On Earth Day, a group of volunteers met at a parking lot next to Lake Dunmore in Salisbury to go on a field trip to a vernal pool. The expedition was organized by biologist Kevin Tolan from the Vermont Center for Ecostudies, who has been mapping and observing these vibrant ecosystems in the Vermont Vernal Pool Atlas and the Vermont Vernal Pool Monitoring Project. A vernal pool is a temporary, shallow wetland that appears in the spring and is a fish-free breeding ground for amphibians that has no permanent inlet or outlet — they generally dry up by late summer.
Herpetologist Jim Andrews, who manages the Vermont Reptile & Amphibian Atlas, led the group along the quarter-mile scenic walk through the woods. Along the way, they checked under logs and found an Eastern red-backed salamander, which doesn’t need water to reproduce.
The pool was about 20 by 35 feet in size and perhaps a foot and a half deep. Tolan wore thigh-high waders to fetch spotted salamander egg masses from the center of the water. He showed them to the volunteers and used photos to help distinguish them from wood frog and Jefferson salamander eggs.
These gatherings encourage people to become volunteer community scientists who will help monitor vernal pools in their area and gather data for the atlas, leading to better conservation of these rich wildlife habitats.
In the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger was there to meet all the creepy-crawlies. On the walk back to their cars, the volunteers passed a stream and uncovered a few Northern two-lined salamanders, which will soon lay their eggs in the river.
Music: Steve Adams, “Creek Whistle”
This episode of “Stuck in Vermont” was supported by the Vermont Community Foundation.
![Spring Amphibian Migration [SIV487]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/episode487-2.webp?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
This article appears in April 29 • 2026.
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