Charlie and I went out in the woods after dark searching for yellow spotted salamanders. I think it might be a bit early yet for the salamanders, but we were lucky to find the spring peepers out in full display in the vernal pools.

The moment we stepped out the front door, we heard their distinctive calls. By the time we got to the woods, the noise was deafening.

(Bonus Charlie at the end saying, “Daddy, I want to get some rain on my tongue, but no rain is landing on my tongue!”)

We had a lot of fun watching and catching the little spring peepers. Here are a few photos I grabbed with my phone:

We mostly spotted them on sticks and small logs, and in the leaf litter along the edge of the vernal pools.

We even got to see some mating, but those photos weren’t great. I’ll bring my SLR and tripod another night when it isn’t raining and see if I can get some better photos.

You can see the distinctive X marking on this one’s back:

Charlie’s joyful giggles when he got to hold them were infectious. He always let them go quickly, so I never got a photo of him holding one. He said, “I want to let them get back to the water and their friends.” Sweet little boy.

When we were leaving, he said:

I want to catch spring peepers every night!