Nature: More than two dozen species spotted during 24-hour amphibian watch

A Kentucky spring salamander was found on Jim McCormac's recent 24-hour quest with Kelly Capuzzi, John Howard, and Aaron Crank/Jim McCormac

Nature: More than two dozen species spotted during 24-hour amphibian watch

Columbus Dispatch
May 1, 2022

NATURE
Jim McCormac

"Frog catching is the most fun a human being can have while on this earth."

— Jase Robertson

I’d sort of agree with the "Duck Dynasty" star. However, after the 20th hour or so, one grows weary.

Last year, Kelly Capuzzi, John Howard and I launched what you might believe to be a fool’s errand: the first-ever Ohio Amphibian Big Day. As no one has yet come forth to claim a previous effort, I’m sticking with our claim of being first. However, we may be the only ones mad enough to attempt this. Capuzzi is an aquatic biologist and Howard lives in Adams County and is a walking encyclopedia of flora and fauna.

In 2021, we started our 24-hour marathon at 11 a.m. on March 30, which ended the same time the next day. We were afield for 21 of the 24 hours, and covered parts of three counties: Adams, Brown, and Scioto. Our tally: 18 species.

There are 37 amphibian species in Ohio, and perhaps 32 of them are in striking distance of southern Ohio’s Adams County, our home base. Finding all of them would be nearly impossible, but we knew we could top 18 species.

Learning from our mistakes, we made several changes. Moving the Big Day back two weeks improved our odds of locating more species. We weeded out unproductive spots and added others to the itinerary. Most important, we added an amphibian all-pro to the team: Aaron Crank.

Twenty-three-year-old Crank is from Minford, in eastern Scioto County, and is a walking encyclopedia of herpetological knowledge. He knows the region like the back of his hand, and is near-magical at locating secretive frogs, salamanders and toads in the field.

Our quest began at noon on April 12. Crank could not join us until early evening, so Capuzzi, Howard and I darted about Adams and Brown counties, mostly picking off low-hanging fruit.

Surprisingly, our first find was not a gimme, a long-tailed salamander larva that Howard found under a creek rock. Next was a southern two-lined salamander, one of many that we would tally. The last frog to commence singing is the cricket frog, and they hadn’t fired up yet. Vocalizations make frogs far easier to detect. Nonetheless we found several around a pond. This is Ohio’s smallest amphibian. The warty frogs are about an inch in length.

A visit to a Brown County marsh added a slew of new checkmarks: American bullfrog, American toad, green frog, northern leopard frog, spring peeper, and western chorus frog.

By the time we met up with Crank at a remote spot in Scioto County, we were up to 14 species. Our new team member quickly helped wrangle the following salamanders: four-toed, Kentucky spring, marbled, mud, and spotted. We also added wood frog.

Darkness was falling, and we headed to some rocky crags near the Ohio River. We were after the rare green salamander, a cliff specialist that spends much time in tiny fissures. Success! We found four.

Nocturnal road-cruising — earlier rain created good conditions for amphibian activity — added mountain chorus frog, along with many species we’d already seen. A visit to a small lake surrounded by forest added pickerel frog, and several other species including the Kentucky spring salamander whose photo accompanies this column.

We retired to Howard’s Adams County house for a three-hour break at 4:30 a.m. Stumbling back out soon after daybreak we visited a stream near Minford where Crank soon netted a mudpuppy. These sensational aquatic salamanders can reach over a foot in length.

Our last stop was a woods where we located red-backed salamanders. This is a very common species in central Ohio, but is inexplicably absent in most of the region where our Big Day takes place. We can thank Crank for this one, too.

In all, we managed 25 species: one toad, nine frogs and 15 salamanders.

Records are meant to be broken, and we’ll try again next spring. If we can forgo sleep, another few species should be possible.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

Amphibian Big Day: Part II

Busy, busy, busy lately, with travels, writing, prep for talks, etc. But finally, I am circling back to our Ohio Big Amphibian Day. I gave an overview of this year's effort RIGHT HERE. Kelly Capuzzi, Aaron Crank, John Howard and I set out on a 24-hour marathon of herpetology on April 12 & 13, and located 25 species of frogs, salamanders, and toads. That bested our inaugural attempt last year by seven species. We think we can possibly eclipse this year's total next year, but it might mean forgoing any rest periods.

Anyway, we did our best to photo-document the species that we found and following are a few of those critters.

As always, click the photo to enlarge

Male American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus) in full song. We saw many and heard far more.

We saw many egg masses of Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) but did not really expect to see an adult. After breeding, they mostly retreat to subterranean haunts. However, Aaron flipped a rock and there was this beauty.

