I repeat, it's still winter at Heiberg

I visited all 71 pools on Saturday the 9th, and observed quite a bit of variation in terms of hospitability for amorous amphibians. Some pools were entirely encased in ice and snow:

Whereas others looked absolutely inviting:

The majority of pools were largely covered with ice, but with a small areas of open water. Aside from last year's green frog tadpoles observed in a handful of pools, there was no sign of breeding activity in any of the pools: no egg masses, no spermatophores. This was also the case in a few of the pre-existing pools in the hexagon landscape that have historically been popular oviposition sites, so apparently the breeding season has yet to get underway anywhere at Heiberg. In contrast, large numbers of spotted and Jefferson salamanders and wood frogs were observed on the night of 4 March at the amphibian hotspot Labrador Hollow, which is about 3 km to the northeast, but ~150 m lower in elevation. Stay tuned, spring has to be nearing....

Jim Arrigoni, SUNY-ESF