TRR photo by Ed Wesely I photographed this little salamander, called a “red eft,” as it crossed a forest trail last Sunday. Unlike many salamanders, which absorb oxygen through the skin (which must be kept moist), red efts possess functional lungs.

Red-spotted newts. It was easier to photograph this four-inch salamander than to explain why it’s called a “newt.”

A main difference is that other members of the salamander family have sets of grooves on the underside. Newts lack these furrows, called “costal” grooves, and unlike other salamanders have dry skins.

The skins of red spotted newts also secrete strong poisons, which protect the species against predators. And rather than evolve dark colors that act as camouflage in the forest leaf litter, young adults, called “red efts,” display gaudy orange skin trimmed with red dots, as in the picture.

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Gobbler days are here again

By CONNIE MERTZ

It’s deer hunting in the fall and turkey hunting in the spring that gets hunters electrified.

Due to the trap-and-transfer program, turkeys are found throughout the state’s farmland. Just two weeks ago, I saw a gobbler right in the small patch of woodlands adjacent to our lane. I stopped the car to view him. He took great strides, but his crimson-red head was easily seen in the drab grays of the season.

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Discover the night sky

MILANVILLE, PA—Here in the Delaware Valley, far from smog and city lights, our night sky is a dazzling display of stars, planets and galaxies. Explore these heavenly bodies on Friday, May 14 at 9:00 p.m. at the Delaware Highlands Conservancy’s Butterfly Barn Nature Center.

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Also in this issue:

• Girl scouts earn award at Grey Towers
• Shad Watch