January 20, 2023 - North Segment
I walked the north segment alone between 9:14 am and 1:09 pm.
The weather was cold at the start of the day--37 F, with a frost warning--but it warmed up to 48 F by the end of the survey.
I saw 0 live newts, 265 dead newts. 4 were juvenile, the rest adults. 180 newts on the upslope side of the road, 85 on the reservoir side. I was surprised to find a lot of newts between the Lexington Reservoir County Park parking lot and the turnoff for Vulcan Quarry. The newts were very difficult to pry off the pavement. I did my best, hopefully any remaining bits of tail or paw will dry up and be swept away before the next survey.
It was busy on the road. There were 117 cars, 14 trucks, 33 bikes, and 19 pedestrians. I talked about the newt patrol with a ranger from Midpen, several hikers, and a group of bicyclists. Many people had seen the newt crossing signs but weren't aware that all the little brown pancakes on the pavement were dead newts.
There was still water flowing off the sides of the hills and in the ditches alongside the road on the upslope side.
As far as other roadkill, there was a very small mammal and an earthworm.
Comments
@molly2, thank you so much for volunteering for this project!
I'm curious, were there boats on the reservoir? Has the Los Gatos Rowing Club started lessons for the season? The traffic to and from that facility accounts for a large number of cars on Alma Bridge Rd.
@truthseqr I didn't see much traffic at the rowing club, just one car coming out the driveway.
Add a Comment