Journal archives for April 2019

April 04, 2019

Pacific Newt Roadkill: 14 found dead today; no live ones seen

April 3, 2019 (Wednesday) 9:45 am – 11:45 am

I found 14 fresh newt carcasses today. The migration season is definitely waning. I’m fairly certain most of the dead were Taricha granulosa.

See: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/truthseqr/2019/4/3

Other roadkill: 2 toads and a Western Fence Lizard

Coverage: (~51%) Vulcan quarry to Soda Springs Rd. plus spot-checked a few other locations.

Rainfall: (MTD: 0.18 in; YTD: 24.43 in) It was drizzling this morning.

Traffic: Traffic was light. Approximately 10 cars and pickups.

Posted on April 04, 2019 02:11 AM by truthseqr truthseqr | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 09, 2019

Pacific Newt Roadkill: 8 found dead today; no live ones seen

April 8, 2019 (Monday) 9:45 am – 11:45 am

There were 2 fresh carcasses and 6 that were a few days old (8 total). The migration season seems to be coming to an end. I’m fairly certain most of the dead were Taricha granulosa.

See: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/truthseqr/2019/4/8

Other roadkill: 3 toads, a frog, a millipede, a broad-footed mole, and a snake

Coverage: (~51%) Vulcan quarry to Soda Springs Rd. plus spot-checked a few other locations.

Rainfall: (MTD: 0.54 in; YTD: 24.79 in) It was warm and sunny this morning.

Traffic: Traffic was light. Two gravel trucks, a few maintenance trucks, a fire truck (Ben Lomond crew) with ~12 firemen at the Priest Rock trailhead, and 13 speeding cars/pickups.

Posted on April 09, 2019 02:35 AM by truthseqr truthseqr | 0 comments | Leave a comment

Pacific Newt Roadkill: 5,293 dead

April 8, 2019 (Monday)

I'm done. Today will be my last roadkill survey for the 2018-2019 newt migration season. There were only 8 carcasses for the past 5 days, so it looks like the migration season has just about ended.

TOTAL DEAD: 5,293
This season (2018-2019): 4,822

2017-2018 Season: 471
Other roadkill: 67 (21 Species)
Data collection days: 51

Special thanks to @merav and @biohexx1 for walking the beat with me and helping to collect data for this gruesome project.

Important lessons learned:
• Pacific Newts don’t just come out on rainy nights. A significant number of them are out and about during the daytime. Also, some of the highest roadkill numbers occurred when there had been no rainfall for several days.
• Similar carnage is probably happening throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains wherever a road bisects the newts’ habitat.
• The government is very slow to take action. A lot of public pressure is required to get them to take any action at all. There’s a lot of politics involved. Ugh!

Posted on April 09, 2019 02:56 AM by truthseqr truthseqr | 10 comments | Leave a comment

April 12, 2019

Coyote Ridge Bioblitz

April 7, 2019 (Sunday)
Participated in the Coyote Ridge Bioblitz. The wildflowers were spectacular and the weather was perfect.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/coyote-ridge-2019-bioblitz-all-species

Posted on April 12, 2019 12:59 AM by truthseqr truthseqr | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 13, 2019

Pacific Newt Roadkill: 56 old carcasses; 1 live one seen

April 10, 2019 (Wednesday)

(Merav's survey results) Good news - they are gone! Only found old dead ones today. I did the Soda Spring area for an hour, counted a few dozen dry ones, no fresh ones. Also saw a live one in the little pool by Limekiln trail head.

See: https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/merav/2019/4/10

Other roadkill: 2 Western Toads

Coverage: (~21%) Soda Springs Canyon area.

