Our popular vernal pool field experiences will be held as pop-up events this spring. Dates are difficult to predict and are based on rainfall and temperatures. Once a date with suitable conditions is chosen, registration will open about five days in advance of the event date. Watch our E-Blast newsletter and website calendar for date announcements. We plan to offer three dates in March and April, either Friday or Saturday nights. This event is held at Gunpowder Falls State Park after dark.
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Vernal pools are shallow depressions in the ground that usually fill with water for only part of the year. Melting snow and spring rains fill the holes with water, creating essential breeding habitat for specific species of frogs and salamanders. These amphibians leave their winter hibernation in the woodlands, find a vernal pool, mate, and lay their eggs in the water, leaving their young to hatch and grow in the pool. As the seasonal rains dry up, so do the vernal pools, sending the new generation of amphibians into the forest until their next breeding cycle.
To predict the best date to visit vernal pools, the amount of rainfall has to be significant enough to create the pool and the air temperature warm enough to tempt the amphibians out of hibernation.