My Field Journal

John Bills and I went out to Piney Falls State Natural Area to look for a few salamander species endemic to the Cumberland Plateau.  Although we didn't see the numbers we were looking for, we had decent diversity.

Amphibians:

A few shots of some salamanders from Frozen Head State Park in Morgan Co., Tennessee.

We were able to take a day during the ASIH meeting to look for some herps in the Columbia River Gorge area east of Portland. Weather was hot and dry with highs approaching 95-100 but we did find a few amphibians.

I went up to Cades Cove with Megan Todd-Thompson and Dylan Dittrich-Reed to help them sample salamanders and tadpoles for ranavirus for Megan Todd-Thompson's thesis and Dylan's study with Desmognathus. Metamorph Wood Frogs were leaving Gum Swamp but a few tadpoles still remained. Later we went over to Abrams Creek to look for Shovel-Nosed Salamanders and turned up a few.

Amphibians:

After Graham left to go back to New Orleans, Bones and I headed up to the Kisatchie Ranger District of the Kisatchie National Forest in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana to camp overnight and look for herps. Weather was nice with temps in the low to mid 80s with sunny skies and overnight lows around the low 60s.  We had a fairly successful trip.

In the morning, Bones, Graham and I drove over to the Mary Brown Preserve in the Tunica Hills  of the Florida Parishes. Weather was warm with temps in the upper 80s with party cloudy skies. We didn't see many live snakes but saw a few interesting DORs.

I drove down to Louisiana to visit my old college roommate Bones Glorioso and his wife Melita for a few days.  However, herps are also on the agenda. Last night, after eating some great cajun food, Bones and I went out for a quick drive to the west of his home (in Youngsville, LA) to look for some critters.  For about an 1.5 hour trip, we did pretty well with several species found and several mosquito bites.

The results:

Graham Reynolds and I went over to Wilson County at Cedars of Lebanon State Forest to meet up with Brian Miller and his Vertebrate Zoology class to look for herps. We had a good day despite getting "slightly" lost in the forest while looking for Pseudotriton montanus streams.  Weather was in the low 80s with partly cloudy skies. Afterward, Graham and I went over to Vesta State Natural Area and found a few things as well.

Totals on the day:

Graham Reynolds and I went to the Cherokee National Forest and Roan State Park in northeast Tennessee in search of a few salamanders that we embarrassingly had not seen yet in Tennessee. Our first stop was to Roan Mountain State Park in Carter County then over to the Cedar Mountain Area in Carter County.  Next we headed to Holston Mountain around Low Gap on the border of Carter and Sullivan Counties. Finally we headed up to the Appalachian Trail on TN-NC border in Unicoi County.  We were not disappointed. Weather was pleasant with temperatures in the mid to upper 60s in the mountains and partly cloudy skies.

Roan Mountain State Park (Carter County, TN):

Last night, I went back to Cherokee National Forest in Monroe Co., TN and adjacent Nantahala National Forest in NC with Graham Reynolds and his wife Jen to road cruise for amphibians during a good rain that fell throughout the evening. Temperatures ranged from the low 50s at the higher elevations to the low 60s at lower elevations with a mix of rain, fog, and clouds.  We didn't do too bad for just staying in the car on a Friday night.  The trip began around 6:30 pm and we didn't return to Knoxville until around 3:30 am.

The List:

Amphibians: