South section - 12/14/2022
Wednesday, 9:15-12:40 pm. no live newts, We had 124 dead newts, about half tiny juveniles, other adult-size.
Weather: very cold - started at 3C!
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights intersection to the first stop sign. I walked with Kat and Efren.
Newts: we had 124 dead newts, 62 of them juveniles. 55 of the newts (31 Juveniles) were found on the reservoir side, and 69 (31 juveniles) on the hill side.
Other roadkills: centipedes, millipede, slender salamander, and the caterpillars are back!
Traffic: 29 cars, 8 trucks (SJJJ, County Parks, propane), 0 motorcycles, 3 bikes, 0 pedestrians, 1 parked car.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-12-14&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Comentarios
@merav, it was interesting to see some skeletonized newts. I wonder how that happens? And why this day and not others? My theory is: the bodies turn to mush because of the rain and slough off, leaving just the skeleton. Other weather conditions cause mummification of the bodies with the skin intact. I submitted some of the best skeletons to the "Skulls & Bones" project.
It's interesting that the newts continue to migrate even though the overnight temperatures have been so very cold.
I'm becoming more and more concerned that there aren't enough adults left to sustain the population. I updated the graph comparing juvenile newt deaths by season:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newt-roadkill-dead-juveniles-lexington-reservoir/journal/73122-exponential-rise-in-juvenile-newts-killed-this-season-2022-2023
I think one of the reasons we found so many skeletonized newts was that we had our new volunteer, @efrenibarreta, who found many of them! Most of the tiny juveniles we found we skeletonized, only a few of them were fresh.
I think the low number of adults found this week is due to the low temperatures, but could also be indicative of the state of the population. With all the rain we got last week and during the weekend, I was expecting higher numbers.
I read that Lexington got >4 inches of rain recently!!! I would've expected more adults, too.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2022/12/12/bay-area-rainfall-chart-totals-from-the-weekends-storm/amp/
wow, that's amazing!
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