Memorial Day Walk: Red Salamander

     On Memorial Day I decided to change up my usual spots for walking, so instead of sticking near the beach areas I headed inland.  I headed over to Double Trouble State Park in Berkeley Township.  Birding wasn’t going to be my primary activity.  Most of the migrating land birds have already passed through the area, and those that have chosen to stay are likely in nesting mode.  It’s unlikely now, for awhile, to find new land birds for the year, unless I come across a resident that I just haven’t seen yet.  As it turned out, I did have a Blue Grosbeak, my first of the year, fly across my path as I was walking a trail.  None of the other 29 birds I checked off for the day were new for 2023.

I met my sister’s boyfriend John at the park.  He isn’t so much a birder as me, but more of a snake person, or a Herper, as they call themselves.  I am more of a casual snaker, not really part of that community, hence I don’t feel I am worthy of using the term herping.  John usually finds interesting snakes and lizards.  He seems to always send me photos or videos of endangered Northern Pine Snakes that he finds.  With this in mind, I was hoping to follow his lead and see some cool stuff.  Our walk started off well.  We flipped over some boards and logs early in the walk and found five Worm Snakes and a Red Salamander.  I have seen a few worm snakes over the past year but had never before seen a salamander in the wild.

Red Salamander.  © S. Weiss

Red salamanders are lungless salamanders, which means they breather through their skin.

Worm Snake.  © S. Weiss

Worm snakes are small and harmless but they do release a stinky liquid as a defense mechanism.

We started our walk near noon which is not normally the best time to find snakes, but there was cloud cover, and the temperatures were rather comfortable, so we thought the snakes might still accommodate us.  They didn’t.  During the remainder of our six-mile hike, we did not come across another snake.  We did however see five or so Eastern Fence Lizards, a Green Frog and a Pickerel Frog.  The latter emits a secretion through its skin as a defense mechanism that is irritating to humans and possibly lethal to predators, making it the only native poisonous frog in the United States.  We also heard several choruses of Pine Barren Tree Frogs but could not get eyes on one of the endangered critters.

Eastern Fence Lizard.  © S. Weiss

The fence lizard is one of only three lizards native to New Jersey.  The other two are skinks.

I used the snake-less time of the walk to look for odes, the community shortened term for dragonflies and damselflies.  I started doing this last year to fill in during birding lulls and feel legit enough to use the group lingo.  Like birds, I do have a life list of odonates.  I added two new species, bringing my life total to 69.  Along a trail side ditch with a slow-moving stream, I found an Aurora Damsel.  Along the trail edge of a bog, I found a Pine Barrens Bluet, a vulnerable species.  As the documentation photos show, they look very similar.  This appears true for many of the odonates.  Until I become more adept at separating the species on my own (which may take a while) I take as many photos as possible and try to identify them later, often with the help of others, by posting them on community websites.

Left, Aurora Damsel.  Right, Pine Barrens Bluet.  © S. Weiss

Both small and delicate, they look similar in the field to a novice.  Looking at photos, one can compare and notice differences between the two.

Pink Lady’s Slipper.  © S. Weiss

 It is a native orchid at the park, probably the only one that I can identify on my own.