Caudata counting

[roger]

My girlfriend Nancy and I have made a hobby out of hiking through out local nature preserves and seeing how many Caudata we can count. Does anyone else out there engage in a similar activity? We are lucky to live in a "species rich" area in the Northeastern U.S. and will typically find Eastern Newts, red-backs, dusky salamanders, and 2 line salamanders. On one glorius rainy day we counted 485 red efts along the same trail!
I was wondering if any other posters enjoy an occasional salamander safari?

 

[joeri]

I often go out in the local woods and wet areas I can find, but so far I haven't been able to find any. Belgium has a poor history with newts. There are only 3 species left in out here, of which one is very close to extinction in our country. There are areas where I could find them, but they are not close to me

Belgium is very hard trying to preserve nature and restore what has been gone. Some species have already returned and thus what I do is looking for areas where newts could survive.
After my studies I'd like to setup an action group to reintroduce newts in our parts.

Someone has to do it

 

[elizabeth]

<font color="ff6000">Wow. 485 newts in one place. I would have brought a camera and cherished the moment.</font>

 

[roger]

It is sad to hear about the newts in Belgium. Here in New York the most endangered salamander is the eastern tiger. They are now restricted to Long Island and even there developement is threatening the tiger's habitat. We have a number of nature preserves and state parks where I am (about 2.5 hours north of New York City). In Thacher Park, just south of me, there are breeding ponds for eastern newts and yellow spotted salamanders. Encon even built a special tunnel so the yellow spotteds could cross the roads safely. I like going there in early spring, before the ponds become overgrown with water plants, and watching the adult newts walking around on the bottom. I have even witnessed some unique behavior- some newts do a sort of "belly-roll" when coming up for air. This shows off their bright yellow underside. Is this courtship behavior?

 

[roger]

Bethnewt
I wish I had a camera that day! We were walking along a trail in the Plotterkill Preserve, just west of Schenectady, NY. It was raining lightly when we started. We began seeing efts only a few yards into the hike and by the time we had gone about a mile we had already counted over 250! This was in September, 2003. Over final count was 485, though I admit we had to stop at one point due to a downpour and then start again.
If you are ever in this area try Thacher Park, Plotterkill Preserve, or the Hanacroix Ravine for eft spotting. Though you might want to go AFTER it rains

 

[angelina]

Here in Colorado caudates are a rarity. We don't have many wetlands.
Paris, have you seen any here?

 

[roger]

Do those caudates that live in Colorado tend to live at higher elevations where it's cooler?

Saturday, 04/03, was cool but I hiked anyway. My girlfriend and I only found one newt. It was an adult, probably female, and was a little cold. It was migrating overland toward a marsh. This is out 2nd newt of the season. Today,04/04, we found five red-backed salamanders. They were good sized and healthy. Still a little chilly out!

 

[joeri]

wOOOOOt

Today I spotted a newt in a nearby forest. There are newts left in my area in Belgium!!

http://www.caudata.org/forum/messages/985/14643.html?1081791108

 

[roger]

Joeri,
That is great news about your newt sighting!! I thought the photos were excellent. The newt looks quite healthy. If the newts are making a comeback in your region maybe you will spot more!

My last spotting was of two n. viridens in a pond last Saturday. One of these days I will buy my own camera and record some of my sightings.

 

[sergé]

Look on the www.ravonwm.org in the Netherlands there are monitoring networks for reptiles and amphibians. They count every year on regular intervals to see if populations are declining.

 

[joeri]

Thank you for the complements Roger.

That's a nice website Sergé, I'll take a closer look later. Great tip, there are so few decent websites concerning newts in Dutch. (luckily I understand that crazy English language good enough )

 

[roger]

Nancy and I went out eft counting on Sunday. It was a steady rain in Gilbert Lake State Park here in New York. We were soaked after 3 hours of hiking and counting, but we found 433 efts! A great day. Of course we had to drink hot tea to revive ourselves, but it was worth it. We also found a dozen or so adult newts in one of the breeding ponds plus 3 dusky salamanders under a rock. Sundays have been good to us lately. The previous Sunday we found a 6.5" yellow spotted salamander under a 'no skiing' sign that we found lying in the woods.