Newt!

Wishing peace and prosperity to all amphibians, everywhere!

It has been very wet here this summer, with rain almost every day. The woods are starting to look like a rainforest, and everything is green, green, green!

We went for an early hike up the hill to check out what was happening in the Scotia Barrens. The woods were damp with morning dew, perfect habitat for amphibians!

As we were walking along one of the trails, I suddenly spotted two newts, about a foot apart. They were sitting there looking very mellow. No doubt they were out on walk-about.

This charming individual is a red-spotted newt - also commonly referred to as an eastern newt (Notophthalmus viridescens), and I showed you a much smaller one of these (the smaller one was in need of newt-aid) in my June 30 blip.

We did not disturb them - I merely photographed them for posterity - and we meandered along on our way.

The song to accompany this damp trek through the woods is the Grateful Dead's Morning Dew.