Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus)
The Amphibian Survival Alliance (ASA) is showing the world that amphibians are as ‘adorable’ and deserving of our admiration and protection as are feathered or furry animals. Check out their #SqueeWeek social media campaign and you’ll agree wholeheartedly! As a formal Amphibian Survival Alliance Partner organization, RTPI will do its part and we’ll show off some of our favorite amphibian friends this week. Since salamanders have been a bit underrepresented in this week’s coverage, how about this recently hatched Northern Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus fuscus)?...
Read MoreFall hawk walk at Trout Brook Valley
On Saturday morning, September 20, I joined the Aspetuck Land Trust on a fall hawk walk with over 40 of their members and volunteers at the gorgeous Trout Brook Valley Preserve in Easton and Weston, Connecticut. This major 1,000+ acre conservation area permits passive recreation in the form of hiking, birding, biking, on-leash dog walking, photography and so forth. It is part of one of the largest contiguous areas of forest left in Fairfield County and is home to rare and important amphibians, plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, pollinators and more. Twan and I spent over a year creating a...
Read MoreEnjoying Our Natural Areas
This past week my husband and I enjoyed a walk through Long Point State Park, a RTPI Natural History Atlas location and a beautiful natural area just a short walk from our home. While we were out, we took a quick look in a stream and seep for some salamanders and found a good sized Northern Dusky (Desmognathus fuscus). Although the salamander was exciting to see, I was most excited to see my husband flipping rocks and enjoying this naturally rich area as much as I was. While fall is soon approaching, there is still plenty of time to get outside and explore the county’s abundant natural...
Read MoreWood Frog (Rana sylvatica)
As I was walking in the yard here at RTPI, I came across this little Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica) making its way from our front walkway to the grassy lawn. Recently metamorphosed, this frog was no bigger than my thumb and was likely on the hunt for some protein packed invertebrates to snack on as it prepares for the cooler months ahead.
Read MoreObservations
Being a good observer takes a lot of practice, especially when working in the natural world. These day campers at Chapman State Park were working on just that in an amphibian program I got the opportunity to do with them recently. All together, we found four salamanders and through visual observations, these young explorers were able to determine that we actually had two completely different species!
Read More
