Date added
Jul. 10, 2011
03:15 PM CDT
Description
Don't remember too many details now. I was with a group of people with the Illinois Wilds Institute for Nature (IWIN) on a herp trip.
Date added
Jun. 20, 2009
11:32 AM CDT
Date added
Apr. 1, 2009
07:59 PM CDT
Description
First mistakenly identified these as lead phase of redback salamanders but upon further consideration and comparing them with the lead phase redback I had seen earlier in the week concluded they must be four-toed salamanders. Of course I didn't think to count their toes while I was there, so I'm just basing the ID on the photos and the fact that they occur in that county. Open for confirmation.
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Date added
Apr. 1, 2009
07:51 PM CDT
Description
I first mistakenly identified this as a redback salamander because I saw several in the same area, but the orange on the base of the front legs indicates it's a zigzag.
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Date added
Mar. 29, 2009
10:12 PM CDT
Description
found several under logs along a trail at the edge of a ravine
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Date added
Mar. 23, 2009
11:27 PM CDT
Description
I saw a good number of redback salamanders under logs at Forest Glen Forest Preserve, Vermilion County, IL today, including one "lead phase" specimen lacking the red stripe down its back (in one of the pictures). Need to get better at shooting these small salamanders though...
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Date added
Mar. 12, 2009
09:50 PM CDT
Description
Did not see many but they were clearly present by their calls. They did not seem to be in as great a number as the wood frogs or spotted salamanders at this location or in as great a number as they were at a nearby less wooded vernal pool (see earlier observation).
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Date added
Mar. 12, 2009
09:47 PM CDT
Description
Vernal pool in the woods filled with spotted salamanders, but large numbers of wood frogs there too, often in their zeal grabbing hold of salamanders that were swimming by.
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Date added
Mar. 12, 2009
09:45 PM CDT
Description
Present at a vernal pool a friend and I had gone to to look for spotted salamanders. The silvery salamanders were not in as great a number but present once you started searching for them. There is a small chance these are smallmouth salamanders-- I wasn't totally up on the differences when I was there and wish I had counted the costal grooves in person rather than trying to do it from the photos. Other opinions? There ARE silvery salamanders at this location -- it is the only location they are known from in Illinios. Confirmation on ID anyone?
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Date added
Mar. 12, 2009
09:40 PM CDT
Description
A friend and I knew it should be a perfect night for salamanders -- warm and rainy all day. Sure enough, a vernal pond that hadn't been there when my friend looked just four days before was now well formed and filled with spotted salamanders and wood frogs; spring peepers and silvery salamanders were also present in fair number.
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Date added
Mar. 8, 2009
11:24 PM CDT
Description
I'd never had the pleasure of hearing wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) "live in concert" before but following up on a tip from a friend I was thrilled to find a huge number at a vernal pool at Kickapoo State Park. Temperature was upper 60's though my understanding is that they will breed at much lower temperatures. In the picture of the pond itself all the glowing spots are frog eyes. Although Spring Peepers were also present in large numbers, the males were not calling from in the water itself, so I suspect all the eyes in that shot are wood frogs.
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Date added
Mar. 8, 2009
11:12 PM CDT
Description
Spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) were present at one of two vernal ponds I visited and deafening at the other. Temperature was in the upper 60s, unseasonably warm. Largely overcast. They were active before sunset but, as I say, deafening after.
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