Vernal Pools near my house are thriving with life. My wife, my friend Rad, and I went out on Wednesday and the the next subsequent evenings to check the pools for Wood Frogs.

As we approached the pool we could hear the chorus of male wood frogs calling in the darkness.

The sounds diminished momentarily but upon shinning our lights on the pool revealed dozens of amplexing wood frogs some spotted salamanders bobbing to the surface to gulp air

and a red spotted newt lying on the bottom on top of some submerged leaves.

I returned to the vernal pool the day after to see the the outcome of the breeding frenzy. Below is a vid I took showing not only the egg masses but the diversity of zoo plankton and life that exist beneath this forested puddle. Amazing!! At the end of the vid is brief glimpse at a larva salamander