Reptiles & Amphibians with the Naturalist Certification Series

Finding reptiles and, especially, amphibians has a mystique quite different from a bird walk or studying ecosystems. It needs to be done at night, and it involves playing in the water. The highlight of our night was exploring a Delmarva bay, seen above, but we found different animals in three separate locations down New Castle County.

31 May 2014

Middle Creek Natural Area

6:07 p.m. scattered clouds but mostly sunny, 75 degrees

Our first stop was brief but fun when Jim White led us to an old springhouse at Middle Run Natural Area, a county park just north of Newark where the restoration and biological diversity work is managed by the Delaware Nature Society. I had heard Jim describe the springhouses that dot our area as great habitat for long-tailed salamanders (Eurycea longicauda) a couple of times, but not having any ready access to one, I hadn’t seen them myself.

Terrestrial Ecosystems trip with Naturalist Certification Series

This account is of my second Naturalist Certification Series field trip and is quite long, but hopefully of interest for the variety of plants, animals and interactions they retell. There's more I should be doing to fully develop this entry, but I'm eager to finally get it posted, since it has already been more than a month.

17 May 2014

Burrows Run Preserve Hockessin, DE

8 a.m. Sunny

We gathered in the parking area just off Ashland Clinton Schoolhouse Road, surrounded by the tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) being studied by a University of Delaware graduate student for response to stress. Their comfort around people and their acrobatics above and around us immediately drew my attention, but being just a bit late, I hurried over to Joe who was starting to explain the day. We would be hiking through five distinct terrestrial ecosystems this morning, discovering what we could and learning about how the plants and animals in each interact.