Newts are salamanders, or, more precisely, newts are aquatic salamanders with a land-living juvenile phase. That is, all newts are salamanders but not all salamanders are newts. Peasant: She turned me into a newt! Sir Bedevere: A newt? … … … … Peasant: I got better. The entire scene from which that bit of dialogue comes, in Monty Python and the Holy Grail , is one of my favorite scenes ever from a movie. MORE

The bugs and snakes and salamanders were pretty great too. For a birder, having a great local patch is a real luxury. We all have those days when we want to get out and go birding, but can never quite decide where we want to go. A local patch removes the mystery, makes the planning easier. And if that local patch is productive (and why else would it be your local patch if it’s not?), alls the better. Before I moved to Greensboro, NC, from Chapel Hill, I had an amazing patch. MORE

Oh yeah… I was able to find two species frogs, two species of salamanders, two species of lizards and one species of snake, so I was even able to get my herp fix in ! The original salamander – the Fire Salamander. Andy Avram is a lifelong resident of northeastern Ohio, just east of Cleveland. From the time he can remember, every camping, hiking, or simple trip outside was focused on finding wildlife with herps, mammals, birds and native fish as his primary interests. MORE

No frog, toad, or salamander ever was our forebear. I realize that in writing about "old speciesism" I failed to define this term that Dunayer uses. I think of "old speciesism" as analogous to racism and sexism in that it is exploitation based on species. The advocacy component of old speciesism isn't the campaign to end that exploitation, however. Instead, it is the campaign to modify it. MORE

Talk about conservation, salamanders, pikas…but I think it is important to not get too far off track. So you want to dip your feet into the murky, highly questionable waters of the Birdosphere eh? Well, although I am hard at work being the leading world birder, I’ve somehow had the time to become an old hand at this blogging stuff as well. MORE

He saw his first Garter Snake a couple of weeks ago on one such exploration and he is always excited to see Red-backed Salamanders , Cabbage White Butterflies , and Eastern Chipmunks. I spent this weekend at my parents’ house in my hometown of Saugerties, New York, which is nestled nicely between the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River. MORE

Granted, much of this diversity manifests itself in salamanders (10% of the global diversity) freshwater mussels (10% of global diversity) and vascular plants, which are not the flashy taxons to which the general public seems to gravitate, but the point that this is a very special place with surprises around every gap and bald. MORE

This one caught a nice fat salamander. In my continuing coverage on the herons and egrets of La Paz, I am going to show off the Tri-colored Heron. These lovely birds are actually quite common, many of which can be seen right along the water front of down town La Paz. Visiting tourists, getingt to enjoy the water front views, small quaint shops, and restaurants, also get to watch the Tri-colored Herons chasing small crabs and fish. MORE