The Central Virginia Blue Ridge has a new forest preserve on the way. On May 1, a large group of scientists and naturalists (60+) descended upon the area for a preliminary biological assessment. I was on team 10, and here are some of the things we saw.

-On the eastern flank of the Blue Ridge in Central Virginia
-Lat/long: 38.227902,-78.660403

-Elevation survey range (Trail E) 1270' -1850'

-Survey Team #10

Geology
-Catoctin Formation (Metabasalt)
-Charnockite
At site E-10, in the stream, there were large and beautiful specimens of microcrystaline quartz ranging from bright greens to deep reds. This very well could have been a material source for Native Americans.

Noteable Habitats
Wildflower meadow (E-1). This spot is unusual in that it is a bit of a flat area on the mountainside. The bedrock is the mafic and mineral rich Catoctin greenstone, probably adding to the diversity at the site. This habitat would be a good wildflower destination, particularly for its thick grove of showy orchis, but also for the dozen or so other wildflowers that are blooming there on May 1.

Mafic Boulder (E-2).

Wildflowers
The woods were full. Most of these were observed at site E-1, at the top of the E trail.

Indian Cucumber Root (not in bloom)
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Showy Orchis
False Solomon's Seal (budding)
Early Meadow Rue
Tall Meadow Rue
Perfoliate Bellwort
Wild Geranium

Pink Lady's Slipper (along E trail at elevation 1320 +/-)
Early Saxifrage
Puttyroot Orchid (***past bloom***). A reader more knowledgable than I pointed out that this plant flowers after the leaves die back! So, this plant was NOT past bloom.

Ferns
Common Polypody (growing on the giant mafic boulder, E-2)
Cut-leafed grape fern

Amphibians

American Toad
Northern Dusky Salamander
Seal Salamander
Southern Two-lined Salamander
Eastern Red-backed Salamander
White spotted Slimy Salamander
Eastern Newt, red eft stage

Mammal tracks
Bear scat
Bobcat urine...territory marker (pee -yhooo!). (At E-8)

Trees
Giant White pine (E-8) circ. 8', 5".
Giant Chestnut Oak (E-9) circ. 10', 6".
Groves of slippery elm, witch hazel, spicebush
A low elevation striped maple

Other
Canadian Owlet moth caterpillar (on the early meadow rue)
Gold Brown Rove Beetle (in the bear scat)

One of our favorite places to stop while traveling through GA is the Botanical Garden in Athens. Now I hope we may be forgiven for revealing that we do not always focus entirely on the fabulous plants, both exotic and native that are on display there. Indeed we enjoy those but the garden is somewhat unusual in that it includes some very nice deciduous and flood-plain forests. So in the Spring you can expect to find some interesting migrating birds.

While my wife was chasing after a Kentucky warbler calling from the bushes along a power-line cut, I noticed something strange in a drying pond, a mass of wriggling black objects (see photo 1). On closer inspection (see photo 2) it is clear that these were a huge mass of black tadpoles, apparently in their death throes as the pond dried. I immediately concluded they must be American toad tadpoles due to their color, choice of habitat, and time of year. Male American toads (see photo 3) start calling in early Spring when it rains and search out very small isolated ponds that lack fish and most other aquatic critters of any size. Their call is a series of long trills and it attracts females for mating. Long strings of eggs are laid and quickly hatch. Under ideal conditions the larvae grow rapidly and many will metamorphose at a very tiny size and leave the pond before it dries. However if enough rain does not fall to maintain the pond, all or most of the tadpoles may die, as seems to be the likely scenario here.

So why would toads lay their eggs in such a difficult place to survive?

It seems completely counter-intuitive. Yet there is a method in this apparent madness- namely escape from the predation and competition in larger ponds. Only a few types of amphibians (such as bullfrogs and green frogs) are able to survive in ponds with fish. Amphibians such as spotted salamanders and wood frogs breed in fish-less temporary or vernal pools which may contain water for several months. The pools chosen by American toads are generally so small and temporary that few other amphibians and insects will breed there. This seems to be the strategy behind the strange choice of pools they make. Yet the shallow pools used by these toads would seem to make them very susceptible to predation by terrestrial and avian predators; their defense is to be toxic and to associate in large schools of their siblings. Thus when a foolish predator attacks a few tadpoles, it may then avoid eating any more in this group and those that survive are genetically related to the "martyrs."

So consider the remarkable life history of the lowly toad and marvel at the complex interactions involved. Ain't Nature grand?

-Bill Dunson