slimy Salamander on a steep hill side under a board. And the rest of the finds were Twolineds.

Stats:
Temps:57F
Partly Cloudy
Time: 2-4 pm

17-two lines
3-larvae, two lines
3-ravines
1-slimy
John with Ravine.

One under the board

The 2nd one:

The thrid one:

A Slimy Salamander

One of the many Two-lined Salamanders

I took John to do some herping in the Ravine Salamanders spots today. My normal spot only produced one that I have documented before. After some searching in that areas we desided to head over to the other spot down the road a piece where I discovered only one last year. We had alot of luck with the 2nd spot and come up with 7 Ravines total with a big suprise to us both was a yearling that was only 3cm in length. We did a little more herping and didnt have as good of luck with anything else. A few frogs chorsing and a N. Dusky salamander.

Temp: 70-73
Clear Skies
Time: 2:00 - 5:30 PM
Location: Allegheny County PA
Totals:
7 Ravine Salamanders
Ravine 1 - 11 cm
Ravine 2 - 11 cm
Ravine 3 - 9 cm
Ravine 4 - 9.5 cm
Ravine 5 - 12.5 cm
Ravine 6 - 3 cm
Ravine 7 - 11.5 cm
3 under logs 4 under rocks1 Dusky Salamander
1 Green Frog
1 Green Frog Calling
3 Peeper Frog Chorus Locatoins
2 Turtles - Unided

Some Photos: Not in order

Ravines
Myself with a Ravine

John with Ravine

Dusky

Turtles

It was a nice day so I decided to go out for a small time after I went and got new tires on the car. The 1st spot was the Ravine Salamander Habitat. I finally brought a few rulers so i could take a few mesurements to keep track of age and individuals.  The other spots I visited today were not so productive went to a few pools/wetland habitat and heard a few spring peepers, wood frogs, and a green frog. Another spot had a few egg masses from Wood Frogs probably.

Todays Stats:
Allegheny County, PA
March 30
Temps: 48-50
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pm

Ravine one
Rock Temp: 50 below - 67 Above
Total Body length - 11 cm - 4.3 inches
Time: 1:35pm

Ravine two
Rock Temp: 50 below - 70 Above
Total Body length - 6.5 cm - 2.6 inches
Time: 1:52pm
Part of the tail was missing/regrowing

Ravine three
Rock Temp: 55 below - 67 Above
Total Body length - 9 cm - 3.5 inches
Time: 1:54pm

Spring Peeper Habitat

Wood Frog Eggs

Myself and John went down to a little spot in Washington County, PA today to do a little herping. The weather was kinda dull but we did manage to find a handful of things after a few diffrent locations and alot of searching. The biggest find was a Spring Salamander Larvae and a neat looking patterned Northern Dusky. The weather was ok but a little rainy here and there, somewhat cool temps.

Temps - 40-42
Weather - Light Rain and Overcast
Water Temps - 47 ( I know I had a nice time swiming)
Time: 11 am to 1:30pm

Count:
5-two lined
17-n dusky
1-spring
Here are some finds:

Spring Salamander

John with the Spring

Two-Lined Salamanders

N. Duskys and Two-Lineds

N. Duskys
A unusal pattern