South section - 09/19/2022
Monday, 11:40-2:15. no live newts. 20 dead newts.
Weather: sunny/ rainy/ sunny/ rainy and so on...
Here we go again... It rained pretty well in San Jose over the weekend, so I thought I'd have a look at the road. I was glad I did, as I don't think these animals would have been waiting there for too long.
Coverage: Aldercroft road to stop sign. I walked with Keith.
Newts: 20 fresh newts, 10 on each side of the road. At least 8 of the newts were juveniles.
Other roadkills: 26 toads, 8 tree frogs, and one bullfrog, one tiny fence lizard.
Traffic: 22 cars, 1 truck, 0 motorcycles, 3 bikes, 0 pedestrians, 4 parked cars.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&on=2022-09-19&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Comments
@merav, it's way too early for this to start again. Poor babies! Could you tell which direction the juveniles we're going? Away from the reservoir or toward it?
I think most of the tiny juveniles were on the side of the reservoir, so possibly heading to the hills. And yes, way too early...
@merav, so does this data support the theory that the juveniles stay in the reservoir for at least one season before heading up to the hills? And it appears that they're some of the first to migrate.
I think it does, but they could also be simply out foraging. I think it does support that theory though, meaning that we're seeing the migration of last year's new generation back from the reservoir. Is this similar to what we had in previous years? I think we see most of the smallest juveniles early in the season?
@merav, I think you're right that most juveniles are seen early in the migration season. Cheryl had some info on this. Maybe she could give some insight.
Also, the higher the number of juveniles killed, the faster the population decreases, according to the population algorithms used by H.T. Harvey. So sad for this generation of newts.
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