Life by the Pond (Summertime in New England)
I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a few days back home in NH/ME a couple weeks back. While I was there, I managed to take some photos of the wetland creatures that fascinated me as a child. Enjoy…
American Toad (Bufo americanus).
Green Frog (Rana clamitans).
Pickerel Frog (Rana palustris).
Red-Back Salamander (Plethodon cinereus). The Red-Back Salamander is one of the most abundant salamander species in northern New England found under damp forest litter and rocks. It is a type of “lungless salamander”, and unlike most other amphibians, it lacks an aquatic larval stage. Instead, eggs are laid under rocks, logs, or leaves and hatch directly into miniature adults.
Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo) a common damselfly species.
Dragonfly.
Dragonfly eyes.
Whirligig Beetles on the water surface. Their eyes are split in half so that they can see simultaneously above and below the water.
Whirligig beetles doing what they they do best: whirligigging around when disturbed.
Slug (as scientifically accurate as I can get).
Indian Pipes (Monotropa uniflora). Indian Pipes are an oddball plant species in that they are one of a very few plants that are non-photosynthetic, lacking chlorophyll. Instead they parasitize fungi that then parasitize the roots of trees in order to garner nutrition.
