ארכיון יומן של מרץ 2022

מרץ 8, 2022

South section - 03/07/2022 (Lots. And a shrew!)

Conducted survey of the South section from 8:46 am - 12:30 pm.

Weather: Clear, cold (45 F) and sunny. Tiny amount of rainfall March 3-5 was 0.15 inch, apparently just enough to be inspirational to the newts. http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php

Observers: Robin and Jim

Newts: 342 dead adult newts plus 3 dead juveniles. No live newts, very few fresh. Oddly high proportion of "floaters," not sure what's happening, since we were the last NPers to do the road a few days ago and I am careful to toss them over the cliff.

Non-newts: 1 shrew sp. (possibly Ornate Shrew: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/108146218), 1 Arboreal Salamander, 1 American Toad.

Documented Human Activity:
Cars: 20
Trucks: 1
Motorcycles: 0
Bikes: 5
Pedestrians: 3
Parked cars: 3

הועלה ב-מרץ 8, 2022 01:55 לפנה"צ על ידי anudibranchmom anudibranchmom | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

מרץ 11, 2022

E. Pacific Nudibranch News - New Name for Janna's Dorid: Genus Knoutsodonta now Genus Atalodoris

Since iNat follows WoRMS, and this new genus has been accepted by WoRMS, Genus Knoutsodonta - Hallas & Gosliner, 2015 is now Genus Atalodoris - Iredale & O'Donoghue, 1923. Citation: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=597122

Good news, do nothing!
If you have old Observations of Janna's Dorid, the name has automatically been changed to Atalodoris jannae and you don't need to do anything. The same is true for all the observations of the 15 other species in the genus.

The common name remains the same.

Genus Knoutsodonta is now Inactive and should not be used for Observation IDs. Citation: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=845525)

For now, I have included the undescribed Knoutsodonta sp-a in the genus name change to Atalodoris, though this may need further review.

הועלה ב-מרץ 11, 2022 01:08 לפנה"צ על ידי anudibranchmom anudibranchmom | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

מרץ 16, 2022

South section - 03/15/2022

South section - 03/15/2022
Conducted survey of the South section from 8:30 am - 11:15 am.

Weather: Light drizzle (0.01" rain for the first 30 minutes. http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php)

Observers: Robin and Merav

Newts: 30 dead adult newts plus 1 dead juvenile. Two live newts.

Non-newts: Sierran Tree Frog, juvenile Alligator Lizard, Western Fence Lizard, two caterpillars, a few Jerusalem Crickets. Also found my first Ceanothus Silk Moth cocoon on a roadside bush, which was cool.

Documented Human Activity:
Cars: 23
Bikes: 3
Conversations with locals about newts: 1

הועלה ב-מרץ 16, 2022 02:52 אחה"צ על ידי anudibranchmom anudibranchmom | תגובה 1 | הוספת תגובה

מרץ 20, 2022

Precipitation carnage and Mountain Lion report - South section - 03/20/2022

South section - 03/20/2022
Conducted survey of the South section from 7:30 am - 10:30 am (earlier than usual time)

Weather: Clear, sunny, started at 41 F (Note that area received 0.09" rain the afternoon before: http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php)

Observer: Robin

A higher-than-usual proportion of freshly-dead newts, including two that must have walked onto the road between the start time and the end time. Also more other amphibians than usual. In one of my four conversations about newts, a local resident told me she saw a Mountain Lion crossing Alma Bridge Road where we were chatting two evenings prior. She had lived in the mountains many years and was knowledgeable enough to convince me ("Long tail as big as my wrist; it looked at me as it walked right in front of my car."), so I have added this report as a unphotoed, casual observation.

Newts:
121 dead adult newts, nearly all freshly dead within last 12 hours
4 dead juvenile newts
3 live adult newts in road (moved to safety)
1 live juvenile newt in road (moved to safety)
1 injured adult newt in road (probably fatal, moved to safety)

Dead Non-newts:
1 Santa Cruz Black Salamander (adult)
1 Sierran Tree Frog
4 California Slender Salamanders (plus one alive, moved to safety)
2 Western Fence Lizards
1 millipede
1 Button's banana slug

Documented Human Activity:
Cars: 23 moving, 1 parked
Trucks: 1
Bikes: 12 (plus 1 tandem bicycle)
Pedestrians: 9
Conversations with people about newts: 4 (!)

Final note of interest: Several trees, mostly oaks, on the downhill/Reservoir side of the road have been flagged with various colors of tape. A few say "do not cut." A closer examination revealed bird nests in many of the flagged trees. :-) I wonder who who is marking them.

הועלה ב-מרץ 20, 2022 11:55 אחה"צ על ידי anudibranchmom anudibranchmom | תגובה 1 | הוספת תגובה

מרץ 23, 2022

Whopping 474 Vehicles on ABR due to construction on 17 - North Section 3/23/2022

North section - 03/23/2022
Conducted survey of the North section from 9:00 am - 11:45 am

Weather: Marine layer until 9:45 then clear and sunny

Observers: Robin and Merav

Newts: 162 dead newts, including a few juveniles. Very few fresh, no live newts. Thank goodness the construction-traffic occurred during the day, because there was never more than a 30-second gap in the flow of vehicles. No way any newt or salamander could have crossed.

Dead Non-newts: Alligator Lizard, Western Fence Lizards, Arthropods

Documented Human Activity:
These ridiculous numbers are not a typo! Construction on Northbound Highway 17 at The Cats Saloon area caused a major backup. Many drivers diverted to Alma Bridge Road for a (calculated on Google Maps) significant time savings of 20 minutes. The result was a steady stream of cars on ABR the entire time of the survey, with many annoyed drivers accelerating when they could. For whatever reason, this coincided with a weekend-level number of cyclists, too.
Cars: 434 moving, 13 parked
Trucks: 35 (note that semis are not allowed on Alma Bridge Road)
Motorcycles: 1
Bikes: 30
Pedestrians: 3
Conversations with people about newts: 2

הועלה ב-מרץ 23, 2022 10:15 אחה"צ על ידי anudibranchmom anudibranchmom | 3 תגובות | הוספת תגובה