North section - 3/22/2023
Wednesday, 9:20-11:30 am. no live newts, ?? dead newts.
Weather: light rain from time to time, a bit cold. Very wet all around.
Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked with Kat.
I had 35 newts, 9 on the hill side, 26 on the reservoir side, including at least 1 juvenile.
Other roadkills: earthworms. a large toad, a bird.
Traffic - 68 cars, 13 trucks (including County Roads, SJJJ), 0 motorcycles, 0 bikes, 9 pedestrians, 10 parked cars (0 cars at the farther parking lot).
Traffic was doubled the usual, probably because Eldercroft Heights Rd is now closed (since 3/21), and the entire community living at the south end of ABR will need to leave the area by driving the entire length of ABR. This is really bad news, adding so many cars a day to the road, including the residents, all the utilities, deliveries, etc... Unfortunately, it will take a long time to fix the road.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-03-22&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Kat's observations of the day -
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@merav, @molly2, it just breaks my heart that so many juveniles have been found dead this season. I would love to know why. I've updated the chart:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newt-roadkill-dead-juveniles-lexington-reservoir/journal/73122-exponential-rise-in-juvenile-newts-killed-this-season-2022-2023
wow, that figure is crazy. I'm guessing it includes Friday's numbers? I was surprised to see such a high number of juveniles again. I think we usually only see them at the beginning of the season?
Yes, it includes Friday's numbers and it IS super crazy. You're right, we usually only see them at the beginning of the migration season. I wonder what's going on?
And it seems that the juveniles are far more common on the south side of the reservoir than on the north. Why would that be?
yes, this was the same earlier this year as well. most juveniles were found in the fall in one hotspot.
@molly2, my guess for why there are more dead juveniles found on the south part of Alma Bridge Rd. is because there's more traffic in the northern part to smash them into oblivion. The tiny ones don't last long on the road - they get carried away on car tires or disintegrate faster. One study showed that 80% of juveniles are gone off the road within 24hrs.
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