Northern Dusky Salamanders (Desmognathus fuscus) are very common, and we saw a number of them. This was a particularly striking individual.

This Northern Ravine Salamander (Plethodon electromorphus) is missing a good chunk of its tail. Salamanders with missing tails are not uncommon, and they can partially regenerate them over time. Perhaps a predator grabbed this one, but by shedding the tail the animal escaped.

Southern Two-lined Salamanders (Eurycea cerrigera) are common along rocky streams, and we found a number of them. We were pleased to stumble into this female with eggs.

A Pickerel Frog (Lithobates palustris) peeks from its rocky shelter. This species is similar to the Northern Leopard Frog but favors a very different habitat: forested streams.

We visited a favorite woodland lake, and as usual it teemed with Red-spotted Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens). Their numbers are inestimable but certainly number into the thousands. I made an interesting newt observation. After gently lifting a sheet of loose moss on a bank several feet up a bank on the lake's edge, a newt fell out! There was an egg mass of a Four-toed Salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum) underneath, and the newt was eating the eggs.

Over much of Ohio, Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) are abundant and often the most commonly found salamander. Not down in the region of southern Ohio that we were working in. Fortunately, Aaron knew a reliable locale and it didn't take long to find them there. This is the "lead-backed" morph that lacks the orangish-red dorsal stripe.

A larval Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber) crawls over moss. It takes several years for this species to reach adulthood. Adults are bright reddish orange.

A gorgeous specimen of a Kentucky Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus). They are often much less colorful. Well-named, these large salamanders often frequent the vicinity of woodland seeps and springs.

We were pleased to find a few specimens of the lovely Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus). A rarity in Ohio, but certainly overlooked to some degree. The well-named animal often inhabits mucky quagmires.

A Green Salamander (Aneides aeneus) peeks from a fissure in a limestone cliff face. A bona fide Ohio rarity, they occur in one small region in southernmost Ohio.

Finally, we were pleased to add this bizarre aquatic salamander to our tally, and once again have Aaron to thank for his knowledge of a good locale. The Mudpuppy (Necturus maculosus) inhabits rocky streams, often hiding under large in-stream rocks. The reddish bushy plumes are its gills, which are retained throughout the salamander's life. A big Mudpuppy can reach a foot or so in length.

We look forward to attempting this next year. If luck is with us - and we work hard and forgo sleep - 27 species is possible. 

Amphibian Big Day 2022: Part I

Last year, John Howard, Kelly Capuzzi and I conducted our first Amphibian Big Day. Maybe the first for Ohio; we don't know of another attempt. It's an effort to find as many of Ohio's 37 amphibian species in a 24-hour period as possible. We began on March 30 and ended on March 31 and were afield for nearly 22 hours. Our total: 18 species (19 if we count a Northern Ravine Salamander that John had caught a few days earlier and detained). We worked almost entirely in Adams and Scioto counties, with a brief foray into Brown County.

We learned lots from that inaugural attempt and tweaked this year's effort accordingly. The biggest change was shifting the dates back a few weeks. By doing so, we didn't lose any species but gained several. Another BIG change was inviting amphibian expert Aaron Crank to be a team member. He is from Scioto County and his been infatuated with herpetology since he was a young kid. Aaron knows many honey holes and is adept at finding these secretive creatures. As in 2021, we worked mostly in Adams and Scioto counties, and repeated the brief excursion into Brown County. The latter trip was to a large marshy area, primarily to bag Northern Leopard Frog and Western Chorus Frog.

Perhaps we were lazier this year, although I'd suggest smarter, and only spent about 20-21 hours afield. This allowed for a bit longer siesta at John's house, from about 5am to 8am. We also added two new spots that Aaron knew, one in eastern Scioto County and the other in nearby Pike County. Both of these added species we really wanted but are tough to find, Mudpuppy and Red-backed Salamander. The former is not that uncommon but it helps tremendously to have a known spot. Time is of the essence in 24-hour marathons such as this. The Red-backed Salamander, so common in much of the state, is (to me) inexplicably absent in most of the region we were working in.

Cutting to the chase, our team found 25 species, a big spike over last year's total. This included a number of species that eluded us in 2021, and some cooperative rarities. As always seems to be the case during Big Days, we missed one that should have been easy: Northern Slimy Salamander. They're pretty common and we looked hard but no go. It was one of the first salamanders we located in 2021, and the only species we had that year that we didn't find this year.

We'll probably try this again in 2023 and think that 25 species can be eclipsed by working in the same general area. If we turn up Northern Slimy Salamander and get all of the others that we had this year that would do it. Fowler's Toad and Streamside Salamander are also possibilities, and by going somewhat further afield we could possibly add a few more. At this point, I would say that a 30 species Big Amphibian Day in Ohio is possible but it'd be a lot of work and travel, and there'd probably be no time for siestas.

