Yearly Archives: 2014

Jefferson Salamander

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The Jefferson Salamander belongs to a group of amphibians known as mole salamanders, named because they spend most of their life underground. The only time you are likely to see them is now, when they are migrating to temporary pools in the woods to mate and lay eggs.

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Egg masses contain 20-30 eggs are attached to fallen tree branches underwater. The time it takes for the eggs to hatch depends on water temperature and ranges from 2-8 weeks. The aquatic larvae complete metamorphosis in 2-3 months and like frog tadpoles, they go from an aquatic existence to a life lived on land. Here’s a newly metamorphosed individual that I found in July of last year.

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This amphibian is usually dark gray and often has silver or blue specks on its sides. The secretive adults hide under stones or logs, in leaf litter and in burrows in hardwood forests with damp conditions. Around here they share their habitat with Spotted Salamanders, though they are much less common. They tend to be more slender than spotteds, but are about the same overall length (about 7 inches).

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The Jefferson Salamander feeds on insects, spiders, earthworms, slugs, pillbugs and other invertebrates. Because the adult salamanders spend most of the time outside of the breeding season hidden, their exact feeding habits are not known. Ecologically, salamanders play important roles in the organization of many terrestrial and aquatic communities. They are increasingly being used as indicators of environmental heath.

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But they have an additional value to humans in the form of medical research subjects. Salamanders have extraordinary ability to regenerate toes, feet and entire limbs – they are the only vertebrate that can do this. Understanding the basis for their limb and tissue regeneration could have significant implications for the field of medicine.

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The Jefferson Salamander is yet another of nature’s mysteries, cloaked in dark coloration and living an underground lifestyle that we know almost nothing about. I’m lucky if a see one or two of these fine salamanders each year, and I was glad to come across one this week.

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Cinnamon Teal

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This small brightly colored duck caught my eye when I was visiting the bay area of California. The Cinnamon Teal is small, with bright rust colors on the male and duller brown plumage on the female. It lives in marshes and ponds, and feeds mostly on plants.

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Mating pair bonds are renewed each season, during the winter. Females attract the males by swimming in front of the desired mate. Cinnamon Teal are usually found in small flocks, comprising pairs of birds.

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They are very agile in flight. The birds make sudden and sharp turns while flying low and they take off to flight directly from water. Cinnamon Teal usually feed in shallow water where they scoop up floating plants, seeds and insects. They will also dive for food.

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It was neat to encounter this western species of duck that I have never seen before.

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Western Skink

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The Western Skink has a shiny appearance due to its smooth, glossy, rounded scales. It is brown with golden-yellow or cream stripes extending from its nose to its tail. Younger individuals have brilliant blue tails that become dull as they age.

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Western Skinks readily autotomize (lose) their tails and the bright blue coloration found on juveniles may add to the wriggling tail’s distraction as the reptile makes an escape. They aren’t very large lizards, typically being 5 to 6 inches in total length.

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Females exhibit parental care for their eggs. The skink will stay with the eggs, protecting them against predators, repairing the nest and possibly providing additional heat by basking and then returning to the nest.

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They avoid can be found in a variety of habitats, including dry oak woodlands, on mountains with southern rock outcroppings and open grasslands where there is ample cover like rocks and logs.

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Western Skinks can eat a wide variety of foods, including crickets, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, spiders and earthworms.

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It is always a joy to come across one of these small wonders; and I frequently do when visiting the Golden State.

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Brown Garden Snail

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This creature was introduced to California in the 1850s as a source of escargot. This species is native to the Mediterranean region and has adapted well to the Golden State.

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Brown Garden Snails live in habitats like gardens and parks made by man, as well as in coastal dunes and brushland. The Brown Garden Snail is a herbivore and feeds on a wide variety of plants. Most land snails are nocturnal, but after a rain storm they may come out of their hiding places during the day. They move with a gliding motion by means of a long flat muscular organ called a foot.

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The head bears four tentacles, the upper two of which have eye-like light sensors, and the lower two of which are smaller, are used for touch and smell. The tentacles can be retracted into the head. The mouth is located beneath the tentacles, and contains a rasp-like structure which the snail uses to scrape up food particles.

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Mucus, constantly secreted by glands in the foot, which facilitates movement and leaves a silvery, slimy trail. The shell may be either yellow or horn-colored with chestnut brown spiral bands which are interrupted by yellow flecks or streaks.

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This species is one of the best-known of all terrestrial molluscs and one of the most widespread land snail species in the world. Transported by humans, today it can be found in Northern America, Southern America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

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Western Pond Turtle

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I haven’t had an “up close and personal” encounter with a Western Pond Turtle in 10 years, so it was pretty exciting to come across this one this week.

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This is the only freshwater turtle native to California. Their preferred habitat consists of calm waters, such as streams or pools, with vegetated banks and basking sites, which are usually rocks or logs.

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These turtles are wary and secretive. When disturbed, they seek cover in water, diving beneath the surface and hiding in submerged vegetation. Their brown color makes them difficult to see at the bottom of a pond or stream.

