Volume 23 Issue 1, Spring 2018 by Erica Schwabach What do you think of when you think of spring? For some, those early warm spring rains bring to mind images of flowers and greener grass, of sunnier, longer days and blue skies. But many others look forward to salamanders and other amphibians (such as wood frogs and spring […]

Vol. 21 Issue 3, Fall 2016 By Kerry Bzdyk The Marbled Salamander (Abystoma opacum) is a stout-bodied, dark black salamander with bands of white (gray in the female) down its back and tail. It’s a beautiful salamander to see (if you can find it)! Adults are three to four inches long, with the female being […]

USGS Study Confirms U.S. Amphibian Populations Declining at Precipitous Rates Posted: 22 May 2013 01:59 PM PDT CORVALLIS, Ore. — The first-ever estimate of how fast frogs, toads and salamanders in the United States are disappearing from their habitats reveals they are vanishing at an alarming and rapid rate. According to the study released today […]

Vol. 17 Issue 12, Winter 2012 by Liam McGranaghan The weather forecast called for heavy rains and warming temperatures in the days ahead. I felt an excited chill along my spine—not just with the hope that the long winter might be ending, but also in anticipation of the “Big Night.” I hurriedly emailed my wife, […]

A Good News Story by Nicole Hamilton It was March 2007 and we had just started our Loudoun Amphibian Monitoring Program. With the excitement of the program launch, people started telling us about special spots where amphibians may live and breed. One of the leads I got was from Liam McGranaghan for an area in […]

We had our last of three amphibian monitoring program kickoffs this past Saturday.  This one was held at Algonkian Regional Park and it held some really great sightings! To start the morning, Casey Pittrizzi, the naturalist at Algonkian Regional Park, let everyone have up close looks at a Wood Frog, Spotted Salamander, American Toad and […]

We had our first amphibian class and field trip yesterday and we had lots of great encounters!  We spent the day at the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, which is great any time of year but especially fanstastic for amphibians this time of year. First we had our indoor talk about the Amphibians (frogs, […]

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy offers many opportunities for citizens to participate in nature programs that promote the collection of important environmental data across the county. Stream Monitoring Interested in what you might find in a stream near you?  Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy works alongside the Loudoun Watershed Watch in monitoring our local streams for all types of bacterial and […]

This past Sunday we had our first amphibian foray of the year and headed over to Algonkian Park to explore the amazing network of seasonal waters and swampland that is over there. The good news about all that snow that we had this year is that the swamp area and the vernal pools that run […]

Mary Ann Good and Laura Weidner led our bird walk this morning.  Here’s their report of cool birds and other sightings: Seven people enjoyed birding the Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship, but due to the occasional misting rain, found ourselves looking down as much as up.  We managed to find 35 species of birds, […]