By mihir | Published:
17 August 2010
An afternoon stroll in Morgan Territory Regional Park this Sunday, prompted by delusions of spotting a Puma (aka Mountain Lion, Cougar), turned into an above-average, all-around wildlife outing. During our hike , in addition to several birds and butterflies, we observed in great detail several species of dragonflies as well as a couple nice amphibians. [...]
Posted in Trip Report | Tagged Bay Area Ridge Trail, Black-throated Grey Warbler, California Red-legged Frog, California Sister, Common Buckeye, Common Green Darner, Common Ringlet, Flame Skimmer, Hermit Warbler, Martinez Beaver Festival, Morgan Territory Regional Park, Puma, Sierran Treefrog, Western Skink, Western Tiger Swallowtail, Western Toad, Widow Skimmer, Wilson's Warbler |
By mihir | Published:
3 August 2010
A brief walk around noon in the hot sun at Briones Regional Park didn’t reveal much in terms of spotting many different species, but did give some great views of possibly the largest Western Rattlesnake I have ever seen (it must have been close to three feet if not over). It’s not often that you [...]
By mihir | Published:
14 July 2010
As the nighttime temperatures in the east bay moved in a decidedly warmer direction, we took a night drive along Mines Road last weekend to see what creatures, particularly snakes, we could find. Cruising around a few nights earlier revealed a Grey Fox and a Great-Horned Owl, but no snakes. We hypothesize that the reason [...]
By mihir | Published:
23 June 2010
This Sunday (and Father’s Day), we took a short trip to Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area intending to see some dragonflies. Both the summertime and the creekside and lakeside habitat made Shadow Cliffs particularly dragonfly-friendly. Our trip was, by-and-large, a success. Dragonflies were everywhere, swooping, diving and hovering both above and around the water. A [...]
By mihir | Published:
13 June 2010
Two Saturdays ago, we took a trip to Mitchell Canyon in Mount Diablo State Park in an attempt to finally end our quest to find the Coast Horned Lizards in addition to seeing some springtime wildlife. We were successful on both counts. The park’s flowers were in full bloom, splashing colors all over the landscape. [...]
Posted in Places, Trip Report | Tagged Black-headed Grosbeak, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Coast Horned Lizard, Indian Paintbrush, Mariposa Lily, Mitchell Canyon, Mount Diablo Fairy Lantern, Mount Diablo State Park, Variable Checkerspot, Western Rattlesnake, Western Tiger Swallowtail |
By mihir | Published:
12 June 2010
Something about the month of May brought out the garter snakes, both in the wild and even at home. While I thought seeing what could have been either a California Red-sided Gartersnake or a Coast Gartersnake (frustratingly hard to identify, especially if you only get a quick look) at Tilden Regional Park was fortuitous, our [...]
By mihir | Published:
27 February 2010
On a short walk along South Park Drive last weekend in the hills above Berkeley we made some pretty interesting finds: a Yellow-eyed Ensatina and a California Slender Salamander. Each November through March, South Park Drive in Tilden Regional Park is closed to automobiles due to California Newt and Rough-skinned Newt migration. The newts migrate [...]
By mihir | Published:
12 August 2009
On Tuesday morning, I drove to Morgan Territory Regional Park for a hike hoping to see some of the general wildlife of the area. Morgan Territory exhibits classic East Bay habitat and there are no parking fees. For most of the time, I hiked along Volvon Trail. The trail was very easy to walk on [...]
By mihir | Published:
10 August 2009
I drove along Mines Road and San Antonio Valley early this morning hoping to see some reptiles. In the past, I’ve seen Gopher Snakes, Aquatic Gartersnakes, and Western Rattlesnakes along this road. However, none were to be found today. The main highlight of the day was a herd of Tule Elk resting under some trees [...]
By mihir | Published:
9 August 2009
It was a great night for an evening drive along Tesla Road in eastern Livermore. The objective was to look for San Joaquin Kit Foxes, but we failed to find them. Kit Foxes are both nocturnal and extremely difficult to see. We did, however, manage to see several other species of Bay Area animals. As [...]