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Habitat loss and fragmentation are threats to Western Pond Turtles. Development of housing, roads and eliminating waterways has taken a toll on this species. It has been further challenged by non-native predators and crowding by non-native turtle species.

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The Western Pond Turtle is a “species of special concern,” according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and are declining rapidly throughout the west. It was one of the many highlights of my trip to the Golden State to spend some time observing this reptile in the wild.

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Northern Elephant Seal

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Renowned for their long distance migrations and their incredible diving abilities, Northern Elephant Seals are named because of the long elephant-like noses of males.

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The many that I saw at Año Nuevo State Reserve today were females with their offspring, which were born earlier this year.

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Northern Elephant Seals were almost hunted to extinction for the oil that could be rendered from their blubber. By 1892, only 50 to 100 individuals were left. In 1922 the Mexican government gave protected status to Northern Elephant Seals and the US government followed suit a few years later.

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These are not small animals. Males, known as bulls, range from fourteen to sixteen feet long and weigh up to 2-1/2 tons. At sea, they can stay underwater for 20 minutes and dive to a depth of 1,000 to 2,000 feet in search of their food: rays, skates, squid and small sharks.

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The pups are very curious and rather awkward. They are somewhat afraid of the water at first. But they learn quickly, spending more and more time swimming about. Then, during the last weeks of April, they go out to sea one by one.

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Pacific Clubtail

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This dragonfly is at home near creeks in the mountains. It is an early flier, only seen as an adult in Spring, when males sit on rocks in the streams and chase females, or defend their territories against other males. Clubtail dragonflies are named for the expanded tip of their tails, which is more exaggerated in males.

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An interesting feature of Pacific Clubtail is that the younger individuals are a lot brighter in color than mature adults. Immature males are bright yellow, but over time their colors become much more subdued.

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They are important predators that eat mosquitoes and other small insects. Nearly all of the dragonfly’s head is eye, so they have incredible vision that encompasses almost every angle except right behind them.

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Pacific Clubtails are expert fliers. They can fly straight up and down, hover like a helicopter and even mate mid-air. If they can’t fly, they’ll starve because they only eat prey they catch while flying.

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Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago. Modern dragonflies have wingspans of only two to five inches, but fossil dragonflies have been found with wingspans of up to two feet.

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Sharp-tailed Snake

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The small snake is unique in many ways. It does not seem to have a close relationship with any other snake species. It is secretive and little is known about its lifestyle and habits.

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The tip of the tail has a sharp spine whose function no one seems to have figured out. It may be an anti-predator defense, or an aid in burrowing; perhaps it anchors the snake when it is digging or eating.

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Adult Sharp-tailed Snakes are small – usually about a foot long. They specialize in eating slugs and have proportionally long teeth to catch and hold onto their slippery prey. They seem to prefer invasive European slugs over native varieties and may be expanding their range as new gardens and flower beds are made by people.

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Due to its food preference, this snake is out and about when temperatures are so cool that most other snakes would are inactive. It sometimes can be seen crawling on the forest floor during rainstorms. They like to live in small clearings in forests. These reptiles can also be found under stones bordering gardens. They burrow into damp soil and rotting logs, retreating underground when the weather becomes dry.

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I always enjoy coming across this unusual little serpent in the field. A Sharp-tailed Snake was the first California snake I ever found, underneath a piece of fallen Redwood Tree bark 10 years ago.

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California Newt

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California Newts are large salamanders reaching a total length of around 8 inches. They are slow moving and have “expressive” faces. These amphibians have dry, warty skin that is not slimy and are light brown to black with a yellow to orange belly.

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The California Newt has a unique way of fending off predators. First they raise their head and point their tail straight out to expose their bright underside as a warning. If the predator attacks, the California Newt secretes neurotoxin through its warty skin and can cause paralysis and or death to its attacker.

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They spend the most of their lives under logs and in animal burrows during dry months. But during Spring rains, they migrate to breeding ponds. Several places in California close roads to insure the safe passage of these salamanders.

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Newts eat mostly bugs and worms, as well as slugs and snails. When feeding, adults flip out their sticky tongues to capture prey. They can live up to 20 years in the wild.

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Miner’s Lettuce

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Miner’s Lettuce is a broadleaf plant found throughout California (except for the lower desert areas). It inhabits natural plant communities, agricultural land, and urban areas, with a preference for cool, damp conditions. It dries up with the onset of hot weather.

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The flowers of Miner’s Lettuce bloom from February through May. Five to forty white to pale pink flowers on slender down-curved stalks cluster above a circular to weakly squared, often cuplike, green structure that looks like a leaf and completely surrounds the stem.

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This is an edible plant with pleasingly crunchy, mild-tasting, large leaves. The plant got its name because the Gold Rush miners ate it to stave off the scurvy, which is caused by a Vitamin C deficiency. It is one of the few North American wild plants exported to Europe as a salad green.

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Miner’s Lettuce is an important source of food for wildlife, providing a grazing source for gophers, quail, doves and rodents, while seed-eating birds eat the plant’s fruit. On a cool, rainy day like today, these plants seem to be thriving.

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