Journal archives for December 2021

December 1, 2021

North section - 11/30/2021

Tuesday, 9:10-11:00 no live newts, xx dead newts
I walked with Robin and Shoshi.
Weather: nice. It's been dry for a while?
Coverage: from the Jones Trailhead parking lot to the second stop sign.
Newts: I had 8 dead newts, 2 of them juveniles, all pretty dry. Robin had xx newts
Other roadkills: a few Jerusalem Crickets, a few Tylobolus millipedes, one spider.
Traffic: very quiet - 18 cars, 10 trucks, 1 motorcycle, 6 bikes, 1 electric scooter (my first sighting!), 11 pedestrians, 25 parked cars (1 car at the far parking lot).
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=37.217587329825506&nelng=-121.7180669379592&on=2021-11-30&place_id=any&swlat=37.142364013875834&swlng=-122.19635844949484&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Robin's observations of the day -
I forgot to add that to the newt observations, so at least I'll have it here - "The Midpeninsula Board Meeting regarding the ongoing newt massacre is Dec 8. Please submit your support/comments/questions about the roadkill death of 5,000 Pacific Newts per year on Alma Bridge Road here: https://www.openspace.org/who-we-are/public-meetings For more info or to join Newt Patrol: https://www.bioblitz.club/newts "

Posted on December 1, 2021 02:27 AM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 2, 2021

South section - 12/1/2021

Wednesday, 9:15-11:15 no live newts, 5 dead newts
I walked with Monica.
Weather: really cold! yesterday was much nicer. But the chipmunks were active anyway - we heard 2 by the road.
Coverage: from Aldercroft Heights Rd intersection to the second stop sign.
Newts: 5 newts only, all very dry.
Other roadkills: 1 juvenile fence lizard, 1 juvenile toad, Jerusalem Crickets, and a few Tylobolus millipedes and centipedes.
Traffic: 14 cars, 2 trucks, 4 motorcycles, 7 bikes, 0 pedestrians, 1 parked car.
Monica's observations - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2021-12-01&place_id=any&user_id=monicarichards&verifiable=any
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=37.217587329825506&nelng=-121.7180669379592&on=2021-12-01&place_id=any&swlat=37.142364013875834&swlng=-122.19635844949484&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Posted on December 2, 2021 06:01 AM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 7, 2021

North Section - 12/7/2021

Covered the North section
Weather: Cold and foggy, had lightly rained the night before
27 dead newts (one found dying which was really sad, it was also off to the side of the road so it almost made it)
Also found one dead Jerusalem cricket
7 pickups
15 cars
7 trucks
2 bikes
1 dude on an electric standing scooter
Observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_id=monicarichards&verifiable=any

Posted on December 7, 2021 11:18 PM by monicarichards monicarichards | 3 comments | Leave a comment

December 8, 2021

South section - 12/8/2021

Wednesday, 9:15-11:35 no live newts, 51 dead newts
Weather: cold. Rained a bit at night?
Coverage: from Aldercroft Heights Rd intersection to the second stop sign.
Newts: 51 newts, most of them fresh. A few juveniles. I marked 2, but if we measure them from the photos, I think we'll find more.
Other roadkills: 1 fence lizard, 2 toad, 3 ensantinas, 1 arboreal salamander, banana slug, some Jerusalem Crickets, moths, Tylobolus millipedes, centipedes, caterpillars.
Traffic: 18 cars, 1 truck, 5 bikes, 2 times seeing the guy with the electric scooter, 1 pedestrian, 0 parked cars.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2021-12-08&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Tonight is the Midpen meeting - please join and write a comment - info here - https://www.keepcoyotecreekbeautiful.org/post/help-save-newts

Posted on December 8, 2021 10:15 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 14, 2021

South section - 12/13/2021

Monday, 9:00-11:20 no live newts, 77 dead newts
I walked with Robin
Weather: cold. Rained started Saturday night, and continued until Tuesday morning. It was raining during the entire survey.
Coverage: from Aldercroft Heights Rd intersection to the second stop sign.
Newts: we had 77 newts, most of them very fresh. A few juveniles.
Other roadkills: 2 arboreal salamanders, banana slugs, tree frog.
Traffic: busy morning on the south section - 47 cars, 1 pedestrian, 3 parked cars.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&on=2021-12-13&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Robin's observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&on=2021-12-13&place_id=any&user_id=anudibranchmom&verifiable=any
Other notes: get new rain gear!

