Migrations of another kind
With all the snow and cold temperatures we are still experiencing it may be hard to imagine that warmer weather is just around the corner. However, now that March is underway, it will only be a few short weeks until spring officially arrives and the movement of some very special species will begin. While many bird species will start their long journey back to the northeast from places such as Costa Rica where our affiliates have been banding migrants, a variety of non-feathered species will begin traveling through our forests to find their annual breeding pools. The quiet peace of winter...
Read MoreBlue-spotted Salamander (Ambystoma laterale) by Twan Leenders
Even though I’ve seen many different versions of this scene before, it never ceases to amaze me: a first gulp of air as a metamorph amphibian (a larval Blue-spotted Salamander, Ambystoma laterale, in this case) prepares to leave the familiarity of its aquatic habitat to try its luck on land. This image only captured a small, split-second occurrence, but it also recorded a phenomenon that is so biologically fundamental (and so utterly amazing when you think about the mechanics of the whole process!) that I was very excited to document this so many can see and ponder it.
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