Night at the Arlington Outdoor Lab: Salamander/Amphibian Exploration

Text by Mary McLean
Photos by Toni Genberg and Simon Willig

During the waning weeks of winter, I joined a group of ARMN members in driving to the Arlington Outdoor Education Association’s Outdoor Lab (Outdoor Lab) in Broad Run, VA, about 40 miles from Arlington. The Outdoor Lab is a 225-acre facility that provides hands-on outdoor and environmental education to Arlington County Public School students, from elementary grades through high school. ARMN members are lucky to be able to visit this teaching resource because of the volunteer work that members provide to the county and schools. 

We traveled to the Outdoor Lab where we started with a social/potluck, followed by an evening learning about salamanders and taking an exploratory hike to observe salamanders, frogs, and other amphibians on the property. 

The program started with a lecture about the seven different salamanders that reside at the Outdoor Lab. The former director of the lab, Neil Heinekamp, provided fascinating details from his years-long study of salamanders collected during spring breeding, including how salamanders differ in morphology, habitat, and behavior. He noted, for example, that each salamander can be identified by its unique spot pattern.

Then Jessica Leslie, manager of Outdoor Lab’s “teaching animals” who also cares for the animals in the Animal Lab, assumed the second part of the presentation. She showed us three young yellow-spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) that were taken from an otherwise forfeit egg clutch. We also learned about differences between males and females. Jessica also dearingly oversees snapping turtles, snakes, box turtles, and toads.

The program also included a night hike to Hunsucker Springs so that we could search for yellow-spotted salamander egg clutches and, possibly, adult salamanders in the wild. Approaching the pond, we heard frog calls and saw several frogs in various stages of breeding (“amplexus”). Looking closely into the pond, we saw wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), and the egg masses of salamanders. We even saw a yellow-spotted salamander up close!

On our return walk, we saw an Eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) near the spring under leaf cover. It was a great discovery!

The trip to the Outdoor Lab facility was rewarding and illuminating. Gaining these insights and observations about salamanders and the other critters there help us appreciate the amphibians in our own area a little more. Additional information about all Virginia salamander species, including threats and conservation efforts for them, can be found at: : Department of Wildlife Resources.