Student discovers treasure

ORRINGTON – A large group of parents and schoolchildren from Orrington were having a day of nature study at the Fields Pond Audubon Center. An inquisitive student turned over a piece of wood on a small area of lawn near the building. With much excitement he let everyone know of the treasure he had found. It was a spotted salamander. It was indeed a treasure, its shiny black body decorated with bright yellow spots.

The teacher, savvy in the ways of children and salamanders, made sure that the rough hands of 30 excited children didn’t damage the moist, delicate skin of the salamander. Children coaxed it into a pan so they could pass it around and all get a closeup view. When they were finished observing, writing about, and in some cases, drawing the salamander in their notebooks, the salamander was released into the nearby forest under a rotting log where it was less likely to get stepped on.

Late on Friday night, after a particularly busy evening program, we were locking up and discovered one more curious visitor. A small red eft, the teenager stage of the eastern newt, was up on the cement porch area. This small salamander was walking across the porch in marionette fashion – legs lifting high and head swinging from side to side. Stepping over what must seem like great boulders to them, but looking like mere gravel to us, the red eft marched off the porch and disappeared into the garden.

Send sightings, comments or questions to fieldspond@maine audubon.org