Lake Creek TAW Report for 10 Oct 2015
Great turnout of (eight) Nature Nerds again this month. Thanks to Bill, Kathy, Myra, Mikael, Reggie, Linda, Patty for joining me for the monthly amphibian monitoring event.
It was warm, nearly 90F still, but pleasant. The water above the dam was nearly 90% covered with thick algal pads and very warm (25.5C).
We heard a Rio Grande Leopard Frog (C1), and had in hand a Blanchard's Cricket Frog and a Gulf Coast Toad. I posted the pictures of the cricket frog and toad. Linda is quite the effective amphibian spotter and with Kathy wielding the net, we have a great team there!!
We also heard an Eastern Screech Owl (EASO) , very close, for about ten minutes. Welcome back.
Bill was again using his new, fancy bat detector iPhone app and microphone, and is still looking for resources to use to verify the vocal patterns so as to assure that the app he is using is accurate. Stay tuned, as we say.
Amphibian call activity was low, which is normal for this time of year. Interesting, though, is the fact that though they are not calling, we can see them and catch them. This indicates to me that our years of monitoring amphibians by just listening was seriously under-representing the actual presence of the animals at our sites.
