First true amphib trip of the season. Options

[Mike Spencer]

Yesterday I took a few herper friends to some spots I have in Coastal Northern California for an impromptu little amphib trip. We had an awesome time and found some good stuff.

The first place we stopped was an area I've never stopped at but we all thought it looked good enough to have a looksy. I'm glad we did.
I'm only gonna post my totals. I didn't bother taking pics of all the common stuff.
My totals here were:
1 Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata - California Alligator Lizard
1 Plestidon skiltonianus skiltonianus - Skilton's Skink
1 Aneides lugubris - Arboreal Salamander
5+ Aneides flavipunctatus flavipunctatus - Speckled Black Salamanders
TMTC Rana boylii - Foothill Yellow Legged Frogs

And by far my favorite herp of the spot because I rarely ever see them anymore.

Actinemys marmorata marmorata - Northern Pacific Pond Turtle - which I almost stepped on as it was basking on the shore.




At the next spot, which is a new spot I found on Wednesday, there were countless Rana boylii. It seemed like a do over of the other day, until we all spotted this guy, which is one of the rarest ranids in California and I'm priveleged to have been able to find a few consistent spots for them over the past few years.

Rana aurora - Northern Red Legged Frog










The last place we went is a little amphib goldmine that I have been herping for a few years now.

We each found countless Batrachoseps attenuatus - California Slender Salamanders and Ensatina eschscholtzii oregonensis - Oregon Ensatina, which I didn't get anything more that a couple voucher shots of.

Soon after, I flipped my second least favorite California slime-a-mander.

Ambystoma gracile - Northwestern Salamander



They are the hardest animal I have found to get good shots of.

I eventually flipped another one as well but didn't bother with pics.

I was also the first to find my favorite California salamander which I was excited about because I didn't find an adult all last season. In my opinion, they are by far the coolest looking salamanders on the West Coast. I think they beat tigers.

Dicamptodon tenebrosus - Coastal Giant Salamander





We also found some Dicamp larvae. A lot of them, but it was getting dark so I didn't bother with pics.




This was the scene as we were coming out of my spot.

[Phyllia131]

is that a lake?

[acestro]

salamander shots on moss.... awesome. Amazingly, salamander diversity is kinda low in SE Louisiana (except the awesome amphiuma).

[Mike Spencer]

That's the ocean and the mouth of Little River.

I think I counted 33 herp species that I can find within 10 or so miles of there and I have found 31. All I need to find is a live rubber boa, which is my curse, and a Southern torrent salamander, which I'm going to pound the creek for on Saturday.

[uaxhuh]

very cool, those red legs are really nice.