I surveyed the north segment alone from 9:39 am - 1:41 pm. Intermittent light/moderate rain, temperatures from 47 to 51 F, winds from 5 - 12 mph.

I documented a total of 310 newts:

• 10 live California newts: 9 adults and 1 juvenile. 7 of them were heading towards the reservoir. The other 3, including the juvenile, were headed uphill away from the reservoir.
• 3 injured California newts, all adults.
• 297 dead newts: 211 on the uphill side and 96 on the reservoir side. All adults.

There were 58 cars, 27 trucks, 4 bikes, and 3 pedestrians

Other roadkill: bullfrog, something small and furry, earthworm

Wednesday, 9:30-12:30 pm. 0 live newts, 163 dead newts.
Weather: Started cold, then warm. It was raining over the weekend, by now most newts were very dry, and it was difficult to ID the other amphibians.
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights intersection to the first stop sign. I walked with Kat.
Newts: we had 163 dead newts, at least 30 of them juveniles, many very small. 84 of the newts were found on the reservoir side, and 79 on the hill side.
Other roadkills: millipede, Jerusalem cricket, 4 unknown amphibians - 2 probably tree frogs, another one very large, maybe a bullfrog.
Traffic: 40 cars, 10 trucks, 0 motorcycles, 9 bikes, 0 pedestrians, 2 parked cars. County Parks and Midpen trucks, a tractor and a pickup from County Roads, doing some work near Soda Spring int.
Idylwild Rd was blocked again on the way back, Old Santa Cruz Hwy still blocked in a couple of places...
We had a couple of conversations about the newts - with County Roads and some kids.

My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-02-08&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

I walked with Keith from 9:04 am to 12:19 pm. The weather was cool and dry, with temperatures around 53° F and gentled winds around 5 mph from the SE.

We documented 396 dead newts, 1 live newt, and 1 injured newt. 164 of the dead newts were on the uphill side, 232 newts were on the reservoir side. One of the dead newts was juvenile, the rest were adults.

The 1 live male newt was headed uphill away from the reservoir.

The injured newt was on the reservoir side of the road.

There were 62 cars, 15 trucks, 10 bicyclists, and no pedestrians.

Other roadkill: a small mammal, one queen yellow-faced bumblebee (they are out now and looking for nests)

Wednesday, 9:40-12:30 pm. 0 live newts, 166 dead newts.
Weather: very cold, then nicer in the sun.
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights intersection to the first stop sign. I walked with Kat.
Newts: we had 166 dead newts, 18 of them juveniles, many very small. 73 (11 juveniles) of the newts were found on the reservoir side, and 93 (7 juveniles) on the hill side.
Other roadkills: millipedes, 2 unknown amphibians, kingsnake, a bird, a sparrow.
Traffic: 20 cars, 2 trucks (SJJJ), 0 motorcycles, 13 bikes, 0 pedestrians, 0 parked cars.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-02-15&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Friday, 9:25-11:50 am. no live newts, 197 dead newts.
Weather: cold, then nice. Dry.
Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked with Rani.
197 dead newts, 86 on the hill side, 111 on the reservoir side.
Other roadkills: camel cricket, a frog or a toad.
Traffic - 33 cars, 8 trucks (including county parks), 0 motorcycle, 13 bikes, 7 pedestrians, 31 parked cars (2 cars at the farther parking lot).
We saw a couple of deer walking by the road not too far away from the quarry road. They then were hiding in the vegetation by the side of the road, and crossed the road right when a car was speeding by. We tried to signal the car to slow down, and the deer crossed safely.
We had 3 different conversations about the newts with drivers.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-02-17&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any