Red Eft in the garden and pond

I've been trying to turn over the soil and clean up this 30-year old garden. The soil is pretty depleted.
The wooden beams have rotted, they need to be taken out. This is prime habitat for salamanders, sadly.
Hubby has sanded the picket fence, in preparation for painting. Health issues preclude painting for now. He has his foot up and have to do the dang dishes...

Fred!

I have ordered a ton of soil for my garden, as the soil is very hard and dry, on top of clay in late summer. Good exercise shoveling soil.

I seem to be able to grow salamanders better in my veggie garden than veggies. Fred, the groundhog, is one reason! You can see her video here.

First I spotted a blue-spotted salamander. A huge one, hidden around the rotting wood. I was sorry to disturb it, but it is a VEGGIE garden! We have many spots in the 8-acre forest where it could live! I placed it in the trees. I worried about handling it, but I don't wear sunscreen or bug spray, and wouldn't contaminate its fine permeable amphibian skin.

Then I dug up a Red Eft.

Blue Spotted Salamander

Mike Murphy, the big cheese at Murphy's Point Park, pointed out this species and illuminated its journey.

TEENAGERS... The Red Eft is the middle stage of the Eastern Spotted Newt. Born in the water, he spent a few months as a gill-breathing, larval salamander before transforming into the Red Eft stage. He'll eventually move back to spend his last stage in permanent waters, grow a finlike tail and turn a bronzy green with dark dots and ruby-red spots.

Water Strider, another part of pond life.
This one lives on the goldfish pond.

jumping for joy or air!

Below is my video of the Red Eft in the pond. I went down in my boots and stood in the pond. Standing really still, the action is amazing. The teeny 'rain drops' are really the tadpoles popping up to the surface. Then the BIG drops are the Red Efts grabbing a tadpole.
Tadpoles in the pond from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Can you count how many? Millions! But the Red Eft lurks below, hunting for dinner.

Slowly turns its head left and right
 ~looking for something yummy to bite.