#red-spotted newt

[samepictureofanewteveryday]

A red-spotted newt

(Image ID: A red-spotted newt standing on what I'd guess is wet pavement)

[sorrcha]

red eft dragon

[stranger-nature]

Red-spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens viridescens) - Southwest Ohio, 3/24/2023

[standardquip]

Current state of my pond

Read about why the pond is gone

I disassembled my pond and put all the plants in kiddie pools. I managed to plant a lot of my bog plants in the ground in the backyard, but I can't do that for plants that need to be submerged in water, like my lillies.

I typically use 2-3 inflatable family pools (~300 gallons each) when draining my pond, and I started with that when I disassembled it. But I didn't want to have an inflatable pool out all year long - especially not winter. I didn't want to accidentally destroy the pool and the walls are too high to allow wildlife in and out freely.

As it was, I had already "re-homed" several spotted salamanders and red-spotted newts into the inflated pool, where they could not escape. I did not like that.

Eventually, I was able to buy 3 hard plastic kiddie pools. It wasn't enough to contain ALL of my plants, but it got most of them. I set them up in the backyard with rocks and such to make pathways for wildlife to come and go as they please.

Unsurprisingly, all the salamanders left and so did most of the newts. I expected (and hoped) for this.

What I did not expect, but what I probably should not be surprised by, was the toads and frogs came back and laid eggs all over everything.

I am really kind of saddened by this. My pond saw literal hordes of tadpoles every year. I don't know how many (if ANY!) of them will survive on these plastic bins. Maybe I should start an aquarium? (I won't).

I just know they'll be food that's totally easy pickings, and it's sad.

But, hey, more photo/tumblr opportunities, I guess?

[delphianactuallydoodling]

Red Spotted Newt (2024) acrylic paint on panel

[forestfeeling]

Literally cried over the first critter

[long-lost-soul]

my favorite wildlife sightings from recently :]

[anim-otd]

Animal of the day: Eastern red-spotted newt! (Notophthalmus viridescens) These small amphibians inhabit the streams and ponds of Eastern North America! They are known for their red eft stage (pictured above) during which they exhibit a bright orange coloration meant to warn predators of their toxicity! They are in fact poisonous, and anything that eats them will subsume their highly potent neurotoxins into its body! Image source: https://mlbs.virginia.edu/organism/notophthalmus_viridescens

[judgeitbyitscover]

World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Cover art by Fumi Mini Nakamura

Milkweed Editions, September 2020

As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted—no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape—she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance. “What the peacock can do,” she tells us, “is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life.” The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world’s gifts.

[alex51324]

Newts & More!

By popular demand, here are more vacation photos from the "Flora and Fauna" category.

Newt #1:

This one was on the road in the cabin area; his color is so bright that he looks like a toy.

After taking his picture, I returned him to a safe spot beside the road:

These little guys are the efts, or juvenile life stage, of the Eastern (Red Spotted) Newt. The first (larval) and third (adult) stages live in the water, but during this middle stage, which can last several years, they go up on land to explore the streambanks and damp parts of the forest floor.

Second little dude was near the Wolf Rocks overlook, where we went on Wednesday:

He was pretty far from any stream--apparently they can travel quite a bit when it's damp enough for them, which it certainly was. I hope he made it back somewhere nice and moist before it got warm and sunny on Thursday afternoon.

This one we found on Thursday, at the Powder Mill Nature Preserve, next to a little stream called Powder Mill Run. I'm not sure what the little thing on it's side is--could just be a bit of leaf that stuck on there, but I wondered if it's a vestigial bit of gill. (I took this closeup of it because I meant to ask someone at the nature center, but I forgot.)

This one is noticeably less orange than the others! I don't know whether that's an individual variation, or if perhaps this one is older than the others? This is what the adult ones look like:

(Photo: Smithsonian National Zoo; I didn't see any of this stage in person.)

On to flora! Here are some small mushrooms:

Tiny conifers growing in the shade of waist-high ferns:

A pitcher plant--one of Pennsylvania's three carnivorous plant species--growing in the Spruce Flats Bog, a unique high-altitude bog in the park:

The bog is near the summit of Laurel Mountain, which is an unusual place for a bog! High-altitude wetlands are a thing, but apparently this one is scientifically A Bit Weird. Most of the other ones are located at higher latitudes where their formation is explained by glacier activity; according to the park signage, this area is not believed to have been glaciated in the last Ice Age, so it isn't entirely clear how this bog came to be.

Anyway, here's a picture of it:

The trees are not spruces--the name apparently comes from a misidentification by early-19th-century settlers--but I don't remember what kind they actually are. The park has a boardwalk going out maybe 10 or 15 meters--30 or 40 feet--into the bog, so that people can get a good look at the unusual plant life without damaging the fragile ecosystem.

And finally, some Mountain Laurel:

Our state flower, mountain laurel is a shrub that grows up to about two or three times the height of a person, and for a short time in early summer--right about now, in fact!--it's covered in these big clusters of delicate little flowers. The color ranges from white to light pink, and they were everywhere. I guess that's why the marketing term for the region is called the Laurel Highlands!

[samepictureofanewteveryday]

A red-spotted newt

[sorrcha]

chunky little red eft

[laomelettedufromage]

It’s a shame that there isn’t a popular gummy snack out there that’s shaped and colored like an eastern newt with how… gummy-like they are

[rainbowtoyspattern]

Red spotted newt 17 " plush crochet salamander, crochet Eastern newt, Red eft toy crochet amphibian

https://rainbowtoyspattern.etsy.com/listing/1155338536

[chunkula3]

Woe.

Newt be upon you.

[coverteyes]

Rainy day walk

juvenile eastern red-spotted newt