The Young Macnamaras held their spring Amphibian Walk on a cool, Friday evening in April. Our adult friends from the Macnamara Field Naturalists’ Club were invited to join us, and a group of twenty participants were in attendance. Alicia started our evening by providing everyone with a field identification brochure, that illustrated Ontario frogs and toads, and we discussed the different calls we were hearing around us. The loudest frog we could hear was the Spring Peeper, a frog that is, gram-for-gram, one of the loudest animals on Earth! We then talked about mole salamanders, and how early spring is the best time of year to see them as they come above ground to find mates.

Alicia explained to us that this is the second year of the Herpetofaunal Atlas, and said that all the creatures we found would be recorded and submitted to this great Ontario-wide effort. At our first location, we were able to record three Eastern Newts in the adult stage, as well as several Green Frog tadpoles. Spring Peepers were in full chorus, joined by a single Western Chorus Frog. At our second site, we were able to ‘spot’ a few Spotted Salamanders, as well as a Blue-Spotted Salamander! These were great finds and everyone got a very close look! Using long handled nets, we were able to get close to these beautiful creatures, without disturbing the delicate habitats they live in.

Many thanks go out to Steve for finding the superb locations that we surveyed, and to Art for providing us with great additional information on the creatures we found!