Author Archives: mihir

Salamanders at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

It’s about that time of year again when salamanders become easier to see around the bay area so I took a few hours today in between bouts of severe rain to poke around some logs at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. We’ve seen several amphibian species here before including California Slender Salamanders, Yellow-eyed Ensatinas, California Newts and Western […]

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Dragonflies, Amphibians at Morgan Territory

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. […]

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Afternoon Walk and Rattlesnake at Briones Regional Park

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 […]

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Rattlesnakes and Kingsnakes on Mines Road

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 […]

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Dragonflies and More at Shadow Cliffs

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 […]

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Mitchell Canyon and the End of a Quest

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. […]

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Garter Snakes Galore

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 […]

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February Finds: Two Species of Salamanders

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 […]

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Field trip to Morgan Territory, East Contra Costa Co.

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 […]

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Mines Road and San Antonio Valley, 8/10

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 […]

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