PEEC Bioblitz

Trash was not the objective today, but I still managed to collect a small pile. The Pocono Environmental Education Center held a bioblitz, so my goal was to find as many reptile and amphibian species as possible. Five different teams, at three different times, covered multiple locations to try and record all of the species they could find. This included everything, not just herps, and if it was something that the team members could not identify, a picture was taken in hopes it could be identified down to species at a later date. I was on the 12 to 7 shift this afternoon and the team I was on scoured two locations. Like other posts with reptiles and amphibians I can not give out these locations. Most of what I found today is common, but I do believe that species in general are safer if people do not know where to find them.  

These are some of the volunteers from the best team of the day! From left to right John, Lisa and Chris. These particular volunteers were working on plants and were very good at what they were there for. I even learned a little about a couple species and for the most part I have very little interest in plants.

This was one of the first finds of the day. I have to admit that neither I nor my team members found it. I heard someone scream snake and started running towards them. I immediately asked what color it was when I got close and when they told me green, well, I couldn't believe it. Before today I had never seen a wild live Smooth Green Snake. I have searched for years just to see and photograph one and I have only found dead ones before. It is a protected species in PA, mostly because there is not much known about their current population status. However, it does seem to be a species that has declined over the years. I have heard many stories of them being very common in certain areas where now it is impossible to find a single individual. After population studies are completed, it is possible that this species could be listed as threatened or endangered in our state. For me this was the greatest herp I have seen all year.

A Two-Lined Salamander, a very common stream denizen. As you can see they do not like being photographed and generally don't stay in the same place for more than a second when found.

The most abundant herp species of the day. The Green Frog. This is an extremely common species throughout Eastern PA.

The Pickerel Frog is also common, but generally isn't seen as much as the green. I know I have posted a few of these already on this blog. Same with a few of these species. 

This is a Red Eft, the juvenile life stage of the Red-Spotted newt. They spend multiple years of their lives in this terrestrial stage, then find a water source where they will go through physical changes, like color and tail shape. They will then spend the rest of their lives as aquatic adults.

The only amphibian that can be found above the arctic circle is this species, the Wood Frog. In early spring I have found adults frozen in ice in ponds. One of which I broke the ice around it, freed it from its icy surroundings and it hopped away, very slowly, but it was fine.

An American Toad. Lots of toadlets were out today. Always watch your step while hiking. These can easily meet the bottom of your shoe and not have a good day if you don't pay attention.

One of our tiniest frogs is the Spring Peeper. If you can see this one click on the photo to enlarge it then take a look. It is around the center.

This is a Dusky Salamander. I am horrible at telling the difference between adults of two different species of Duskys we have in this area. I believe this one is a Northern, but there is a possibility it is a Mountain. I should be able to tell the difference between the two by now, but all Dusky adults look the same to me.

I would like to say thank you to the participants in my team, John, Lisa and Chris, who gave me permission to post this group photo and thank you to all of the bioblitz participants today. It is important that these types of surveys are conducted so we know what species are in specific areas, at a specific location within that area and at a specific time. This is the second bioblitz that PEEC has conducted and todays data can be compared to the last one that took place in 2010. I would like to add that PEEC has some pretty cool facilities, nice hiking trails and they do have public programs on a regular basis. You can check out their web-site at peec.org.

I hope you have enjoyed this small break from mostly trash covered posts, I should be back out collecting more junk tomorrow. There is always more to pick up!