Journal archives for January 2023

January 2, 2023

North Section (1/2) - Dec 30, 2022

I surveyed the North Section with Ben and Liza. I collected data for the first half and Liza has the data for the second half of the survey. Apologies, I forgot a ruler, but we used a quarter for measuring/scale (diameter 24.3 mm/0.95 inch).

We were there Friday 10am-230pm. It was drizzling and 56F.

Newts: There were no live newts. I documented 92 total dead newts (82 adults, 10 juveniles). It was a mix of freshly-killed and days-old newts on the road. Will need Liza's count for the day's grand totals.

Other roadkill: I also documented 1 dead Santa Cruz black salamander, 3 frogs, 2 snails, 1 Button's banana slug, 1 earthworm, and 13 unknown.

Traffic: 96 moving cars, 12 parked cars, 14 cyclists, 9 pedestrians. Several people stopped to ask us how the newts were doing, and we talked with each of them.

My observations of the day: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-12-30&place_id=any&user_id=tyap&verifiable=any

Posted on January 2, 2023 09:00 PM by tyap tyap | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 3, 2023

North Section 12/23/2022

12/23/2022, 9:02am-1:10pm
Jones Trail/North section
131 dead newts, 1 juvenile
Other roadkill: 1 Jerusalem cricket, 1 rodent (or something rodent-like), at least 6 millipedes
Sunny, temperature range:around 50° at 9am to 60° at 1pm
110 cars, 39 bikes, 4 trucks, 13 pedestrians
2 drivers, 1 cyclist, and 1 pedestrian asked what I was doing. Did my best to describe Newt Patrol project. 1 driver and 1 pedestrian were astonished at how many newts I found.

Posted on January 3, 2023 05:07 AM by efrenibarreta efrenibarreta | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 8, 2023

South section - 1/6/2023

Friday, 9:00-12:15 pm. 1 live newt, 115 dead newts.
Weather: cold, dry, after some good rainy week.
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights intersection to the first stop sign. I walked with Efren.
We saw an adult male newt that tried crossing the road, from the hill side to the reservoir and moved it to the other side.
Newts: I had 73 dead newts, 11 of them juveniles. 26 of the newts (5 Juveniles) were found on the reservoir side, and 47 (6 juveniles) on the hill side. Efren had 42 dead newts, 7 of them juveniles.
Other roadkills: slugs - banana slugs and others, centipede, Jerusalem cricket, large toad, and a large bullfrog.
Traffic: 43 cars, 3 truck, 1 motorcycles, 6 bikes, 3 pedestrians, 5 parked car.
We had 2 conversations with concerned neighbors, one of them told us they recently helped 11 newts cross the road <3
We also met @jim769 on the road, who came to see how we were doing. Great to see you, Jim!
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-01-06&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Efren's observations - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-01-06&place_id=any&user_id=efrenibarreta&verifiable=any

@efrenibarreta - could you add the traffic data? --updated with traffic data

Posted on January 8, 2023 06:43 PM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 12, 2023

South section - 1/11/2023

Wednesday, 9:20-11:55 am. 0 live newt, 108 dead newts.
Weather: cold, wet - it was raining the entire time, as part of another endless rain event.
Coverage: the first stop sign toAldercroft Heights intersection. I walked with Keith. It was hard getting there today - the way to the south section (from HW 17) was blocked due to downed powerlines. We drove the long way in, and decided to park by the stop sign, to reduce our time driving ABR.
Newts: we had 108 dead newts, 9 of them juveniles. 35 of the newts (6 Juveniles) were found on the reservoir side, and 73 (3 juveniles) on the hill side.
Other roadkills: slugs - possibly one or two, 2 toads, a bullfrog, a tree frog.
Traffic: 26 cars, 12 trucks, 0 motorcycles, 1 bike, 14 pedestrians, 12 parked car. The road was busy, with a construction crew of about 4 trucks clearing the road from plant material, rocks, and soil. Also saw the scraper track driving the road when I left.
We had 1 conversation with concerned neighbor, who lives up Soda Spring.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&on=2023-01-11&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Posted on January 12, 2023 01:12 AM by merav merav | 4 comments | Leave a comment

