Northern California
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In August 2007, I got the opportunity to present some of my research at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) in San Jose, California with fellow SRELians Chris Winne, Brian Todd, and Melissa Pilgrim. The meetings were fun, but, of course, what we really wanted to do was get out in the field.
On the third day we got our first chance to skip out and spend a full day in the field. Our first stop that morning was a redwood grove just outside Santa Cruz. We arrived to find conditions bone-dry. The trees, though, were nothing short of spectacular.
photo by Chris Winne
photo by Chris Winne
A couple of mule deer were spotted browsing under the redwoods
We worked our way though the forest, stopping periodically to flip a log or two...
photo by Chris Winne
photo by Chris Winne
I stopped by a small rock pile bordering a culvert along a dry creek bed. The rock pile was situated directly in a sunlit gap in the forest, I knew it looked good. Sure enough, the top rock yielded our first herp of the trip...
Sharp Tailed Snake (Contia tenuis)
We continued, flipping logs as we went. Nearly every log, however was bone dry. Eventually we found a low spot with just a little retained moisture. Sure enough, nearly every log in this area yielded at least one salamander
California Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus)
The color variation in this species was amazing
Some logs along a barely-flowing stream yielded this species that we had all been hoping to find...
Yellow-Eyed Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii)
Along with several adults we found a couple of juveniles...
photo by Chris Winne
An open area along a larger creek yielded the first lizards of the trip...
Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)
True to the season, several hatchlings were also found
photo by Chris Winne
With the day warming quickly, we decided to hit some more open habitats before it got too hot. Our first stop was in dry pine forest and scrub/chaparral at the base of a large rocky ridge. Bet you can't guess what we were hoping for.
photo by Chris Winne
photo by Chris Winne
We were just remarking how dry the habitat was and how it seemed unlikely that we turn up much when we spied a small ravine with a puddle of water remaining at the bottom. Within minutes Melissa had uncovered two new salamanders under the bark of a fallen pine...
photo by Chris Winne
Still hoping for snakes, we continued up into dry scrubby pine forest.
I had one particular species in mind for this location, a species everyone had told me would be hard to get in August in the middle of a record drought. With the day heating up fast I was beginning to loose faith. I tried envisioning where that species would be in this habitat but couldn't quite picture it. Out of frustration, I reverted to tactics that I was used to use for finding this specie's eastern relatives... looking around rotting pine trees and logs and gently peeking under corners of loose bark...
photo by Chris Winne
It wasn't more than a couple of minutes before I caught a flash of red disappearing into a hole in the side of a standing snag...
photo by Chris Winne
Some gentle excavation of rotten wood secured my prize...
photo by Chris Winne
Coastal Mountain Kingsnake (Lampropeltis zonata)
photo by Chris Winne
I was psyched! This species was top on my list of targets but I really hadn't expected to find one.
photo by Chris Winne
My day had already been made, but it wasn't long before a trailside log yielded another new snake... oddly (given the name) in dry upland habitat.
Santa Cruz Aquatic Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus)
After photographing the Thamnophis we reluctantly headed on to our next location, sad to leave a spot where snakes were obviously active.
Our next stop was going to be a spot along the coast to meet up with another graduate student who had offered to take us to the field site where she is studying snakes in the coastal grassland.
On the way we made a quick stop for some snake jerky...
Pacific Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer) - DOR
photo by Chris Winne
Soon we reached our destination and met up with Melissa Amarello, a graduate student studying the ecology of garter snakes in the coastal grasslands.
After some quick introductions we headed out to her field sites.
photo by Chris Winne
We walked the wetland edge, seeing several California Red-Legged Frogs (Rana draytonii) leap into the water. Apparently, these coastal wetlands are one of the last areas were healthy populations of this species are still common. Unfortunately, they eluded our cameras.
photo by Chris Winne
The first drift fence array contained the only trapped snake of the day.
Western Yellow-Bellied Racer (Coluber constrictor)
I was amazed how docile this snake was compared to typical eastern racers
On the way back to the car we spotted this little guy along the wetland edge... Success!
San Francisco Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia)
This was a bay-area endemic that we had all hoped to see. What a beautiful snake.
Flipping rocks along the edge of a drying pool yielded this little 'gator
San Francisco Alligator Lizard (Elgaria coerulea)
... and rounded out our coastal garter snake trio...
Coast Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans)
On our way out we stopped to flip a board in the grass, uncovering two flavors of 'gators
San Francisco Alligator Lizard (Elgaria coerulea)
As evening approached, we grabbed some dinner and headed back to the hotel, tired, but very satisfied. Despite the dry conditions we had turned up some of our most wanted salamanders and more snakes than expected, including two of our most wanted target species. We are very grateful to Melissa for taking the time to show us her beautiful site and lead us to some nice herps.
The next couple of days were spent at the meeting, attending and giving talks.
As soon as the meeting was over, however, we wasted no time in hitting the road again.
We left in the afternoon heading east, camped in the hills west of the San Joaquin Valley, and hit Yosemite National Park the following morning. At this point the group parted ways, with Brian and Chris heading east towards Vegas and Melissa and I staying west. My first stop with Melissa was a Sequoia grove in Yosemite. I had not seen Sequoia's since I was about ten and we were both floored by the immensity of these ancient trees.
We continued up into the mountains, doing more sightseeing than herping. We couldn't resist a stop at this alpine pond.
As we walked the shoreline, Melissa suddenly yells SNAKE! I never saw it, but apparently a garter snake had nearly crawled over my foot before disappearing into dense vegetation.
Luckily we soon found another cruising in the shallows
Mountain Garter Snake (Thamnophis elegans)
As evening approached, we headed back west out of the park. After a couple more dead Gopher Snakes, we saw this heartbreaker... Sadly, this would be our only rattlesnake of the trip.
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) - DOR, rattle cut off
In the hills heading back to San Jose we came across a few toads, active despite the dry weather.
California Toad (Bufo boreas)
The evening passed without seeing a single live snake. I had totally given up hope when Melissa spotted a snake crossing the road at about 11 pm, air temp <60 F
California Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata)
We decided to spend the final half-day of our trip back out on the coast. The weather was cool so we didn't herp much, but the scenery was still beautiful. We managed to spot harbor seals, sea lions, and sea otters from the cliffs north of San Jose
We also made a quick stop by Ano Neuvo State Park to see the Elephant Seals that come ashore there
closer...
Nearly-fledged barn swallows
A final short stop at another redwood grove produced this somewhat drab Ensatina
Yellow-Eyed Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii)
... and the only invert this trip wouldn't be complete without...
Banana Slug
All in all, it was a great trip. I think we did remarkably well given our short amount of time in the field and ridiculously dry conditions. We did manage to check off a couple of species that I hadn't expected to find and saw some of the most spectacular habitat I've seen in a while. I can't wait till I get another opportunity to explore this area.