A bevy of salamanders, including an interesting hypomelanistic specimen

 

Your narrator holds one of Dr. Thomas Pauley's many publications on West Virginia salamanders, while posing with the man himself.

For the past 20 years, I have given talks and led field trips at the New River Birding & Nature Festival in Fayetteville. The festival always takes place at the tail end of April/early May, and I highly recommend it. GO HERE for details. This is one of the most biologically rich areas in eastern North America. An interesting part of those biological riches are salamanders, and a few years ago, event organizers got Tom involved. This was akin to striking gold for some of us, and I've had the privilege of going on several nocturnal forays with Dr. Pauley.

This year was no exception, and a small group of us headed into the New River gorge on the evening of May 3. the excursion was even better as we had two of Dr. Pauley's proteges leading us: Josh and Tabitha Stover. They are extraordinary herpetologists, know where everything is, and are incredibly adept at finding secretive amphibians.

The New River gorge, near Fayetteville, West Virginia. It contains scads of interesting organisms, among scenery to die for. For this trip, we descended to some cliff formations down near the river.

A Green Salamander (Aneides aeneus) peeks from a fissure. For us Ohioans, this is a major rarity, and one must know exactly where to go. Down here, they are far more frequent, and we saw many this night.

A Kentucky Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) watches us from its lair. We saw several, including one whopper that must have taped out at ten inches. It was a bit wary and backed into his fissure before we could photo-document the mini-monster.

A Seal Salamander (Desmognathus monticola) has a look around before emerging. This is one of the most common species in the area. When we arrived, not long after nightfall, it was dry. Salamander hunting is far better after showers have moistened the ground, and lo and behold, after a bit it started to rain. We couldn't have coordinated the weather any better: after 20 or so minutes of fairly light showers, the precipitation stopped, everything was soaked, and a previously hidden army of amphibians emerged.

My Marsh Blue Violet (Viola cucullata) shot was photo-bombed by another Seal Salamander. Look closely in the bottom right of the image.

A gorgeous Northern Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus) poses for the camera. Handle one and you will see why they are so named. Sticky skin secretions smack of Elmer's glue. The gloss black base coat liberally peppered with white freckles makes for a very showy creature, though.

We were understandably pleased - who would not! - to see several fine specimens of Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber). They are not uncommon here, but generally special efforts must be made to see one. Note the yellow irises. A similar species also occurs, but in lesser numbers, the Mud Salamander (Pseudotriton montanus). It is also bright orange-red and flecked with black spots but has brown irises. It is also well-named, spending much time in soupy mire.

A Wehrle's Salamander (Plethodon wehrlei) marches across a rock. While perhaps a plain jane compared to some of the previous species, it is a handsome creature with its snub nose, big eyes, and delicate saffron flecking. This is another common species in West Virginia, although herpetologists have long noted regional variation in the species. One of these variants has much larger golden spots, so much so that it suggests a Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum). It was described as a separate species in 2019 and dubbed the Yellow-spotted Woodland Salamander (Plethodon pauleyi). Note the specific epithet of the scientific name: pauleyi. It is named for Dr. Thomas Pauley. A fitting honor for West Virginia's leading herpetologist!

Yellow-spotted Woodland Salamander has a very limited distribution in Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. I hope to make a trip with Josh Stover later this year to see it, and if so, will report on that with imagery afterwards.

Your narrator, while bumbling about, came across this strange-looking creature, which I thought to be a Wehrle's Salamander, but it didn't fit the mold. Not knowing what to make of it, I called Josh over and he instantly recognized it as a hypomelanistic (abnormally pale) Wehrle's Salamander. None of the rest of us had even heard of such a thing, and apparently this was the first record for the New River Gorge, although Josh says there are pockets of them elsewhere in the state.

All in all, it was a wonderful wet night of salamander hunting, with many interesting finds. I returned to my abode at midnight, dreading the 5 am wakeup the following morning. But well worth the loss of sleep, and I look forward to future West Virginia salamander forays.

Big thanks to Josh and Tabitha Stover, and Tom Pauley, for teaching us about these interesting creatures!

Dolly Sods, West Virginia

As always, click the photo to enlarge

Sunrise from Bear Rocks, Dolly Sods, West Virginia. August 22, 2021. This mountaintop is an amazing place, and I was glad to finally experience it. Even though I only had part of a day to explore Dolly Sods, I packed a lot in and saw lots. I'll probably post more from my adventures up there, but for now, here are two images.

