SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!!

Spring has sprung! After three false starts with road closings that left us alone on the road, last night was amazing! If you've followed the Friends for a while, you know that we close a road each spring so that Spotted Salamanders, wood frogs and a suite of other amphibians can safely cross to their vernal pools. This is our 16th year and our amphibian populations are doing great now. When we started we had no wood frogs in our vernal pools and last night there must have been a hundred safely crossing the road. Our Spotted salamanders were also being decimated by cars and now they can safely cross as slowly as they want! Here are photos from last night of a very happy Spotted salamander with the road barriers in the back and a beautiful rich reddish brown wood frog. I took the Spotted salamander photo laying down so we could see eye to eye and have a nice little conversation about spring. I'm honestly not sure who was happier! I expect that Beekman Road will be closed again tonight with the rainy forecast, but stay tuned. Always read the important safety information before venturing out. Also, if anyone lost a nice blue umbrella last night I found it laying on the road and we make arrangements for its return. Just email me at dmoskowitz@ecolsciences.com