January 13, 2023

North section - 1/12/2023

Thursday, 9:20-11:50 am. no live newts, 127 dead newts.
Weather: nice, not too cold, no rain, for a change. One storm ended yesterday, another is supposed to start tomorrow. There're still mud and rocks everywhere, and water is flowing all over. There are small waterfalls all along the road, from the steep cliffs down, and in every little seep.
Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked with Keith.
We found 127 dead newts, 60 of them on the hill side. A few juveniles, but I'm not sure who they were (I didn't add them to the Juv project, but all were photographed with the ruler).
Other roadkills: 2 toads, and a couple of millipedes - the only arthropods I've seen in the past few surveys. Maybe the rest were washed by the road?
The little pool by limekiln trailhead was completely full, but I haven't seen any newts.
Traffic - pretty busy! 39 cars, 8 trucks, 0 motorcycles, 11 bikes, 6 pedestrians, 19 parked cars (1 car at the farther parking lot). There were a few SJJJ trucks, the scraper truck, County Parks. Midpen held a volunteer event at the new property. There were 4 cars parked inside.
1 driver and one runner asked us about the newts. Also Cadillac lady said she saved a newt by her home, up the road. We saw people kayaking and on a sap down in Limekiln canyon. It was our friend Anne F., enjoying the high water - you could kayak right through the culvert!
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-01-12&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Posted on January 13, 2023 01:38 AM by merav merav | 0 comments | Leave a comment

North section - 1/08/2023

Sunday, 9:02-11:46 am. About 142 dead newts.
Weather: Partly cloudy. but pretty sunny, started at 53F; warmed up a lot after walking more
Coverage: Jones Trail/North segment. I walked with my parents.
Newts: had 142 dead newts, 3 of them juveniles. 40 of the newts (1 Juveniles) were found on the reservoir side, and 102 (2 juveniles) on the hill side, 7 were undocumented because they were too far gone.
Traffic: 62 cars, 10 trucks, 2 motorcycles, 26 bikes, 45 pedestrians, 41 parked cars, 7 parked trucks.
About 4 people spoke to me (mostly talking to me watch for traffic)
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-01-08&place_id=any&user_id=sophie1037&verifiable=any

Posted on January 13, 2023 05:47 AM by sophie1037 sophie1037 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 14, 2023

December 16 - North Segment

I walked with Sophie. We surveyed from 9:09 am - 11:26 am. Found 0 live newts, 76 dead newts. 3 juvenile, 73 adult. 56 newts on the upslope side of the road, 28 on the reservoir side. Temperatures from 41 - 48 F, light wind. Other roadkill included millipedes, slugs, caterpillars. 42 cars, 6 trucks, 3 bicycles, 6 pedestrians.

Posted on January 14, 2023 07:40 PM by molly2 molly2 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 13, 2023 - South Segment

I surveyed from 9:56 am to 12:49 pm. Temperature was 49 F, winds up to 23 MPH, steady, occasionally torrential rain. 0 live newts, 73 dead newts. 2 juvenile, 71 adult. 17 newts on the reservoir side, 56 on the upslope side. 37 cars, 10 trucks, 0 bicycles, 0 pedestrians. Other roadkill: slugs, small rodent.

Posted on January 14, 2023 07:51 PM by molly2 molly2 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 17, 2023

North section - 1/16/2023

Monday, 9:37-11:40 am. no live newts, 131 dead newts.
Weather: cloudy, cold, rained from time to time. Everything was very wet, water flowing all over the place. The Limekiln culvert had so much water in it! I couldn't see the little step.
Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked alone.
131 dead ones, 74 on the hill side, 57 on the reservoir side.
Other roadkills: didn't see anything else!
Traffic - very busy! 72 cars, 2 trucks (the quarry was closed), 1 motorcycle, 8 bikes, 23 pedestrians, 22 parked cars (0 cars at the farther parking lot). I saw a County Parks truck. Many people were parked right by the dam - I was wondering if they were there just to watch the water go down Los Gatos Creek. Must have been fun, but I had to leave. Getting in, in the morning, wasn't easy - HW 17 was standing for a while.
Again 1 driver and one runner asked me about the newts. Also Cadillac lady said hi.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-01-16&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Posted on January 17, 2023 04:48 AM by merav merav | 1 comment | Leave a comment

January 22, 2023

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.

Posted on January 22, 2023 02:14 AM by molly2 molly2 | 2 comments | Leave a comment