Red Eft in the Scotia Barrens After Rain

It rained first thing in the morning, and that's a thing it hasn't done in a while. We had a very wet spring into early summer, and then, somehow, suddenly, sometime in July, the precipitation just stopped. Like that. Done. No more rain. Things have gotten quite dry here. We really need some rain.

So my husband and I sat on the front porch and just listened to and smelled the rain, when it came. We got a nice gentle rain for about 45 minutes to an hour or so. I waited until the showers moved through and then I took my bike up to the Barrens looking for newts. 

My favorite pond is nearly dry. All that's left is a green puddle in the woods. And the bugs - mosquitoes and gnats - are something fierce. I walked up the trail a ways but every time I stopped, they were on me. Every picture cost me big-time in bug harassment.

I did not spot any newts, and I was tired of fighting off the bugs, and so I turned around and headed back to my bike to leave. I popped my camera into my daysack, put my daysack on, clicked the bike rest back up, and was preparing to push it out of the woods and onto the main trail, when I spotted something tiny and orange on the ground. A RED EFT!!!! AHA!

It was a perfect specimen, orange and spotty and ready to roll. As it started walking away from me on perfect tiny orange feet, I grabbed my camera and took more than a dozen shots. I thought about posing it on my bike but that seemed rude. To touch a creature that does not need help? Nope. Not today.

So here is one of my favorite shots of my last-minute newt: a red eft, which is the "I've gone on walkabout" version of the eastern spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens). This is its terrestrial form. Isn't it glorious?

I wanted a celebratory song for my newt, and here is one that just makes me happy, so we're listening to this one today. It's The Kiffness x Chai Kichi, with Ha Hee (singing cat song). Yes, a song made for and around a sweet little sound from an orange cat. An orange celebration, if you will. Enjoy!

Music is everywhere, my friend.
So open your heart and you will ascend.
To the heights that only angels see.
Let's sing it together, the song of Ha Hee.

*Favorite viewer comment on the cat song video: "Every time we play Ha Hee, an evil force somewhere is weakened."