The forecast is shaping up to be quite wet later this afternoon and evening. Assuming it holds true, we will be closing Beekman Road tonight. Unless there is another post, Beekman Road will be closed. I'm guessing the Spotted Salamander and Wood frog breeding migrations are done for the year but warm wet weather at this season always brings out amphibians and often some cool surprises.   

​SAFETY FIRST: A few VERY IMPORTANT Safety Rules! Please Read Them Thoroughly

Human Safety - 

• Beekman Road and Church Lane are always dark. Cars driving on them are moving fast and don't expect anyone there. It is simply DANGEROUS and extreme caution is the rule!
• NEVER walk Beekman Road when it is not closed.
• NEVER let children cross Church Lane without holding their hand.
• Wear bright colored clothing so you are highly visible. 

Parking -

• Parking is best at the small county lot on Beekman Road (accessed from White Pine on the South Brunswick side) just before the closure and on Crispin Lane off of Church.
• Do NOT park in front of the barriers.
• Use exceptional caution when parking as it is often dark and rainy and visibility of visitors and other cars maybe limited. 

Amphibian Safety - 

• EVERYONE must have a flashlight. Phone flashlights are useless. Without a good strong bright flashlight there is a real risk of stepping on an amphibian, which completely defeats the point of our protection plan.

 

• PLEASE DO NOT handle the amphibians. They are slippery and easy to drop and our hands can transfer oils that are harmful to them. They know where they are going, so just enjoy them as they cross and take lots of photographs!

This is how I often feel trying to decide on whether or not to close the road when the forecast is complicated and changing with each model run. The all day rain forecast just a day ago now has an extended dry slot for most of the afternoon. Looking out the window now as I write this, the rain has stopped and the sky is definitely brightening. As of the last NOAA forecast run at 8:15 am, there was still a chance of storms developing in the early evening for an hour or two. But that wasn't a given and we'll have to see if that materializes. I suspect we will make a decision in the late afternoon whether we close the road. To keep things simple, if there is not another post later today, we are NOT closing Beekman Road. NEVER WALK BEEKMAN ROAD IF IT IS NOT CLOSED!!!     

We closed Beekman Road again last night and it was amazing! It was a much different night than last Thursday but equally exciting. To start with, it was raining incredibly hard but that didn't damper anyone there, amphibians or people! In fact, that just added to the night and it seemed like all in attendance, frogs, salamanders, efts, people, were all reveling in the rain. It was a huge night for frogs, especially spring peepers that seemed to be everywhere on the road and were singing their hearts out to woo a partner in the vernal pools. Unlike last Thursday when the scouts counted around 180 Spotted Salamanders in just a few hours, there were only seven counted last night. Clearly, the long awaited rain last week after a protracted dry spell was the trigger for most of the population to all move on one night. I didn't see a single wood frog last night crossing Beekman but they were also singing their hearts out from the vernal pools. They must have slipped in last week during the rain and apparently may have moved on some rain-less nights that featured high humidity over the past few weeks too. Last night also featured some nice diversity, Spotted salamanders, wood frogs, at least two huge bullfrogs, Pickerel frogs, Green frogs, Red efts, a Red backed salamander and perhaps a Gray treefrog, NJ Chorus frog and an American toad from reports I heard. Plenty of people braved the heavy rain and I suspect everyone had a great time and got to see plenty of amphibians safely crossing the road. Everyone was also treated to the non-stop chorus of Spring Peepers, a sound that is so wonderful and so fleeting and so much a mark of the end of winter. We are watching the weather and Sunday may be nice and wet. I suspect the big nights of Spotted Salamander and Wood frog migrations are over for this year but that doesn't mean there won't be plenty to see and hear ahead. Stay tuned! Here are a few photos I took last night. Dave  

​The forecast is looking very wet this afternoon and evening, perfect weather for amphibians! Please remember if you come out that EACH person needs to have their own very bright flashlight. If it's raining hard, it can be very easy to miss a tiny Spring Peeper and to accidentally step on one. Walk slowly and follow the beam of light with your feet. I also find that an umbrella can be really helpful if it's raining hard. Of course it's always possible that nature will throw us a curve ball and there won't be any amphibians on the road, but that unpredictability is what makes all of this so exciting! Time will tell...and as we always say, please read the mandatory safety notes below before coming out to the road and follow them to a T: 

​SAFETY FIRST: A few VERY IMPORTANT Safety Rules! Please Read Them Thoroughly

Human Safety - 

• Beekman Road and Church Lane are always dark. Cars driving on them are moving fast and don't expect anyone there. It is simply DANGEROUS and extreme caution is the rule!
• NEVER walk Beekman Road when it is not closed.
• NEVER let children cross Church Lane without holding their hand.
• Wear bright colored clothing so you are highly visible. 

