Maine Big Night: Amphibian Migration Monitoring

Hi everyone! We’ve had our hands full and we’ve been wanting to share something new with you, so we are extending our fundraising deadline to 05/31 and hope that you can help us reach our $16,000 goal! . This year, we’re starting an annual cutest amphibian contest. We’re opening submissions and we’d love to see your favorite amphibian from this season. . How it works: . 1. Submit your photo to [email protected] by 5/16/2026 at 11:59 PM. . 2. Our board reviews all entries and selects its favorites for the contest gallery. . 3. Supporters donate to vote — $1 = 1 vote. . 4. All proceeds support amphibian conservation and help us reach the final stretch toward $16,000. . That’s it! Happy herping and enjoy the last few days of the survey season!

Happy #AmphibianWeek! We are so lucky to live in a state with the species that we have AND in a community that values them so highly. Very few places in the world can say they have eight salamanders (most places are lucky to have one!) and our frogs are real show-stoppers. We have some more potential warm, wet weather coming up - give an amphibian some appreciation next time you see one! Photos: Spotted salamander, spring peeper, blue-spotted salamander, wood frog

☀️ Solar-powered Salamanders ☀️ . The sun is the source of energy for all life on our planet. For most animals, that’s a bit indirect - sunlight is turned into energy by things like plants and algae, then things like animals can consume them, then some animals consume those animals, and so on. But for Spotted Salamanders, there’s a surprising, more direct relationship with the sun despite being underground most of their lives - and it’s kinda because of jelly! . The thick coat of jelly around Spotted Salamander eggs is a defense mechanism. It keeps eggs moist and creates a thick barrier that predators like Eastern Newts will have to fight through to get to the eggs within. However, that thick jelly becomes a problem - the eggs need oxygen, and the jelly is so thick that oxygen struggles to get through. . This is where spotties have a trick up their sleeves. Spotted Salamanders have a symbiosis with an algae called Oophila amblystomatis (translated, that basically means Spotted Salamander egg-lover) - this algae lives inside Spotted Salamander eggs and even in the skin of developing salamanders, and all-the-while does its typical algae thing of turning sunlight into sugar and oxygen. The developing salamander gets access to this, and the algae gets access to the CO2 and waste produced by the salamander’s cells. A highly efficient oxygen machine, built right into the eggs! . This symbiosis makes the Spotted Salamander one of the only known photosynthetic vertebrates in the world. Another species of salamander, native to Japan, has also been documented with a similar relationship.

We know it’s been a cold and dry season, so here is some Maine Big Night ASMR to fill that gap! ☁️ For those who have made it out, we hope surveying is going well and you are having a good time saving some amphibians! 🐸 Please go follow our TikTok page! @maine.big.night

Humans 🤝 Amphibians Big night is here! Stay off the road tonight if you can.

Rainy nights + mild temps in early spring = Big Night energy 🐸🌧️ Our team was out in Bridgton recently for a Maine Big Night event hosted by Loon Echo Land Trust. The night was spent helping frogs and salamanders safely cross roads on their way to breeding pools AND collecting valuable community science data. We’re so proud to be strategic partners in support of Maine Big Night’s biodiversity goals. Special shoutout to Hadley Couraud, TNC in Maine’s Aquatic Restoration Manager, for lending her expertise at these events as a Maine Master Naturalist! 💚 And the best part? Conditions are shaping up to be promising again tonight, which means more tiny travelers could be on the move! Learn how to get involved at mainebignight.org 🦎 📸 Matt Didisheim/TNC 🎵 Crown of September by Blue Dot Sessions

Live field report! Amphibians are moving in Maine tonight despite rain being mostly absent. The ground is wet enough and a light drizzle is occurring in many areas, but many folks are seeing amphibians move despite being able to see stars at the same time - not too often that happens! . With it being Easter Sunday, there may be more traffic than usual, creating more danger than expected for an amphibian (and volunteers) on a Sunday night.

