Lake Creek Brrrrrr Cold Amphibian Watch Dec 08, 2018

We have had rain yet again. The weather has been wet and cold for a week, so I opted for a shortened monitoring period and then a nice long year-end celebration at B B Rovers.
Three of us met at the dam and spent just 15 minutes looking there for amphibs and reptiles. We moved to the limestone wall for just another 15 minutes of monitoring. Total monitoring time this month was 30 minutes.
Thanks Bill and Chuck for joining me.

Environmental Conditions (at 17:30):
Air Temp: 5.9C
Water Temp: 7.1C
Sky: 2 (cloudy)
Water Level: MAA++ (Much Above Average - Total Edge Overflowing) - all of of the dam was still in overflow at a depth of 1 to 3 inches. The noise level was moderate, but enough to cover up any but the loudest other sounds.
Relative Humidity: 57% on the meter.

General Observations:
The pond above the dam was still completely clear of any algal mats. Overflow water was pooled bank to bank below the dam, looking more like another little lake yet again. It has been the wettest monitoring year, especially the fall months, that I can remember.

Amphibian/Herp Watch Report:
We did not hear or see any amphibians or reptiles at the dam. We saw one Gulf Coast Toad down deep in the limestone wall. All three of us saw it, and Chuck took pictures with his phone. It was too far away and too hard to light up the area to get a good image, but we know we saw it and have an attempted image.
In all, one amphibian species was detected for this month. December can be so variable. So much depends on temperatures and this cold day we were surprised to observe anything out.

Posted on December 29, 2018 05:49 PM by weathergaltx