Do you live near wetlands, or a river, stream, lake, or pond? These areas are alive with amphibian activity in early spring.
Tara Schroeder from Green Mount Conservation Group. | Debra Marnich
Green Mountain Conservation Group (GMCG), Chocorua Lake Conservancy, and Tin Mountain Conservation Center (TMCC) are encouraging area residents to contribute to citizen science by identifying amphibian migration hot spots in the Saco Watershed and monitoring the amphibian road crossings near your home. Anyone can participate in a Big Night Salamander Crossing Brigade, help amphibians to cross the road safely, and collect data about species that are on the move. Big Night, the first warm, rainy night (or nights) of spring, when amphibians migrate from their winter homes to spring breeding grounds, is weather-dependent and could happen any time March through May.
To learn more about when you should go out to look for them and participate in your own brigade, review the Salamander Crossing Brigade volunteer materials from the Harris Center for Conservation Education (HCCE) or watch this year’s HCCE Salamander Crossing Brigade Workshop, below.
CLC and GMCG will be hosting another salamander brigade this year in Tamworth. If you would like to be part of this citizen science project, please fill out a simple form via the button below. Space permitting, we will email you when the time looks right to see if you are able to join us and to give you directions and details about what to bring.
Spotted salamander. | Debra Marnich
We are asking that only people living locally (within walking or close driving distance) register for the brigade so as to limit the number of people driving long distances on these important migration nights. If you are interested in collecting data closer to home on your own (within the Saco River Watershed) and sharing that data, you can do so by submitting an online data form. Important: you must watch the Harris Center’s training recording prior to doing your brigade and submitting your data to make sure you are trained in amphibian identification, data collection, and safety protocols.
Please help save the historic migration crossings for amphibians across the state and contribute to valuable data collection supporting this effort. For more information, contact Tara Schroder at education@gmcg.org.
Banner image from the Big Night crankie.