Wildlife Found
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The Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) is a small to medium sized frog roughly 2-3 inches in length. Females are larger than males. Adult wood frogs have a tan brownish or rust coloration. Typically found with a dark eye mask which no other similar North America frog species have.

Wood frogs are forest dwelling and are commonly found in moist woodlands and marshy areas. They are a common species however, in many parts of its range urbanization is hurting their populations. The wood frogs lifecycle depends on multiple types of habitat, making conservation efforts difficult due to deforestation.

Check out this cool frog we found hiding in our garden shed.

The eastern gray tree frog (Hyla versicolor) and Cope’s gray tree frog (Hyla chrysoscelis) are known as cryptic species because they are nearly identical in appearance. They also live in similar habitats with similar distribution, making identifying the two species more difficult. In most cases only their mating call is how we can tell them apart.

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We found this awesome Eastern Newt while cleaning a liner pond last month.
The Eastern Newt aka Red Spotted Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) has three amazing back and forth life stages.
-1st larvae (aquatic)
-2nd juvenile aka red eft (terrestrial)
-3rd adult (aquatic)

For the most part red efts metamorphose into aquatic adults after a few years. In some cases however, populations remain in the eft stage permanently remaining terrestrial. In those uncommon situations, they only appear in body’s of water to reproduce.

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It’s been noted the Eastern newt secretes poisonous toxins, protecting them from predators. What a fascinating amphibian.

Found this cool male eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta picta) over the weekend. They are a common species in the northeast. They are known for their bright "painted" coloration. The painted turtle has 4 recognized subspecies (the eastern, midland, southern, and western).

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We found these awesome Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) on a bay beach in Strathmere, NJ during Labor Day Weekend. They didn’t even notice us, as they were feeding on clams and other crustaceans in the shallow water. The bay was shockingly clear all weekend.

This awesome native skink was located at a local plant nursery in Delaware County, PA. This was my second five-lined skink ever. My first was was back in 2018 at Elk Neck State Park in Maryland. Great finds!

The pickerel frog is one of my favorite amphibians to find. I'll typically find them roaming around the woods a little further away from water than most frogs around here. This little one was located on my property in Delaware County, PA.

Northern Two-lined Salamander larvae The Northern Two-lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata) is a small species common in Pennsylvania. Typically found along creeks, marshes and stream beds this salamander enjoys a more aquatic lifestyle compared to other related salamanders. During wet times of year however, they will venture out into the forest. They have a yellow, green, brownish coloration with a dark brown or black stripe on both sides of the body giving it its name.

We rescued two big garter snakes while tearing down an old liner pond. Hopefully they like the new one!