sde
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2012
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- Location
- Seattle area Washington
- Country
- United States
- Display Name
- Seth
I recently went on a trip down the coast from Seattle to San Jose, to do some herping and meetup with a few friends (AdvythAF being one).
I wasn't able to do as much herping as originally planned, as unexpected snow prevented me from going to two of the major parks i was hoping to visit.
Nonetheless, i was able to find some cool herps, and several lifers/new species for me!
Batrachoseps attenuatus
Aneides flavipuncatus flavipunctatus juvenile, first one for me! These guys are amazing, tons of little gold and blue flecks.
Ensatina eschscholtzii oregonensis/xanthoptica hybrid juvenile. Again, this guy was really pretty. Nicer than the pure oregonensis i find here
Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica male, found right next to a female (next pic) under a tarp
Heres the female
And here, here is something i've been wanting to see for 5 years, and put dozens of hours searching into. Finally, i was able to find breeding Taricha granulosa (with the help of a friend!). And a mating ball, at that! I should note however that i did actually see breeding newts before this herping with Advyth, but my pictures are in the wrong order and i don't feel like fixing it so i'll just leave it haha
Ambystoma gracile egg masses, found in a very unusual spot! Usually they breed in larger and deeper bodies of water than this (habitat shot below)
Habitat shot
And here is another lifer, two juvenile Plethodon elongatus. Very similar to the Plethodon vehiculum that i find, but a bit different and very cool none the less
Habitat shot for the elongatus
More Batrachoseps attenuatus
And more attentuatus, 3 under one rock, and a scorpion!
This was a very cool find as well. I had seen some aquatic males before this, but this was my first terrestrial Taricha torosa find ever (i like the terrestrial females a lot). This thing was HUGE. By far the biggest female Taricha i've seen. Length wise it was probably around 5 1/2 inches but its girth and build were way bigger than the granulosa i find
And heres the first i'd ever found, a male in breeding condition. He was pretty awesome, and a decent size
Heres another T. torosa but this one is a juvenile. It had way more granulated skin than the female i found
Here are two shots of an abberant male T. granulosa i found
Male granulosa in breeding condition. Look at those swollen legs!
Heres an interesting one. This male granulosa had half his tail missing! Poor dude couldn't swim and had to walk along the bottom of the pond. Whatever bit his tail off won't get the chance to apologize, that's for sure
And that's it! I've got loads more photos but most of them are pretty similar to these.
It was a blast finding new species and so much stuff, as well as meeting up with some new people (2 of which are Caudata.org members).
Thanks to AdvythAF (Advyth) for helping me find some torosa and xanthoptica!
Hopefully my next trip will take me to Idaho
-Seth
I wasn't able to do as much herping as originally planned, as unexpected snow prevented me from going to two of the major parks i was hoping to visit.
Nonetheless, i was able to find some cool herps, and several lifers/new species for me!
Batrachoseps attenuatus
Aneides flavipuncatus flavipunctatus juvenile, first one for me! These guys are amazing, tons of little gold and blue flecks.
Ensatina eschscholtzii oregonensis/xanthoptica hybrid juvenile. Again, this guy was really pretty. Nicer than the pure oregonensis i find here
Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica male, found right next to a female (next pic) under a tarp
Heres the female
And here, here is something i've been wanting to see for 5 years, and put dozens of hours searching into. Finally, i was able to find breeding Taricha granulosa (with the help of a friend!). And a mating ball, at that! I should note however that i did actually see breeding newts before this herping with Advyth, but my pictures are in the wrong order and i don't feel like fixing it so i'll just leave it haha
Ambystoma gracile egg masses, found in a very unusual spot! Usually they breed in larger and deeper bodies of water than this (habitat shot below)
Habitat shot
And here is another lifer, two juvenile Plethodon elongatus. Very similar to the Plethodon vehiculum that i find, but a bit different and very cool none the less
Habitat shot for the elongatus
More Batrachoseps attenuatus
And more attentuatus, 3 under one rock, and a scorpion!
This was a very cool find as well. I had seen some aquatic males before this, but this was my first terrestrial Taricha torosa find ever (i like the terrestrial females a lot). This thing was HUGE. By far the biggest female Taricha i've seen. Length wise it was probably around 5 1/2 inches but its girth and build were way bigger than the granulosa i find
And heres the first i'd ever found, a male in breeding condition. He was pretty awesome, and a decent size
Heres another T. torosa but this one is a juvenile. It had way more granulated skin than the female i found
Here are two shots of an abberant male T. granulosa i found
Male granulosa in breeding condition. Look at those swollen legs!
Heres an interesting one. This male granulosa had half his tail missing! Poor dude couldn't swim and had to walk along the bottom of the pond. Whatever bit his tail off won't get the chance to apologize, that's for sure
And that's it! I've got loads more photos but most of them are pretty similar to these.
It was a blast finding new species and so much stuff, as well as meeting up with some new people (2 of which are Caudata.org members).
Thanks to AdvythAF (Advyth) for helping me find some torosa and xanthoptica!
Hopefully my next trip will take me to Idaho
-Seth
