The amphibians were out in force today. Newts and salamanders, encouraged by the wet ground, seemed to be everywhere. One girl in my group even found a mutant newt. Two of its back toes were fused together. The newt promptly became the visual element of a talk on amphibian mutations, and how many scientists view amphibians as sort of a global "indicator species". Amphibians, due to their porous skin and other factors, are more susceptible to harm from environmental changes than most other animals are. In other words, if something goes wrong, they're the first to go. And that's exactly what is happening.

When the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, the forest steamed. It was beautiful.

Later, the night hike went by much too quickly. The kids were sort of loud, but quieted down after a bit. The rain stayed away, but the clouds made stargazing difficult.

I'm tired. When I got home everybody was in bed already. That sounds like a good idea.