Michael S. Hayslett

Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA

The VHS held its spring meeting at Prince William Forest Park in southern Prince William County on April 16-18, with a great show of members and participants in attendance. The VHS meeting made its base for operations at Cabin Camp 1 on the north side of the park. Herpetological forays were conducted around the base area by early arrivers on Friday, and resulted in the following finds:

From a pond near Cabin Camp 1 came the American Toad (Bufo americanus), Northern Cricket Frog (Acris c. crepitans), Eastern Painted Turtle (Chrysemys p. picta), Green Frog (Rana clamitans melanota), and the Red-Spotted Newt (Notophthalmus v. viridescens), and a Northern Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus edwardsii) was found on the west side of the dining hall. American Toads were also found along a section of Quantico Creek near the Burma Fire Road, as was a Marbled Salamander larva (Ambystoma opacum), and unidentified salamander eggs were discovered under a log. Search along VA 234 on the north boundary of the Park (NW of base) revealed both red and lead variants of the Redback Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) under moist cover, and an egg mass of the Wood Frog (Rana sylvaticus) was found in a roadside ditch. Back at camp, another "Leadback" salamander was seen by Cabin D1 and the Red Eft land form of the Red-Spotted Newt and two more Redbacks were spotted on the trail near Camp D. As the reader may already infer, the Redback Salamander did appear to be the most frequently encountered species of herpetofauna within the Park, with at least 18 sightings being reported during the meeting weekend.

A highly informative workshop was conducted after dinner on Friday evening to provide participants with an orientation to the biology of the endangered Wood Turtle (Clemmys insculpta), and to familiarize those who would be involved with the survey for this animal on Saturday, of the field techniques involved in the search.

A night search was made around a pond on the east side of Burma Fire Road and the surrounding woodland plain along a Quantico Creek tributary. In addition to 4 species of herps previously encountered on Friday (10 red and lead phases of the Redback Salamander, an adult Marbled Salamander, 3 Green Frogs, an American Toad, and a Northern Ringneck), the crew also encountered 4 larval and adult Northern Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea bislineata), a Three-Lined Salamander (Eurycea longicauda guttolineata), a Northern White-Spotted Slimy Salamander (Plethodon cylindraceus), and a Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer).

In the early morning hours of Saturday, April 17, meeting participants heard both Spring Peepers and American Toads calling near the cabins. Of course, the anticipated focus of Saturday was the Wood Turtle Survey-the highlight event for the meeting weekend-which was conducted with over 53 participants who converged in systematic fashion upon Loudoun County for a great day of Herpetological experience. Although weather conditions from rain events the previous week prevented the teams from seeing any specimens of the target species, the outings were nonetheless very enjoyable, and a great host of herpetofauna and other natural elements were observed and recorded. See Sue Bruenderman's article on pages 36-43 for a complete report on this aspect of the meeting.

Back at the Park, other herp species were observed on Saturday, including the following: one other Redback Salamander in the camp area, another Redback and a Five-Lined Skink (Eumeces fasciatus), at a woodpile along the dining hall path, and an Eastern Worm Snake (Carphophis a. amoenus) under a pathside log, Additionally, 5 species were observed by the dam on Quantico Creek in the camp vicinity: the Red-Spotted Newt, Green Frog, Spring Peeper, Pickerel Frog (Rana palustris), and the Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana).

On Sunday, April 18, the remaining enthusiasts visited a woodland stream hollow along Mary Byrd Branch and Trail 11, near the center of the Park. Here a temporal pool on the floodplain of the stream contained evidence of 3 species of amphibians: larvae of Wood Frog, egg chains of American Toad, and egg masses of the Spotted Salamander (Ambystoma maculatum).

Those who ventured out for the 1993 Spring Meeting gained some enjoyable herpetological experiences in the Piedmont forest of the Park and the camaraderie of the Wood Turtle Survey, not to mention the comfortable lodging and the delicious food prepared by Bob Hogan and his family.

THANKS BOB, AND THANKS VHS!