Posted on December 14, 2021 04:38 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 15, 2021

Guadalupe Reservoir - 12/14/2021

Since I saw high mortality on the road at Guadalupe Reservoir (Hicks Road) last year, I wanted to document it a few times this year, so went out today thinking it would be ugly. To my pleasant surprise there were "only" 34 dead newts along the fairly short stretch of road I walked. I'm sure I saw others before and after the reservoir stretch, but thought the highest rate would be in the more immediate area. I'll post the observations later, just wanted to note it here while it was fresh.

Posted on December 15, 2021 01:31 AM by newtpatrol newtpatrol | 1 comment | Leave a comment

North Section - 12/14/2021

Today I walked the North section with Jim, The temp was in the mid to high 40's and it had rained heavily the night before. We started a little after 9:00 and were finished at 11:45. Because of the rain there was unfortunately high newt mortality. We counted 127 dead newts, including about five juveniles. Also dead was one arboreal salamander. This time no Jerusalem crickets and only a couple of really large banana slugs were also dead on the road.

Cars - 17
Parked cars - 4
Trucks -19 including a huge construction earth mover and pickups with plows on the front. Apparently there was a rockslide or trees across the road further up
Bikes - 0
Dead Newts - 127
Dead Arboreal Salamander - 1

Posted on December 15, 2021 03:46 AM by monicarichards monicarichards | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 21, 2021

North section - 12/20/2021

Monday, 12/20/2021, 2:15pm - 4:15pm
185 dead newts, 0 live newts, 1 juvenile
Weather: chilly and dry the past few days
Traffic: 16 cars, 8 parked cars, 7 bikes, 3 big trucks, 1 pedestrian

I didn't expect so many newts, since it's been dry lately, but I guess they're just on the move. A majority of them were rather dry and hard to remove from the road, the rest somewhat fresh. A much larger proportion were on the side of the road further from the reservoir. Not much traffic. It's nice to see more water in the reservoir.

Posted on December 21, 2021 02:55 AM by newtpatrol newtpatrol | 0 comments | Leave a comment

South section - 12/20/2021

Monday, 9:00-12:33 no live newts, 217 dead newts
I walked with Robin
Weather: cold. A lot of rain last week, was dry for a few days.
Coverage: from Aldercroft Heights Rd intersection to the second stop sign.
Newts: I had 99 newts, Robin had 118, some of them fresh. A few juveniles.
Other roadkills: 2 slender salamanders, snails, beetles, millipedes, centipedes
Traffic: busy morning on the south section - 4 trucks, 48 cars (including Midpen and SJJJ pickups), 1 pedestrian, 5 bikes, 4 parked cars.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2021-12-20&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Robin's observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2021-12-20&page=2&place_id=any&user_id=anudibranchmom&verifiable=any

Posted on December 21, 2021 06:46 AM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 29, 2021

North Section - 12/28/2021

Walked with my two young adult daughters from 11:00 to 1:00. They were hoping to see a live newt but no dice, just a slender salamander. The road was closed at about a third of the way due to a landslide and still we had 143 dead newts! The road crew that was cleaning up the landslide said that the day before (while it was raining) they had seen many live newts, both on the road and at the sides of the road. Because of the rain there were many dead newts, sadly.

Dead newts: 143
Live newts: 0
Dead banana slugs: 3
Trucks: 5
Backhoe: 1
Pickup Trucks: 9
Cars: 42
Parked cars: 10

Location of road closure: 37°11'55.8"N 121°58'50.6"W

Posted on December 29, 2021 02:24 AM by monicarichards monicarichards | 2 comments | Leave a comment