Interesting Things In The Woods

I didn't do a bug walk today, but I was out in the woods for a while, and my husband had his camera with him, so when I found some interesting things I was able to take pictures of them. I have two interesting things to share, and they are not bugs.

Appropriately as Easter approaches, today in the woods I found eggs:

 There is a small pond in a clearing in the woods that I think is fed by a spring. The water level varies based on how much rain we've had, but it doesn't get completely dry. It came close a few weeks ago, but even over our dry winter there was water there the whole time. It basically looks like a big puddle. Today when we walked by there I noticed some white, gelatinous-looking blobs in the water, and looking more closely at them I realized that they are probably amphibian egg masses. I don't know enough about amphibians to know what kind, only that amphibians, even the ones that spend their time on land as adults, lay their eggs in the water. One recent evening when we went for a walk in the woods after dark to see if we could hear spring peepers (tree frogs) in our ponds we did hear at least one near the small pond. They are probably frog eggs (likely peepers), but they could be salamanders [Edit: probably spotted salamanders. They spend most of their lives underground, and come out in the spring, on rainy nights, to mate in vernal pools. Apparently in great numbers. I am sorry I missed that!]. There were several of the blobs. I'll keep an eye on them to see how they develop.

 More eggs, in a more clear blob.

There were bugs in, or rather on, the pond:

Water strider

I also found this:

 I never think of snails as something to be found in the woods, although I know there are plenty of species of land snails. This is the second time in a week I have found a snail shell in the woods. Both of them were found nearby a stream. This one looks bleached out; the other one was darker, so I wonder if this one is old.