A spotted salamander egg mass, found in a newly-documented vernal pool in Harrisville in 2020.
(photo © Brett Amy Thelen)
Our 2020 vernal pool field season was significantly curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a few intrepid — and socially-distant — citizen scientists did take to the woods in search of vernal pools this year. In 2020, we documented 8 new vernal pools in Antrim, Harrisville, Peterborough, and Sharon, bringing our project total to 340 documented vernal pools in 16 different towns in the Monadnock Region.
Data for vernal pools on public lands have been shared with the Southwest Region Planning Commission and local land managers, and are available to the general public via our spiffy online map.
Do spring-breeding amphibians pique your interest? The Vernal Pool Project is still underway. Visit our Vernal Pool Project page for more information, then contact Brett Amy Thelen to volunteer.
