Pennsylvania, pt. 2

Well, I was back in the Keystone State on business from April 20-23.  While working, I spend all day inside one of two large buildings, tasked with streamlining production processes and improving communication between various interconnected departments.  I work with and train new personnel, familiarizing them with company and industry processes and standards.

None of this involves walking through an urban woodland along the Monocacy Creek, navigating my way through endless carpets of lesser calendine (Ranunculus ficaria) and semi-active railroad tracks.  So after work one day, I did just that, in search for amphibians.  I was surprised when I found about eight redback salamanders (Plethodon cinereus), all thriving in a very disturbed woodland, set in the middle of town.

It was ironic to me that there is this perfect path through the woods - cut through the insidiously-invasive calendine.

The first log I flipped over produced this beautiful redback salamander.  

 The area is completely entrenched in calendine.  It was everywhere.  I was actually kind of surprised that I found salamanders here, considering the lack of native floral diversity and community structure.  

 Along these tracks walked some, um, interesting, people.

 This is the best shot of a "leadback" redback salamander I was able to get.  These salamanders are quick and are not fond of sitting still for more than a very brief moment.  All of these photos were taken with my iPhone.