Our homeschool group joined naturalist Laura Guderyahn on two amphibian surveys she conducted this spring for the City of Gresham. She is the city's Water Restoration Coordinator, and she surveys hundreds of ponds in Gresham to collect data which is used for land management decisions. They are interested in acquiring, preserving, and restoring land that will have the greatest impact on wildlife health, and amphibians are a key part of that plan. Our first survey was at a pond which was actually created by the city to give amphibians a vernal pool for breeding. And it has definitely been a success, with thousands of tadpoles frolicking in the murky water! First, Ms. Guderyahn graciously showed the kids many amphibians that she had brought along, and told them all about them. Then she set them loose with nets to see what they could catch.
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| The murky water was churning with tadpoles! |
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| It was hard to see through the mud, but here are some of the hundreds that were caught. |
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| Awesome homeschooling diva Meagan found this mysterious egg. |
The following week, when the weather was soggy, we headed to a different park to look for terrestrial salamanders. This is land owned by the city on a butte that is still undeveloped as a nature park. It is being preserved for future use, but will not officially open until funding becomes available. This was really neat because the kids all got to see how a real scientist does actual field work. Ms. Guderyahn explained that she had divided the survey into three distinct habitats, and for each salamander that was found, a data sheet was filled out recording its species, length, and the exact surroundings in which it was uncovered. Our group only discovered a grand total of two ensatinas. But the kids had a great time anyway, and we learned a new way to search for them. We knew to look for them under logs, and learned that they also like to hide within the dense leaf litter that accumulates around the base of sword ferns. This area certainly has plenty of sword ferns, just about everywhere! Salamanders are all around us- we just have to know how to find them.
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| Our first ensatina. |
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| By the time this little guy was found, we were all quite muddy! |
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| It was definitely slug weather, and they were everywhere. So it was no surprise when Jasper found these big, beautiful snail eater beetles on the prowl! Another child kindly allowed him to add the beetles to his wildflower collection. |
Our homeschool group joined naturalist Laura Guderyahn on two amphibian surveys she conducted this spring for the City of Gresham. She is the city's Water Restoration Coordinator, and she surveys hundreds of ponds in Gresham to collect data which is used for land management decisions. They are interested in acquiring, preserving, and restoring land that will have the greatest impact on wildlife health, and amphibians are a key part of that plan. Our first survey was at a pond which was actually created by the city to give amphibians a vernal pool for breeding. And it has definitely been a success, with thousands of tadpoles frolicking in the murky water! First, Ms. Guderyahn graciously showed the kids many amphibians that she had brought along, and told them all about them. Then she set them loose with nets to see what they could catch. 
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