Southern two-lined salamanders revisited

Just a few shots from a little trip I took to see the southern two-lined salamanders (Eurycea cirrigera) on November 29th.  Some construction work occurred near one of the few sites in the entire state where this species is found.  I wanted to observe the extent of impact to the habitat after four months.  Air temperature was about 34 degrees F.

The impact of the construction project (which seemed to be either road repair or installation of piping under the road) seemed nominal on the surface; without testing the water, it's difficult to know the full extent.  What I found strange was that, under the very first rock I flipped, I found my first - and only - southern two-lined salamander.  I flipped many, many more after that, but no luck.  

 A trilobite fossil in a slab of rock, at least 250 million years old.

 I found this cold green frog (Lithobates clamitans) underneath a rock.

 A different seep-fed stream the next county over (but part of the same preserve).

 Here, on the bank of the Kankakee River, I stood and listened to nothing.  Almost pure dead silence.

 A close-up of one of the area's defining characteristics - an Osage orange (Maclura pomifera).  The Osage orange tree is not native to the area, but originated from when farmers planted them as hedges long ago.  There are a lot of Osage orange trees in this area, and as a result, a lot of the fruit on the ground in fall. They smell somewhat like an orange, which gives them their name.  Unlike oranges, these aren't edible.  Only the tiny seeds are edible, but they are hard to get to and typically, people don't waste their energy.  Squirrels love the seeds, and it's easy to find chewed-up Osage oranges all over the ground.