February 16, 2021- south side

22 dead newts (2 of which were juveniles), 0 live newts.
February 16th, 2021 (Tuesday), 2:30-4:00pm
Weather: Partly clear, 54F.
Other roadkill: 1 large millipede
Rainfall: MTD 0.75in, YTD 9.72in (per http://www.weathercat.net/wxraindetail.php?year=2021)
Traffic: 32 moving vehicles, 11 parked, 4 bicycles, 2 joggers
Midpen study: Pit traps were emptied before I arrived and there were no roadkill newts in their road sections.

Surprisingly few newts despite the little showers we've had, but as Anne points out below it's been pretty chilly overnight.

My newt observations for today: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2021-02-16&place_id=any&taxon_id=27816&user_id=sea-kangaroo&verifiable=any

Newt map:

Publicado el 17 de febrero de 2021 a las 06:31 AM por sea-kangaroo sea-kangaroo

Comentarios

how interesting - such a low number...

Anotado por merav hace cerca de 3 años

@sea-kangaroo, @merav, the overnight temperature was 41 F. I read somewhere that the newts don't come out when the temp drops to a certain level. I remember 42 F as the cutoff, but I can't find the paper to reference it.

Anotado por truthseqr hace cerca de 3 años

Makes sense, it has been very chilly when I wake up and I don't want to come out of bed either!

There's a Black Phoebe that's taken up residence under the eaves of my house, and 40ish seems to be a behavior trigger for it as well, to puff up into a perfect sphere when it sleeps.

Anotado por sea-kangaroo hace cerca de 3 años

Thanks for the info, Anne. I wonder if we'll see the regular high numbers from now on, temperatures permitting.

Anotado por merav hace cerca de 3 años

Oh, how cute - a Black Phoebe residing at your house!

Anotado por truthseqr hace cerca de 3 años

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