Coverage: North half of Alma Bridge Road, from the parking lot to the stop sign.
Time: 9:30 - 11:30 am
Rainfall: 0.0 so far today - forecast is for more this afternoon. 0.01" MTD, 12.37" YTD via Weather Cat
Vehicles: 2 trucks (county fire truck and Vulcan) and 23 cars, 6 of which were Teslas (>25%!)
Other: 4 bicyclists, 7 joggers
Live Newts: 0
Dead Newts: 127, about 5% fresh
Other species: (1) juvenile Garter Snake species TBD (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37240119), (1) rodent sp. with proportionally long ears (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37240223)

Coverage: North half of Alma Bridge Road, from the parking lot to the second stop sign @ one way road section.
Time: 12:48pm - 2:17pm
Rainfall: 0 inches, dry for the past few days; cloudy with rain predicted tonight
Vehicles: 19
Big trucks: 2

• 1 MidPen truck
  Bikes: 0
  Pedestrians: 1
  Live Newts: 0
  Dead Newts: 118, one very fresh
  Dead young garter (I think) snake: 1

I don't have time to post the actual observations today, but will soon.

During today's patrol, I wondered if it's possible that having long dry spells makes it more likely that we'd end up double-counting from one patrol to the next. Most of the bodies I found were very dry. I'd think they'd be more likely to break down when it's wet and not get double-counted, but if it's dry they're more likely to crisp up instead of break down, and still be visible for several patrols. @truthseqr, @merav have you had any experience with this?

Also, sorry that some of my observations from the previous patrol have bad locations, my GPS was not doing well that day, and it's tedious enough to figure out approximately where they should go and move them that I haven't had time. My assumption was that it's better to move them to approximately the right location, since it's not like the GPS location will be spot on every time anyway. But perhaps it's better to delete those observations instead, given the larger uncertainty? Thoughts?

Oh, one last thing. @truthseqr, just confirming that it would be best for me to remove my observations from 12/22, due to them being duplicates of @joescience1 doing the same patrol earlier in the day. True?

January 8, 2020 (Wednesday) 10:15 am – 12:15 pm: 134 dead newts
It was dry and cold during the survey. It has been dry for a few days. The road was mostly dry. I documented 0 live and 134 dead newts, only one of them was fresh. Most of the newts seemed to be adults.
I only saw one other amphibian on the road, not sure what it was.
Coverage: south part - from the stop sign till the intersection.
Rainfall: (MTD: 0.01 in; YTD: 12.36 in) cold, dry
Traffic: 1 truck, 15 cars (including 1 maintenance pickup - midpen), 4 bike, 0 pedestrians.
I will update the numbers later after uploading the observations.

Belated update after freeing my photos from a dead hard drive.

160 dead newts, 0 live newts.
December 26, 2019 (Thursday) 3pm-4:45pm
Weather: Dry and overcast, had been dry for a couple days.
Other roadkill: 1 large millipede.
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights Road intersection to stop sign.
Rainfall: MTD 2.73in, YTD 6.21in (per http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php?year=2019)
Traffic: 36 vehicles, 4 bicycles, 1 jogger.

Oddly, most of the newts were on the east side of the road (the side farther from the reservoir). I had almost nothing to count for the whole walk between Aldercroft Heights Rd & Soda Spring Canyon

Newt map:

131 dead newts, 0 live newts.
January 4, 2020 (Saturday) 1:45pm-3:15pm
Weather: Dry and partly cloudy, had been dry for more than a week. 57F per my car.
Other roadkill: 1 Jerusalem cricket.
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights Road intersection to stop sign.
Rainfall: MTD 0in, YTD 0in (per http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php?year=2019)
Traffic: 30 vehicles, 33 bicycles, 2 pedestrians, 1 motorcycle.

I'd still come across "batches" of newts, but overall it seemed like there were more scattered all over the place, and more up on the north side of the big road bend. As always, there were the least on the southernmost portion.
Newt map:

Dear team,
We've got an opportunity to advocate for the newts this Tuesday - Midpeninsula Open Space District is holding a meeting regarding a parking lot for Sierra Azul Preserve on Alma Bridge Rd. The meeting is on Tuesday, 1/14, 2pm, 17820 Alma Bridge Road, Los Gatos, CA 95033. Please see SCVAS environmental advocate letter about the meeting below -
Merav

On Tuesday's meeting of the MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) Planning and Natural Resources Committee, the committee will discuss the Beatty Parking Area and Trail Connections Project in Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve. The 57-acre Beatty Trust property is located on the easterly side of Alma Bridge Road and Lexington Reservoir approximately 2 miles east of the intersection with Highway 17. The project site is on Alma Bridge Road in an area of high newt mortality.