Here's 75% of our team, looking under rocks for Mudpuppies. L to R: Kelly Capuzzi, John Howard, Aaron Crank. I took the photo. Photographer Sam James also joined us for a few hours on Tuesday evening.

Following is the list of what we found, in the order that we found them. I have lots of photos of the critters, some merely documentary, others perhaps a bit better. I'll post some of those in a follow-up post.

1) Northern Cricket Frog

2) Southern Two-lined Salamander

3) Northern Ravine Salamander

4) Spring Peeper

5) Western Chorus Frog

6) American Toad

7) Northern Leopard Frog

8) Green Frog

9) American Bullfrog

10) Northern Red Salamander

11) Mud Salamander

12) Kentucky Spring Salamander

13) Marbled Salamander

14) Four-toed Salamander

15) Jefferson Salamander

16) Spotted Salamander

17) Red-spotted Newt

18) Northern Dusky Salamander

19) Wood Frog

20) Mountain Chorus Frog

21) Green Salamander

22) Long-tailed Salamander

23) Pickerel Frog

24) Mudpuppy

25) Red-backed Salamander

Last night's amphibian run

 

A Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans) stares inscrutably at the cameraman. It was one of a number that I saw last evening.

Last night's conditions were very good for a vernal amphibian migration. The temperatures stayed in the mid-50's F, and late afternoon showers persisted into the early evening. The ground was wet, the air was warm, and the amphibians were hopping and crawling overland to breeding pools.

Rather than go to some wooded vernal pool sites where I knew there would be scads of species such as Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) and other subjects, I opted for the open country of the hinterlands of Champaign and Logan counties in west-central Ohio. The primary reason: our largest mole salamander, which I will share shortly.

Spring Peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) filled the nighttime air with their loud peeps. Shallow wetlands harbored many of the tine blowhards, and their collective song was audible for long distances. Joining them were numerous Western Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris triseriata). The latter's song is a raspy grate, often likened to running a finger down the teeth of a comb. But amplified through a Marshall stack.

The Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens) was the most common frog on the move. This handsome amphibian thrives in open country and marshes. Joining them were many American Toads (Anaxyrus americanus).

At one spot, where a country lane bisects a small woodlot, a Unisexual Salamander (Ambystoma hybrid) was crossing the road. This locale has many of these strange hybrids, but by this time late in the evening the rain had ceased, conditions were drying, and amphibian movement had slowed.

The "Unis" are a strange and imperfectly understood group of mole salamanders. They include the DNA of several species, potentially, including Blue-spotted, Eastern Tiger, Jefferson, and Smallmouth salamanders. All of them, or nearly so, are females. To delve into deeper detail about the Unisexual Salamanders, go RIGHT HERE.

And the star of the show! An Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) pushes its way through grasses as it marches to - or perhaps from - a breeding pool. This is our largest mole salamander, and exceptional individuals can be nine inches or so in length.

A tiger crosses a road. As always, after taking photos it was moved off the road (on the side that it was headed for). We saw five of them in total, and four were in a breeding pool. We thoroughly checked that pool first thing after nightfall and could not locate any. Several hours later, we easily and quickly found the four, suggesting that they were just entering the pool. No egg masses or spermatophores (male sperm packets) could be seen, further suggesting that the big mole salamanders were just arriving at their breeding pools.

All in all, a wonderful night of communing with the amphibians.

Nature: In a 24-hour period, 18 species of amphibians were documented during a recent search

A red eft clambers over downy rattlesnake-plantain  orchid leaves/Jim McCormac

Nature: In a 24-hour period, 18 species of amphibians were documented during a recent search

Columbus Dispatch
April 18, 2021

NATURE
Jim McCormac

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and caldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the caldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt and toe of frog…

--William Shakespeare

On March 30, along with friends John Howard and Kelly Capuzzi, I embarked on what many might consider an odd quest: finding as many amphibian species as possible in 24 hours.

I couldn’t have had better partners. Kelly is an aquatic biologist, energetic afield, with intense curiosity about natural history. John lives in Adams County and is a walking encyclopedia of flora and fauna. I have mentioned him in numerous previous columns.

A day passes quickly and we had to focus on the most amphibian-rich region of the state. This was a no-brainer: Adams County, with forays into adjacent Brown and Scioto counties.

Thirty-seven species of frogs, toads, and salamanders have been recorded in Ohio. It would be impossible to find them all in a day, due to geographic separation. But our region allowed the possibility of locating 32 species.

