David Tobler
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- Feb 1, 2008
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- 53
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My recent trip along the Northern coast of CA (which has been long overdue) proved to be fairly successful. I was able to sneak away for an entire weekend of herping. This being my first vacation in over a year, I figure there's no better way to get away from working with herps as a job and at home, then to go look for more herps! I found almost all my target species other than Ambystoma gracile during my venture north. Insted of spending my last day in gracile habitat, I had decided to drive further south in hopes of seeing some bright red and blue snakes. Lame, I know! 
One particular species that was surprizingly abundant during the weekend trip was Aneides flavipunctatus. I would estimate I flipped nearly 60 black salamanders in a manner of just a few hours of searching. Nearly every piece of wood that I lifted would reveal 2 to 3 and quite often 5 or more salamanders. 15 young black salamanders under a single piece of cover was my record for the day.
Another species of Aneides was also present, but not nearly as prevalent. I was able to flip a few A. vagrans in the same cover as the blacks.
A nice bonus to my trip was that I'm now able to officially say I've seen all the Taricha in CA. Taricha rivularis were seen in the water as we hiked down a stream. My rubber boots and dip net certainly came in handy on this trip. I was able to snag a handfull of newts for some photos.
For anyone who's had the pleasure of experiencing the back-breaking work envolved in trying to flip terrestrial Dicamptodon, I feel your pain! I certainly would never consider trying to flip for dicamps ever again. The adults must dig deep after the breeding season is over. I did happen to find a number of aquatic larval Dicamptodon tenebrosus while flipping stones along the stream.
A fair number of Ensatina e. oregonensis and Batrachoseps attenuatus were also seen during my trip. I opted not to photograph any of the Batrachoseps, though did snap a few of the Ensatina.
It was quite an enjoyable trip, that certainly will become a more regular field outting for myself in the future.
One particular species that was surprizingly abundant during the weekend trip was Aneides flavipunctatus. I would estimate I flipped nearly 60 black salamanders in a manner of just a few hours of searching. Nearly every piece of wood that I lifted would reveal 2 to 3 and quite often 5 or more salamanders. 15 young black salamanders under a single piece of cover was my record for the day.
Another species of Aneides was also present, but not nearly as prevalent. I was able to flip a few A. vagrans in the same cover as the blacks.
A nice bonus to my trip was that I'm now able to officially say I've seen all the Taricha in CA. Taricha rivularis were seen in the water as we hiked down a stream. My rubber boots and dip net certainly came in handy on this trip. I was able to snag a handfull of newts for some photos.
For anyone who's had the pleasure of experiencing the back-breaking work envolved in trying to flip terrestrial Dicamptodon, I feel your pain! I certainly would never consider trying to flip for dicamps ever again. The adults must dig deep after the breeding season is over. I did happen to find a number of aquatic larval Dicamptodon tenebrosus while flipping stones along the stream.
A fair number of Ensatina e. oregonensis and Batrachoseps attenuatus were also seen during my trip. I opted not to photograph any of the Batrachoseps, though did snap a few of the Ensatina.
It was quite an enjoyable trip, that certainly will become a more regular field outting for myself in the future.