A tough Red Spruce, Picea rubens, exhibits the "Krummholz Effect". Strong and near constant winds (from the west in this case), sometimes severe, have stunted the growth of branches on the upwind side. Krummholz means "twisted wood", and such trees are also called flag trees or banner trees. This spruce was at Dolly Sods in West Virginia, and that mountaintop can be a harsh environment.

West Virginia photo workshop! May 6 - 9!

 The iconic mill at Babcock State Park in southern West Virginia.

Debbie DiCarlo and I are leading what promises to be a fantastic photo foray in one of eastern North America's most scenic regions, the New River Gorge and vicinity in southern West Virginia. We've got two or three open spots, and would love to have you. Dates are May 6 thru 9, and base camp is the charming little town of Fayetteville, West Virginia.

Established in 1978, New River Gorge National River in West Virginia encompasses over 70,000 acres of land along 53 miles of the New River. The New River is actually among the oldest rivers on Earth! It's a rugged, whitewater river that flows through deep and spectacular canyons, carving a deep and long gorge in the Appalachian Mountains. And we will be there to photograph oodles of things - sunrises/sunsets from majestic overlooks to waterfalls and cascades. From showy wildflowers to unique plant species in boreal-type bogs. And yes, the New River Gorge Bridge and the equally famous Glade Creek Grist Mill too!

For workshop details and to register, CLICK HERE.

Mountain streams such as this are commonplace, and you know we'll be photographing some of them.

Mountain gaps as seen from near the summit of Babcock State Park.

A four-toed salamander marches through mosses. This region is very rich in salamanders, birds, plants and other biodiversity. We'll see lots of flora and fauna, and capture much of it with our cameras.

Cranberry Glades

Today was my day to co-lead a trip up to the West Virginia high country, and Cranberry Glades. This spot within the sprawling Monongahela National Forest is one of the coolest places in the eastern United States, and is lush with diversity. It's nearly 4,000 feet up here, and these mountain crests are often dipped in cloud, as they were today. But constant moisture and cool temperatures makes the world work here, and creates the conditions for a fantastic assemblage of flora and all of the animals that go with it.

Like bonsai gone mad, twisted, gnarled Red Spruce dot the landscape. It is a birder's paradise, and boreal species that one normally would have to go much further north to see can be found here.

A territorial Dark-eyed Junco keeps watch on our group. Other northern breeders include Hermit Thrush, Blue-headed Vireo, Blackburnian Warbler, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Canada Warbler, and many more.

Perpetually cool, waterlogged peaty soil spawn all manner of fascinating flora. Botanists got crazy at Cranberry Glades, and even the floristically unitiated will find the plants interesting. False Hellebore, Veratrum viride, dominates this shot, and some Marsh Blue Violets, Viola cucullata, thrust forth at the bottom of the photo.

A gorgeous treelet, the Mountain Juneberry, Amelanchier bartramiana, was in full bloom in the shrubby thickets. This was a "life plant" for most of our crowd. It is known from only three West Virginia counties, and they are the furthest south populations of this plant.

Mist, a constant companion of the numerous Black Bears that roam this area, shrouds the edges of the vast cranberry meadow.

The area namesake, Large Cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, still holding some berries not yet found by bears or other hungry animals. It is common, as is a similar species, Small Cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccos.

We were pleased to see the rare - at this latitude - Bog-rosemary, Andromeda glaucophylla, nearing full bloom. A member of the heath family (Ericaceae), it and it's fellow heaths, such as the cranberries, dominate the acidic sphagnous substrate of the open meadow.

The tiny urceolate, or urn-shaped, flowers of Bog-rosemary are suffused with pale pink and are indescribably showy upon close inspection, and we took a moment to inspect one closely.

In spite of the mistand clouds, we had a fantastic day high in the West Virginia mountains.

West Virginia!

I'm down in what's probably my favorite place in eastern North America: Fayette County, West Virginia. This area is most famous for the New and Gauley Rivers, where rafters can experience some of the roughest whitewater to be found.

But the New River gorge and vicinity also supports some of the richest biodiversity in North America, and late April and early May are unbeatable here. I'm here for the New River Birding Festival, and the people in the above photo - from this morning - are ecstatic about an up close and personal experience with a Northern Parula.

We have a ton of fun at this event, and I'll stick up some more photos as the week progresses. If you've not been down here, and like birds and nature, put the New River Birding Festival on next year's calendar.