I spent the weekend at a cabin along the Allegheny River. It was quite cool outside for the month of August and it had been raining earlier in the day. I went for a hike in the woods, photographing close to 15 species of mushrooms in the first 50 yards of the woods. The woods was a beautiful mix of oak, tulip poplar, hickory, birch and hemlock.
The Eastern Newt
During my hike, I saw an orange newt (The Eastern Newt – Notophthalmus viridescens) with red spots on it – actually, I saw more than 20 of them. I had only photographed them one time while hiking in a white pine tree grove in eastern Ohio. I didn’t know much about them, so I had to look them up once I got home. It appears that these were juveniles and were in their terrestrial “red eft” stage. After 3-4 years, they change colors and move back to the water when they are adults. Here is some more information.
Here are a couple videos that I took while watching them.
There were so many of them enjoying the post-rain forest, so I had to share some additional photos with you.
The Nature Treasure Hunt 