Nights Like Those
Almost a decade ago, I decided to take a trip to a newly discovered hiking trail near the house Jess and I recently bought. This was my first nocturnal adventure there, and I have to say although I was delighted to be alone in the woods in a new place, I was a bit unnerved.  I was close to people’s houses and they may not understand that I was merely there for the amphibians, and nothing more. I have to admit that I almost screamed when I startled a rabbit as he tore off into the undergrowth. There was a palpable tension and excitement in the air. The wind was blowing ever so slightly. It danced through trees only to remind me of its presence. The water rippled with every careful step I made into the heart of the vernal pool. The fog wafted over the surface of the murk, causing my headlamp to push light to and fro, as if I was inside a cloud. I love nights like those.Â
On my first visit to this piedmont paradise, I saw that the topography of the land dipped to a small valley, and flattened out at the bottom. On my inaugural visit, I found the ephemeral wetland fully lit with late summer sun. It was a sight that I had been longing to see. It was pristine habitat. An ephemeral wetland is sometimes called a vernal pool, ephemeral pool, or wetland. These pools are temporary, and routinely dry up. They typically don’t support fish, which makes them great for amphibians.Â
There were no trails, I had the place to myself. Most people likely would have avoided a spot like this. To the untrained eye, this area is just a swampy muddy mess, but I see so much more. On my first few visits, spanning several months, I found a plethora of amphibians. This was much to my surprise and delight. I have found chorus frogs, spring peepers, leopard frogs, bullfrogs, green frogs, pickerel frogs, four toed salamanders, marbled salamanders, spotted salamanders and eastern spotted newts to name a few. This place is heaven.
The main motivation for my nocturnal hike was to check on the vernal pool itself. I wanted to see if it had begun to fill with water, and to also check on the marbled salamanders to determine if their eggs had hatched yet. Tripping through briars down to where the pool is situated, I was met with water, lots of it. The pool not only filled up, but it was actually much larger than I imagined it could be. So far in my observations the pool had ranged from depths of 6-12 inches on down to almost completely dry, so I wasn’t prepared to see the pool almost triple that depth in spots. It was a welcomed surprise.Â
I didn’t have to go far to confirm the health of the pool. As my light struck the water, I saw the submerged leaf litter explode with newly hatched marbled salamander larvae. This made me very happy, considering there were a few times over the last few months that I questioned if the pool would fill up. I feared for my little aquatic friends. Thankfully, nature’s much more resilient than I even give it credit. The marbled salamanders did exactly what they were designed to do, survive. The best part of the entire night was the beautiful volleys of calling frogs. There were a few faint chorus frogs calling, but the night air was heavy with the calls and peeps of the tiny spring peeper above anything else.
 I decided that I would head in the direction of the frog calls and see if I could see one of these elusive nocturnal anurans. My jeans were soaked to my knees. As I crossed the pool, I would occasionally stop and cut off my headlamp to listen for the calling frogs. I scanned the opposite shore with my headlamp, and there he was. The light glistened like diamonds on the crossed back of a spring peeper. He was chest high on a small sapling next to the pool. Success! I was pleased beyond belief. I love these little frogs; they are one of the many native NC amphibians that truly give me joy.Â
These guys defy the odds by being able to breed, thrive and survive when most other amphibians are nestled deep in the ground below the frost line. They are designed with somewhat of a biological anti-freeze, glucose (or glycol) builds up in their cells and allows them not to freeze to death. This allows these petite frogs to occupy a unique niche other frogs are unprepared to inhabit. After taking a few blurry pictures with my iPhone, I started back up towards the trail and made my way to drier ground. All in all, the trip was short in duration, but I don’t think it could have been much better. I love nights like those! Perhaps I ought to get out and explore that spot again real soon. The salamanders are likely on the move and the frogs are calling my name.
Check out this video I made a few years ago about Marbled Salamanders: