Lead Redback Salamander, Washington Crossing State Park, New Jersey
I had planned to stay in and work on my website for most of today, but the calm, bright overcast weather was too good not to take advantage of, so I decided to stop by Washington Crossing State Park for a couple of hours to see if I could find anything to photograph. I ended up flipping some logs and rocks looking for salamanders and found many Redback Salamanders and Two-lined Salamanders, as well as what I think was a Dusky Salamander and four small frogs I don’t feel qualified to identify at the moment. I took several photographs of the redback and two-lined, as they are pretty easy to find and quite common within the park.
This is a lead-backed version of the Redback Salamander. Redbacks actually have quite a bit of variation. The most common ones you’ll find either have a red back, like their name implies they should, or have a steel blue gray back, called a lead back. However, they can be marbled red and gray, or have a back that varies from pale, almost white, to yellow, orange, or dark maroon. They also have little gray and white flecks all over their bodies, as you can see from this photo.
Techs: Canon 1D Mark II N, 70-200mm f/4L IS USM, 25mm Extension Tube, 1/20s, f/16, ISO 500. To order this print, purchase stock rights, or view other photos I have for sale, please visit my website at www.karipost.com.
on May 6, 2008 at 9:58 am
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I love this one. I really need to process some of my leadbacks. I’ve been thinking of taking a Redback specific trip, just to try and find neat looking variants and to get some better shots of this overlooked (by me) species. You’ve inspired me to do that.
on October 16, 2008 at 8:37 am
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i found a red back salamander and i need to no what they eat
please tell me
on May 5, 2010 at 9:35 pm
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they eat spiders snails insects centipeds beetls and millipeds
im a forth grader im doing my animal report on them and this websites help