At this time of year the vegetation in New England is beginning to thicken into its full summer glory, which can make spotting wildlife in the field more difficult than at other times of the year, but this is in fact a great time to get out and look for birds, mammals and amphibians which are increasingly active in the warm weather. Amphibians, especially, are taking advantage of vernal pools, so this is a good time to look and listen for frogs and to keep an eye out for several species of salamanders which call New England home. Mass Audubon has some terrific resources when it comes to learning more about wetland and vernal pool ecology and the critical role these environments play in the life cycles of our native amphibians.
This Mass Audbon site is a great resources for people of all ages to learn about Massachusetts amphibians and discover ways to get involved with monitoring these important bell-weather creatures when it comes to tracking changes in the larger environment.
Another very interesting online resource is this website which focuses on Connecticut amphibians and is run by natural history author and educator John Himmelman. In fact, Mr. Himmelman will be the subject of an interview on the New England Nature Notes website in an upcoming post focusing on moths and butterflies, so if you'd like to get a sneak preview of his work in another area such as amphibians, you might want to check it out.
I will definitely be writing more about amphibians in New England as the summer progresses, and if you have suggestions for species or places to visit that I might want to focus on in an upcoming post please don't hesitate to drop me a line at newenglandnaturenotes@gmail.com
Copyright Daniel E. Levenson 2012.
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