Week 13 Pondcast
March 28 - April 3, 2010

Week 13 started out rainy with temperatures in the mid-40s - perfect weather for salamanders to migrate to the pond and reproduce. But for the second year in a row, pond water levels are low due to the cool, dry weather possibly caused by El Nino conditions, according to City Herpetologist, Dave Mifsud. Perhaps the mid-March warm spell may have added to the confusion for our slimy-skinned salamander friends?

Overall, citywide salamander reproduction numbers are down. Thank goodness these fascinating, yet overlooked, creatures live up to 20 years, states Mifsud. So if conditions are not right, they will wait for another year to reproduce. So, if you are fortunate enough to find a wild salamander, please leave it alone. Should you see anyone leaving a park or pond with amphibians or their eggs, please call the Natural Areas Preservation at 734-794-6627.

On Sunday, March 28, I braved the rain and headed out to the pond where I was lucky enough to encounter a few salamanders. Please take a moment to view the embedded video or visit my YouTube Channel to see them all. *

*A note for technological newbies: If you’re frustrated with videos that stop and start, hit the pause button (looks like quotation marks) and let the video load to your computer for a few minutes. Once the video timeline (looks like a thermometer) has increased in length (part-way or entirely), click on the pause button again to view the video without hiccups.

Accompanied by Jameson on Tuesday, March 30, we monitored the fairy shrimp - they can be seen swimming in the waters of the pond and have reached a size of about a half-centimeter. Would that size then be a hemi-centi-meter? I did spot a single spotted salamander swimming. On various logs throughout Black Pond Woods, springtails (snow fleas) were seen swarming. Apparently their eggs have hatched.

By the end of the week, near-record temperatures reached nearly 80 degrees! Countless spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) and a handful of chorus frogs (Pseudacris triseriata) were heard. Peepers appear in this week’s Pondcast video.

Spring peepers vary in shades of brown with a dark-colored cross on their back, hence the scientific name of crucifer. Peepers are about one-inch long (2-2.5cm) and can climb but prefer to stay near the edges of temporary ponds that contain no fish. These tiny frogs can be found throughout the eastern U.S. Spring peeper larva (tadpoles) mature in 45-90 days, depending on how much water is present in the pond.

Soon after awakening from hibernation in March until June, peepers will call, which sounds like a high-pitched “peep." Females are most receptive to larger males who peep loud and fast. At a pond, hundreds of males will call, creating an almost deafening sound.

If you want to hear a chorus of these tiny frogs without having to hike through dark woods, on a warm spring night after sunset, with little wind, take a drive west of Ann Arbor, down Liberty or Scio Church Road and stop at an intersection. The wet drainage ditches alongside the roads are perfect spots for spring peepers and other frogs.

If you would like to hear the call of a spring peeper (and other frogs) without leaving your computer, the University of Michgan’s Animal Diversity Web has a number of frog calls for your listening pleasure.

Photo Captions:

Photo 1: A spotted salamander heading to the pond,

Photo 2: One of many swarms of springtails (snow fleas) on a log in Black Pond Woods.

Photo 3: A peeping spring peeper at the pond’s edge.

Photo 4: Black Pond on Tuesday, March 30, 2010.

Stefan Szumko is a middle school science teacher by trade, an outdoor environmental educator by calling, and a homedaddy by choice. He can be reached at slugwhisperer@gmail.com. His entire collection of pondcasts can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/slugwhisperer.