Rainfall: no rain in 4 days

Posted on April 13, 2019 11:21 AM by truthseqr truthseqr | 3 comments | Leave a comment

Reasons why Pacific Newt roadkill may be significantly under-reported

I'm reposting this entry from January 15, 2019 (with some additions) to emphasize its importance. As horrifying as the total death count is (5,349 as of 4/13/19), we may be under-reporting the actual number killed on Alma Bridge Rd. Here are the reasons:

(1) The entire length of Alma Bridge Rd. (4.1 miles) may not be able to be covered every survey date. The average coverage per survey date in 2018-2019 was 47%. Therefore, the death toll could be as high as twice what we've reported!

(2) Sometimes newts are injured and are able to crawl off the road before dying. Therefore, they might not be counted as roadkill.
** https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-roadkill-2020-2021-lexington-reservoir-f5033b15-cd3e-4729-90e6-1cb52825880c/journal/44839-dec-20-2020-north-side
** https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-injured-lexington-reservoir

(3) Carcasses disappear from the road over time. Here are two examples:
a. Case Study #1: Ten newts found in am, only one left by pm:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-roadkill-2019-2020-lexington-reservoir/journal/30239-case-study-1-ten-newts-found-in-am-only-one-left-by-pm
b. Case Study #2: 64% of dead newts "disappeared" from the road in 4 days:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-roadkill-2019-2020-lexington-reservoir/journal/30234-case-study-2-64-of-dead-newts-disappeared-from-the-road-in-4-days

(4) Carcasses disintegrate beyond recognition when many cars run them over. The traffic throughput on weekends is sometimes as high as 90+ vehicles per hour going to and from the Los Gatos Rowing Club. Imagine what a small, soft-bodied newt looks like after it's been run over by 90+ vehicles.

(5) Dead newts may be carried away on car, truck, or bike tires. Here's a post by @karangattu that show pieces of newts he found on cars parked by the road - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-roadkill-2020-2021-lexington-reservoir-f5033b15-cd3e-4729-90e6-1cb52825880c/journal/45347-jan-9-2021-north-side

(6) When there's a lot of rain, the carcasses tend to turn to mush rather quickly and they look like grayish splats on the road. You wouldn't even know they're newt roadkill unless you know what to look for.

(7) And then there are the mud and rock slides. Maintenance trucks may scrape away newts along with the mud and rocks when they clear the roads.

(8) We have not taken into account the effect that scavengers may have on newt roadkill count. According to Greg Pauly, Curator of Herpetology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, "Raccoons, skunks, otters, crows, and ravens are all known predators of newts. While garter snakes swallow newts whole and therefore get exposed to the full dose of toxins (which of course is highly variable across species and populations within species), these bird and mammal predators tend to slit the animals up the belly and then eat the muscle tissue inside, often pulling limbs out. This leaves behind most of the organs and the skin with some or all of the limbs turned inside-out."

Posted on April 13, 2019 11:44 AM by truthseqr truthseqr | 2 comments | Leave a comment

April 14, 2019

Almaden Quicksilver County Park Spring Bioblitz

Participated in the Almaden Quicksilver Spring Bioblitz.

Date: April 13, 2019
Time: 7:30 am - 1:30 pm (6 hrs)
Trails hiked: Hacienda, Capehorn Pass, Mine Hill, Randol, Buena Vista, New Almaden, Virl O. Norton
Miles: 5.64
Observations: 285
Species: 122

Posted on April 14, 2019 07:28 PM by truthseqr truthseqr | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 21, 2019

12th Annual Wildflower Survey - Sierra Azul

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space Distrist (MROSD)
Hike/Survey #1: Cherry Springs Pond (2.25 miles, 3-4 hours)

Led by Ellen Gartside and Aleksandra Evert, Volunteer Program Leads, this hike is moderate length and grade along an old road bed that passes around Cherry Springs pond through wetland, mixed conifer, chaparral and grassland habitats.

8:45am - 3pm
Overcast day; ~65 degrees

Here are my observations:
https://www.inaturalist.org/calendar/truthseqr/2019/4/20

Our team identified 123 species of flowering plants! Woo-hoo!

Posted on April 21, 2019 02:17 PM by truthseqr truthseqr | 0 comments | Leave a comment