Red Eft

It appears that the last only time I blipped one of these before was June 27, 2018. We see a surprising number of them on the dirt road when we take our now daily walks (daily since I never have to leave the house anymore in the early morning to go to a volunteer job!). Generally The Husband spots them because he's usually looking at the road while I'm looking at the trees and sky. But today it was I who noticed this one. After the obligatory photo shoot it was moved off the road in the direction it appeared to be wanting to go.

This "red eft" is the juvenile stage of the Eastern newt, or red-spotted newt. It is land dwelling during the eft stage (having been born in the water and then crawled out) and then it will return to the water for the rest of its life as a grown up newt.