According to @mainebignight founder Greg LeClair, one of the easiest ways to get involved in amphibian conservation in Maine is to simply avoid driving during rainy nights in early April when the temperature is over 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Get the full story in our upcoming episode of Borealis next Thursday, April 9 at 8:30 pm on Maine Public Television. 📸: @brian.bechard.207 . . . Borealis is made possible through the generous support of Production Sponsors The Nature Conservancy, the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation, and Poland Spring, and Broadcast Sponsors Evergreen Home Performance, Patriot Subaru, and Bangor Savings Bank in addition to Maine Public’s viewers and listeners.

“Maine Big Night” followers know that in parts of the state, it’s almost time for the amphibians to make their seasonal trek to nearby wetlands 🦎 🌧️ Last year, Aislinn and the Borealis team caught up with founder Greg LeClair to find out what the peep is all about! Enjoy this preview of next week’s episode of Borealis airing Thursday, April 9 at 8:30 pm, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel where you can catch up on last night’s episode and earlier seasons. 📸: @brian.bechard.207 . . . Borealis is made possible through the generous support of Production Sponsors The Nature Conservancy, the Maine Office of Outdoor Recreation, and Poland Spring, and Broadcast Sponsors Evergreen Home Performance, Patriot Subaru, and Bangor Savings Bank in addition to Maine Public’s viewers and listeners.

We are so excited to round up for @mainebignight this month in Camden! Once amphibian migration begins in Maine -- starting with the season's first warmer, wet "big nights" -- MBN volunteers track, count, and escort amphibians across deadly roadways on their journey to vernal breeding pools. The goal is to protect these cute critters and ensure amphibian populations are able to continue their small-but-mighty role in our ecosystem, as well as raise community awareness about this special migratory season! Remember, if you see people with headlamps, notepads, and hi-vis vests along the road at night...don't be alarmed, they're out looking for frogs and salamanders. ��🦎🐸 You can read more about Maine's only statewide amphibian crossing project on their website, /, and round up your purchase in Camden to the nearest dollar to support their important work!

It ain’t pretty, but it’ll do! . This is the start of our makeshift crossing structure project, where we’re hoping to direct amphibians to a pre-existing culvert (the one shown here) with fencing. At either end of the culvert is a trail camera that is designed to capture photos of wildlife too small to trigger most cameras. Anything that traverses over that beige bar (the “threshold”) will trigger a photo - even slugs can get their time in the limelight! . We initially deployed these cameras two weeks ago but quickly found out that it will end up with 18,000 pictures in no time as debris flowed through the culvert. So today, we raised the thresholds out of the water and created mesh ramps that will be covered in leaves to prevent discouraging traveling critters. . Will it work? Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. We’ll find out when fencing is installed later this year. That’s what science is all about! . This project is made possible by your support, as well as the Davis Conservation Foundation and additional support from the Quimby Foundation.

Why yes, it is World Frog Day thanks for asking 💅 (okay we’re a few minutes late but there’s only two of us and a four-toed salamander running this account so chill that’s not very many toes okay) . Maine is no leader in terms of the number of frog species in a state (we only have nine - some states in the southeast have over 30!) but we do have several outstanding species. Take, for example, the Wood Frog - not only capable of freezing almost entirely solid and ranging farther north than any amphibian in the world (all the way into the Arctic Circle!), they are also migration champions. A Wood Frog may migrate over a kilometer to reach a pool to breed in the spring - a traversable distance by human standards, but about 400 miles in the shoes of a woodie! . The Pickerel Frog is another unique frog that calls Maine home. While it spends most of its time confusing observers with Northern Leopard Frogs, it has another hobby, being quite toxic ☠️. If you were to put this frog in a bucket with other frogs, you may find that the others don’t survive after this frog secretes poison from its skin. While only mildly irritating to people, its skin is also loaded with anti-microbial and even anti-tumor proteins! Wash your hands . Of course, there’s also the Spring Peeper, our state amphibian and smallest frog in the state. Though only an inch long, they can be deafeningly loud. Chorusing peepers can exceed 100 decibels, putting them on par with motorcycles, planes, and sirens. You could get hearing damage in 7 minutes if youre in the middle of a loud group! . Pickerel Frog ft. Spring Peeper chorus in the last video.