This is an opportunity to discuss the potential of doing something significant to help the Newts cross the road unharmed

The meeting:
January 14, 2020 - 2:00pm
Meeting Location: 17820 Alma Bridge Road, Los Gatos, CA 95033
Here is the Agenda - The agenda includes a link to the staff report, which is interesting.
This meeting seems to be taking place onsite, outdoors, and it may rain.

I plan to attend the meeting, and I hope we can have a strong presence to advocate for the newts! Please join me if you can, and bring a friend or two. Also - please spread the word!

Thank you,
Shani

Shani Kleinhaus, Ph.D.
Environmental Advocate
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society

January 14, 2020 (Tuesday) 9:15 am – 11:30 pm: 162 dead newts
It was dry and cold during the survey. It probably rained at night, possibly the night before as well. I documented 0 live and 162 dead newts, many of them were fresh, a few looked like they were just hit.
I saw one or two other amphibian on the road, not sure what it was, and a dead mole.
Coverage: north part - the county park parking lot till the second stop sign.
Rainfall: (MTD: 0.36 in; YTD: 12.71 in) cold, dry. Data from - http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php
Traffic: 6 truck, 21 cars (including 2 maintenance pickup - midpen, one of them was speeding like crazy! and two police cars), 1 bike, 8 pedestrians.

128 dead newts, 0 live newts.
January 14, 2020 (Tuesday) 1pm-3pm
Weather: Dry and partly cloudy, had rained the previous night.
Other roadkill: 1 Western Grey Squirrel, 1 bird, 1 jerusalem cricket, 3 large millipedes, 1 bullfrog (I think, very pancaked).
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights Road intersection to stop sign.
Rainfall: MTD 0.36in, YTD 12.71in (per http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php?year=2019)
Traffic: 25 vehicles, 8 bicycles, 1 walker.

About 2 dozen of the newts were fresh-looking, the rest varying degrees of weathered. One of the bicyclers said something unintelligible but friendly about newts while zipping by, so I guess he's talked to one of y'all before.

Newt map:

10:33am - 12:22pm
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights Road intersection to stop sign.
Weather: Chilly, partly cloudy, had rained significantly (1.35") 2 days before.
Rainfall: MTD 1.72in, YTD 14.071in (per http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php)
Vehicles: 19
Bikes: 13 - One said "save the newts!" as they went by, so the bikers are getting to know us.
Pedestrians: 1

65 dead newts, several fresh
1 live newt, moving in the direction of the reservoir
No other dead critters
15 turkeys
A cluster of lovely, pale purple mushrooms

I was on the south side, but saw/heard the rowing club/class/whatever go by in the reservoir.

Here's the scoop about the newt migration:

"With the first rains in late November or early December, adults emerge from the saturated ground and migrate from their upland habitat to ponds and streams for breeding. Males migrate before females and remain at the breeding site longer...

The female newt lays her fertilized eggs in water where the larvae hatch and grow. Young newt larvae look like frog tadpoles but with longer, thinner bodies. When metamorphosis is complete, the juveniles emigrate from the breeding site and spend the next few years growing to sexual maturity. When they are fully grown, they typically return to the same breeding site year after year to mate.

When the breeding phase is over, females are the first to return to their upland habitat, followed by males and juveniles. However, some adults might remain in the pools for an additional few months to feed. Since the return migration is more sporadic and less weather-dependent than migration to the vernal pools, it is much harder to protect the newts as they make their way back to the forest."

References:
• Migration Patterns of Taricha torosa in Tilden Regional Park
https://nature.berkeley.edu/classes/es196/projects/1989final/ClaggettP_1989.pdf

• Bay Nature Article: Citizen scientists tracking roadkill on Alma Bridge Road have found thousands of dead newts this season.
https://baynature.org/2019/02/06/traffic-is-driving-a-newt-massacre-in-the-santa-cruz-mountains/