What's Your Nature?
Become a Nature Up North explorer to share your encounters with wild things and wild places in New York's North Country. Post your wildlife sightings, landscape shots, photos from your outings, and even your organization's events!
Second Red-Backed Salamander of the Day
This was my second salamander of the day. I found it just around where I found my first one, but I made sure to put it back under exactly where I found it because Red-backed salamanders can be territorial. As you can sort of see from the picture, it was a beautiful sunny day!
First Red Backed Salamander of the Day!
I was out herping on this wonderful Monday with my class at Glenmeal State Forest, and I found lots of these. The first picture shows the log I found the salamander under. It was one of the first I picked up!
Salamanders, Frogs, and Frog eggs spotted in the Noco!
A baby dusky salamander, three red-backed salamanders (2 shown), one frog (possibly wood), and wood frog eggs were spotted in St. Lawrence County between the hours of 1-4 on a sunny day in April! All herps were found along/near vernal pools! Red-backed salamanders seemed to be bountiful. This is in addition to the four photos I posted last week as encounters!
Spotted salamander
Found this small spotted salamander underneath a piece of old firewood at Higley Flow State Park during a herpetology class field trip. It was very active and quickly returned to hiding under its log. Someone else found a second one of similar size in the same area under a different log.
Green frog
I found this green frog on a field trip with my herpetology class. It was is a very small, temporary stream where we were looking for salamanders. The frog was fairly small and had pretty dull colors
A garter snake
I saw this snake about 5 feet away from another garter snake. they were both basking in sunny spots next to the water.
Common Garter Snake
I was out looking for frogs and almost stepped on top of this garter snake! It was basking in a sunny spot next to the water but didn't seem to mind that I had interrupted
Green frogs
A very warm day, I went for a walk on the trails behind St. Lawrence athletic fields. There were a large number of green frogs swimming and calling in the center of this wetland, they were hard to photograph because they kept swimming away whenever I got close enough.
Large Predators: Who Lives in Northern New York and Who Once Did?
What comes to mind when you think of a large predator? Maybe a powerful lion? Or a burly bear? Did you know that the Adirondacks and all of New York State were once home to a variety of top predators, including cougars, wolves, wolverines, lynx and black bears? Out of these five species, only one is still present here today… maybe you’ve seen it. That’s right, the only remaining top predator in New York State is the black bear (Ursus americanus).
Juvenile Spotted Salamander
While out on my last trip for my herpetology class to the Higely Flow State Forest I found this small spotted salamander underneath a log. The log was cut into pieces by a chainsaw, and other pieces of the entire tree were scattered in the area. This tiny spotted salamander didn't move much when I first picked it up but after more people gathered to see, it started walking around my hand. It moved very slow, so my herping partner Sam decided to name it Wheels. No more than 10 feet away from wheels underneath a similar log was another tiny spotted salamander too!