FARMINGTON – Western Maine Audubon is sponsoring a talk by Greg LeClair titled, “Maine Big Night: Amphibian Migration Monitoring.” The talk will be held live in Thomas Auditorium, Preble Hall on the UMF campus on Wednesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. It is free and open to the general public.

April showers bring more than just May flowers to Maine – they also bring the massive annual breeding migration of amphibians throughout the state colloquially known as “big nights.” As many of these amphibians plod and hop through the landscape, they unfortunately face difficult obstacles towards reaching their breeding locations. While natural barriers (rivers, mountains, etc.) and predators are risks that wood frogs and spotted salamanders have calculated into their migratory plans, many have not had time to adjust to the newest and perhaps most deadly risk during these migrations – roads.

This persistent and increasing threat is what inspired the creation of Maine Big Night: Amphibian Migration Monitoring (MBN). MBN is a community science project that harnesses the energy of community members throughout the state to accomplish two major tasks: recording data on amphibian crossings and assisting creatures across roads to directly reduce mortality.

Since its inception in 2018, the MBN project has recorded 21,586 amphibians and surveyed 349 sites from Kittery to St. Agatha. This work has been done by 388 uniquely certified volunteers along with hundreds—if not thousands—of other Mainers. Together, these combined volunteers have contributed over 225 days of road monitoring and safely shepherded almost 16,000 amphibians to and from their breeding locations throughout Maine.

Western Maine Audubon invites you to come and learn more about salamanders and other amphibious creatures and how you can help them.

Greg’s talk will be recorded and placed on Western Maine Audubon’s website for viewing within a few weeks after the talk is given.

It is also possible to Zoom in live to the presentation. On the morning of the talk, a link will be posted on Western Maine Audubon’s FaceBook page and on WMA’s website.