We convened at Howard’s house, and at 11 am set out on what would be a whirlwind 24 hours of amphibianizing.

Our first stop was an isolated hollow in Adams County where we turned up northern dusky and slimy salamanders. The latter is well-named. Its skin exudes super glue-like secretions to deter predators. Wood frog eggs in a small pool added to the list.

Working remote Adams County haunts produced America toads and pools with singing mountain chorus frogs. John knew a vernal pool that yielded Jefferson and spotted salamander egg masses, along with tough to find four-toed salamanders. Red-spotted newts added to the mix.

Dredging through the mire of a Scioto County spring yielded a couple of red salamanders and our first green frog. Salamander-seeking in particular is slow hard work that requires looking under numerous logs and rocks.

We returned to Howard’s house around 9 pm, and drummed up some marbled salamanders in his pond. Following a well-deserved meal, we took a brief nap and headed back out at 1 am.

While the day’s weather had been mostly sunny and in the 70’s, what we really hoped for rolled in that night: rain. Warm wet nights in spring really get the amphibians moving as they seek mates or migrate to breeding sites.

Cruising backwoods lanes in Scioto County offered up scads of amphibians, including hundreds of America toads, pickerel frogs, spring peepers, our first bullfrog, and many others. We moved plenty off the roads. Roaming amphibians are frequently flattened by vehicles.

About 4 am, we decided to head to a large marsh in Brown County. That was a good decision as we netted northern leopard frog and western chorus frog.

At 11 am, our 24 hours was up. The last amphibian found was a red eft – the larval form of the red-spotted newt – pictured with this column. We had spent 21 hours afield, and found 18 species. Nineteen, if we counted a ravine salamander that Howard had found a few days prior and temporarily detained.

We plan on doing this next spring, and think with minor tweaks we will eclipse 20 species.

Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jimmccormac.blogspot.com.

Amphibians on the march

Last night was plenty warm and lots of wet, so I headed over to a favorite amphibian hotspot not far west of Columbus. Lots of animals were on the prowl, moving overland to breeding pools. In just two hours, and covering only a short stretch of road, I saw scores of frogs and toads, and a surprising number of Ambystoma salamanders. Sorry for the smudgy spots on some photos - they're caused by rain drops on my lens. Try as I might, it was impossible to keep the camera totally dry. It was truly a dark and stormy night, after all.

A male spring peeper, Pseudacris crucifer, makes himself known. Scores of the quarter-sized amphibious blowhards were singing in this vernal pool, and the shrill high-pitched peeps are nearly ear-splitting when one is up close and personal. From my experience, the best way to study frogs is to get in the pools with them at night when they are vocalizing.

A young American bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus, hops his way across the road. On a good migratory night, such as last evening, it is truly astonishing how many frogs of multiple species can be seen on the roads. Most of the lanes that I explored last night are lightly traveled country roads, but even so the mortality from vehicles is high.

A big old green frog, Lithobates clamitans. A smudge of rain partially obscures its tympanum, or "ear" - just aft of the eye. In females, the tympanum is about the same size as the eye; in males it is noticeably larger. This one looks to be a female.

There were a lot of American toads, Anaxyrus americanus, moving last night. Many were in full song, their sonorous droning trills echoing from the wetlands.

This little toad stretched up, the better to see the annoying paparrazi who was flashing him in the face.

"Enough", says the warty little fellow!

I was surprised to see how many salamanders were still moving. Given the extended warm weather that we've had, coupled with plenty of rainy nights, I figured they would pretty well be done for the year. But in short order, I saw a few dozen spotted salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum. The road that I spent most of my time on is buffered by wet woods full of vernal pools on either side, and plenty of salamanders were crossing back and forth. I'm sure I saw but a small percentage of the animals that were moving last night.

Outnumbering the spotted salamanders were the bizarre "unisexual" salamanders. These animals are part of a hybrid swarm: a complex of all females that have genetic contributions from small-mouthed, Jefferson, blue-spotted, and tiger salamanders. Should you be interested in learning more about these amphibious oddities, CLICK HERE.

A heavily blue-flecked individual makes its way across the road. Presumably this patterning is the result of its blue-spotted salamander lineage. Its tail also caught my eye. It seemed exceptionally thick and compressed, and reminded me of the shape of a tiger salamander's tail. There are plenty of tiger salamanders in this area, but I don't know how much of a role they play in forming the local populations of unisexual salamanders.

The annual spring run of amphibians to the breeding wetlands is one of spring's great natural events. This was probably one of the last good migration nights around here, and likely the last night of the year that I was able to get out and look. Another year will have to pass before I get to observe this phenomenon again.