Premier Mac

Even as the sky turned more and more gray, the temperature stayed 40s warm. In northern New England, Winter Storm Vulcan was forecast to bury the region, but we were on the rainy side of the nor'easter, at least until it swung by and pulled frigid air down from the Arctic. An evening downpour in mid-March with the air above freezing is a strange kind of magnet: these weather conditions can awaken amphibians and, no matter how soaked the night, bring me outside to monitor the passage of frogs and salamanders. Since the ground had just started to thaw, I wasn't sure that any amphibians would be inclined to move to their breeding ponds, but I decided to check things out, just in case. A Spotted Salamander—Ambystoma maculatum... a Mac, for short—had gotten the message. it was soon joined underwater by another male Mac, but that was it while I was there. In short order, there'll be others, along with wood frogs and spring peepers. The breeding sweepstakes will be on.