Spring Ahead

The endangered Jefferson salamander is about to make its move.

Some see the recent flocking of robins as the first sign of spring's inevitable arrival. 

Others say its the crocuses.

Me? I go in for defrosting wood frogs.

Seeing as there is no greater love if irony than nature, one of the first signs of spring is the quickening of the coldest blood -- that of amphibians.

And our region's resident lover of amphibians is North Coventry resident Kim White.

Yes, wood frogs literally freeze over the winter,

and then revive with warmer temperatures. 

How cool is that? Very.

She not only keeps track of the migratory salamanders, wood frogs and endangered Jefferson salamanders that literally live in her back yard, she also organizes her neighbors to ensure they don't become a punch line when its time for them to cross the road.

(I mention wood frogs because they literally freeze over the winter, sort of a hibernation-plus, and then defrost good as new and head off to spawn in the vrnal pools that dot the area of North Coventry this particular batch calls home.)

And so, earlier than has ever happened in recent memory (it gets earlier every year it seems) it's that time.

Below is a letter White sends out to frog friends (and salamanders too) when the first batch was spotted:

2009 Photo by John Strickler

Kim White, right, instructs volunteers during a migration

Looks like a very early start for the 2013 amphibian migration. On January 31st during a we heavy rain, our neighbors and fellow amphibian friends reported seeing 5 wood frogs, 1 spotted salamander, and 1 jefferson salamander. This is a super early start. I had heard the earliest in our area was February 12th. The usual time is the end of February through the month of March. Nothing has moved since, but just in case we get some more warm rainy spells, I thought we should prepare.

Whenever the conditions are right we may see movement. Here are the conditions that must be met:

1. Raining or very damp

2. Temperatures above freezing

3. Dark

2009 Photo by John Strickler

A salamander in the bucket is worth two on the road.

The Amphibian Friends have had six successful migrations with the support of North Coventry Township and their officials. The safety of our volunteers is of utmost importance. Any children must have very close parental supervision and stay on Wells Road, which the township allows us to shut down so the children can watch and add buckets loaded with amphibians to the vernal pool.

Guidelines for Volunteers

- Please come dressed for the weather. Bring a flashlight (head lamps seem to be a favorite so that hands are free), rain gear, and a non-metallic bucket. Safety vests will be given at check-in.

- (Blogger's Note: I have removed references to the location of the migration as White likes to keep its location known primarily to the people who volunteer and mean to help the critters, not hurt them. If you would like to volunteer, White's phone number and e-mail address are below.)

- Check in with the blue Highlander at the top of XX Rd. and XX Rd. before heading out onto XX Rd. You will be given instructions and a vest.

2009 Photo by John Strickler

 - Volunteers will position themselves on a segment of XX Rd. and watch that section. If a vehicle approaches, you will pick up any amphibians that are in danger and help them cross the road in the direction that they were heading. Bare hands are best so it doesn’t interfere with the protective coating on the amphibian skins.

- Try to keep a rough tally of what kind of amphibians you see, how many you see, and which way they are crossing. When you are finished volunteering for the night, please let us know what your tally was. To help plan out your volunteer time, the migration usually begins at dusk and the traffic slows by 9 or 10 depending on whether it is a weekend or weekday.

If you received this email, you are on the email alert list. This means I will send out an email to let you know if I think the weather conditions are optimal for a migration. If you are still in doubt whether to come out, call my home number or cell. I can give you up to the minute updates.

Thank you,

Kim White

Coordinator of Volunteers

My contact information is:

Phones: h: 610-469-1712; cell: 610-247-0686; alt. (Jim’s cell) 610-256-9439. (Her e-mail is kim.a.white@gmail.com)

Cell service is sketchy in our area. If you can’t get a hold of us and conditions seem to all be met, just come on out.

The Cold-Blooded Signs of Spring

John Strickler's Mercury photos from the 2009 migration

So I need not tell you that given the near total absence of winter weather this year, it may be hard to figure out when spring gets here.

After all, the daffodils in my yard started breaking the surface in February and the birds are already trying to rebuild their nest in my front door transom.

But one group of people who know when spring has definitely arrived usually make that determination when standing on the side of the road on a dark, wet night in the woods of western North Coventry near French Creek State Park.

They are there to help their cold-blooded amphibian friends -- wood frogs, spring peepers, spotted salamanders and, more particularly Jefferson salamanders -- across the unlit road to a particular vernal pool.

As I wrote in 2009 when reporting on this story for The Mercury, "it is the conditions and not the calendar which dictate when this migration occurs."

The migrating salamanders can be hard to see at night

"It has to be above freezing and damp and rainy for the salamanders, and the wood frogs who favor the same conditions, to make the short but perilous journey,"

And it turns out, that the conditions conspired with the calendar to make sure irony had a hand in this year's migration which began, on all days, "LEAP DAY!"

According to Kim White, the volunteer who coordinates the road crossing patrol and keeps a close eye on weather conditions at this time of year, that was the day the leaping began.

"Leap Day certainly had the right name because we saw a lot of leaping Wednesday night," White wrote to those on her "amphibian friends" e-mail list.

"The migration started slow (just like the rain) and then momentum picked up and there was a steady stream until we called it a night a 10:30. Luckily there wasn't many vehicles. Thank you to the die-hard volunteers who did come out. They had their hands full (literally with slimy friends). Here are the tallies:

Spotted Salamanders 161

Jefferson Salamanders 6

Wood Frogs 80 

Spring Peepers 3

"Sadly, we did have 6 spotted, and 6 wood frog casualties. 

"Last night we heard the wood frogs singing for the first time. Spring has come early here!

Kim White, right, with volunteers in 2009

The conditions have to be right for the migration to begin. 

It has to be above freezing and damp and rainy for the salamanders, and the wood frogs who favor the same conditions, to make the short but perilous journey.

What makes the journey perilous is traffic.

To avoid predators, the salamanders and frogs typically choose a dark night to make their journey, but that also makes them nearly invisible to drivers on the unlit roads.

And that's why they need a little help from the same species that poses the greatest threat.

The volunteers, who wear luminescent safety vests and, in some cases, head lamps, are not allowed to stop traffic on the one country road involved, although the township does allow the stopping of traffic on the other.  

A vernal pool appears only in spring with no egg-eating fish

When they see a car coming, White instructs them to "scoop up as many salamanders and frogs as you can, put them in a bucket and move them to the side of the road that most of them seemed to be going."

They're going both ways because some are on the their way to the pool to spawn, and others are finished.

The pool in question is called a "vernal pool" because it appears in the spring and by late summer, it has dried up.

It is on White's property and she said she and her family intend to ensure that it is preserved in perpetuity.

Wood frogs literally freeze in winter

"They need the vernal pool because it dries up so there are no fish in it to eat the eggs," White told me last year. 

So where have they been when they're not spawning in the pool? Well the wood frogs were literally frozen solid during the winter.

"The wood frogs actually freeze, and the scientists are still trying to figure out how they do that," said White in 2009. The salamanders spend the winder in abandoned burrows, usually made by small mammals.

Among the salamander species using the pool is the Jefferson salamander, an endangered species.

The Jefferson blue spotted salamander, endangered and living in North Coventry

"The herpetologists said this the place nearest Philadelphia that they still spawn," White said. "Between here and the city, they're all gone."

 

As the season begins, White is still on the job.

"I am watching the weather for tonight and hoping the rain holds off until late so our friends can cross without traffic," she wrote in her e-mail Friday.

If you would like to volunteer to help the frogs and salamanders cross the road, you can contact White via e-mail at kim.a.white@gmail.com