There’s no better way to celebrate the arrival of spring than to visit a woodland pond alive with the sounds and sights of newly awakened amphibians and invertebrates—and there’s no more exciting time to do so than at dusk, when the local vernal pools are a noisy chorus of quacking wood frogs and bell-ringing spring peepers. As the skies darken, we’ll follow our ears for about a half-mile hike to a brimful temporary pond at the center of the Babcock Ridge Preserve that was a dry hole last autumn and is now filled with a variety of exciting creatures. In addition to frogs, we’ll likely see marbled salamander youngsters, fairy shrimp, giant predaceous diving beetles, and the stars of the show, the exquisite yellow-spotted salamanders. We’ll use nets to collect pond residents and examine them at close range before releasing them unharmed, and if we’re especially lucky, we might also hear the booming hoots of barred owls and the peents of woodcock. 

Bring a flashlight and a headlamp, wear warm clothes and waterproof boots, and don’t forget your spirit of adventure on this family-friendly exploration of a fascinating part of the natural world. 

Walk leader Bruce Fellman has been introducing people to vernal pool life for almost half-a-century. For more information, contact the leader at [email protected] or (860) 599-4867.

To register for the adventure, which is free and open to the public but limited to 25 people, click on the link above. This program tends to fill up quickly, but if there’s sufficient interest, we’ll try to schedule additional walks.

Note: heavy rain will postpone to April 2nd, same time, but light rain will be just perfect for bringing out the critters—and rain-coat-clad naturalists.