Went to Glenmeal State Forest with my ecology class earlier in the year to hunt for salamanders. I found this red backed salamander under a small rock near one of the vernal pools in the forest.

I was surveying the St. Lawrence University golf course for amphibians, and I was very surprised to find this salamander relaxing out in the open on some tall grass. These salamanders are usually very hard to find so I took as many photos as I could! Once I set him back down he immediately burrowed into the tall grass and back into the earth.

Sunday, May 31, 2015 was a beautiful day to be in the woods. It was rainy in the morning but under the leaves we felt few of the drops. We looked under many logs and found salamanders, snails, slugs, centipedes, beetles and fungal mycelium. Red back salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) were found under every other log or so. We didn't record officially, but in about 45 minutes we saw 8-10 salamanders, walking a total of 0.4 miles in a circle. Many of the logs were also excellent for balancing on, an activity that juvenile Homo sapiens seem to enjoy.

Nature Up North worked with the Colton-Pierrepont Living Environment class on a lab surveying deer droppings at Stone Valley. While it seems deer density is low, we found a many red-backed salamanders and jack-in-the-pulpit flowers. The cool, overcast weather made for a great day in the woods.

A cloudy morning turned into a beautiful Labor Day hike on Mt. Colvin. Spiders were busy overnight and we inadvertently broke face-first through several of their webs in the morning. Views of the Great Range and Ausable Lakes were fantastic.

One of my classmates and I found this cute little guy while hiking around Higley Flow for Ecology lab during finals week.

We decided to flip over a few logs while at the river, and found this little guy. They are yellowish-brown with two black stripes running down their back.

While doing some trail work off the Northville-Lake Placid trail, our group passed a pond which was full of large salamanders. Due to their aquatic habitat, these are classified as newts and are the adult stage of their adolescent form, the red eft. The efts are small salamanders that are easily spotted on damp days in the woods due to their distinctive bright red coloring and red spots. The adult form loses this red coloration and instead turns an olive-green color, but retains the red spots, as well as developing a fin on their tail for better movement in the water.