Parking -

• Parking is best at the small county lot on Beekman Road (accessed from White Pine on the South Brunswick side) just before the closure and on Crispin Lane off of Church.
• Do NOT park in front of the barriers.
• Use exceptional caution when parking as it is often dark and rainy and visibility of visitors and other cars maybe limited. 

Amphibian Safety - 

• EVERYONE must have a flashlight. Phone flashlights are useless. Without a good strong bright flashlight there is a real risk of stepping on an amphibian, which completely defeats the point of our protection plan.

 

• PLEASE DO NOT handle the amphibians. They are slippery and easy to drop and our hands can transfer oils that are harmful to them. They know where they are going, so just enjoy them as they cross and take lots of photographs!

          

We are watching the weather and tomorrow looks wet and warm(ish). If the forecast holds, we will be closing Beekman Road. As everyone knows, forecasts are complicated and often change quickly so check back tomorrow. The vernal pools yesterday were filled with the sounds of spring, wood frogs quacking and Spring Peepers, well doing what they do best, peeping. If the rain pans out, hopefully Beekman Road will be filled with more salamanders and frogs tomorrow night. Here is a photo of the large pool yesterday and a Spotted Salamander from last Thursday night. Aren't they just the cutest amphibians ever!!!???    

We've waited not so patiently for conditions to come together to trigger the migration and last night it all fell in to place. Everyone that came out on the raw, rainy night was treated to quite the amphibian show starring nearly one hundred Spotted Salamanders, wood frogs, Red efts and countless Spring Peepers. It seemed to me that visitors and amphibians were equally reveling in the rain and celebrating that winter is truly over no matter what else Mother Nature might throw at us. A special shout out to Dhruv Rungta for his ongoing scout project to collect the first data ever on our migration. And, a second huge shout out to the East Brunswick Police Department for their assistance closing the road so it is safe for us and the amphibians to be there. Last night although I was enjoying every second and feeling like a kid with each salamander and frog I saw, I also focused on the human visitors that came out. I'm not sure of the number, but I suspect it was at least 75 people. Watching groups of people, families, kids, often bent over seeing salamanders and frogs and all with big smiles on their faces is as wonderful as knowing that the amphibians are able to safely cross Beekman Road. This is our 18th or 19th year closing Beekman Road and I hope everyone that has visited during the migration has taken something special away from it. We will definitely be closing the road again so stay tuned...and try and take a walk along the new county trails to the vernal pools on a warm day over the next few weeks and listen to the chorus of Spring Peepers and Chorus frogs that will be singing their hearts out.  There is so much more to come this time of the year!  

​SAFETY FIRST: A few VERY IMPORTANT Safety Rules! Please Read Them Thoroughly

Human Safety - 

• Beekman Road and Church Lane are always dark. Cars driving on them are moving fast and don't expect anyone there. It is simply DANGEROUS and extreme caution is the rule!
• NEVER walk Beekman Road when it is not closed.
• NEVER let children cross Church Lane without holding their hand.
• Wear bright colored clothing so you are highly visible. 

Parking -

• Parking is best at the small county lot on Beekman Road (accessed from White Pine on the South Brunswick side) just before the closure and on Crispin Lane off of Church.
• Do NOT park in front of the barriers.
• Use exceptional caution when parking as it is often dark and rainy and visibility of visitors and other cars maybe limited. 

Amphibian Safety - 

• EVERYONE must have a flashlight. Phone flashlights are useless. Without a good strong bright flashlight there is a real risk of stepping on an amphibian, which completely defeats the point of our protection plan.

 

• PLEASE DO NOT handle the amphibians. They are slippery and easy to drop and our hands can transfer oils that are harmful to them. They know where they are going, so just enjoy them as they cross and take lots of photographs!

We never know what might happen on a given night, but the combination of a prolonged dry spell that followed the lengthy snow cover and the heavy rain today and tonight with temperatures in the mid to upper 40's sure looks good to trigger amphibians to move. Of course we may wind up standing on an empty road, save for humans, on a raw wet night, but so what, even talking about salamanders and frogs means winter is over!!!