We’ve seen several amphibian species here before including California Slender Salamanders, Yellow-eyed Ensatinas, California Newts and Western Toads so I figured I had a good chance to find something interesting. Also see our post about salamanders in Tilden.

After carefully peeking under a few logs which revealed several beetles and worms but no salamanders, I gave up and decided to enjoy the scenery: the green of the grass and distant snow-covered hills made it quite a sight.

But on my way back down from the ridge line, I decided to check one more log under which I found four California Slender Salamanders and one young Arboreal Salamander – a first for me.

Two California Slender Salamanders at Pleasanton Ridge

The Arboreal Salamander was a small one and resembled a young Ensatina we had found on the ridge before, though the color is quite different. Check out our amphibians page to get some more information on the different species of bay area salamanders.

Arboreal Salamander at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

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 to nearby ponds, such as the Japanese Pool at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, in order to mate and lay eggs.

We decided to take a short walk along South Park Drive to see if we could catch a newt or two crossing the road. While we were unable to spot any newts, we made two other finds off the side of the road.

Under a damp log off to the side of the road, we found a small, tightly-coiled juvenile California Slender Salamander.

California Slender Salamander Juvenile near South Park Drive

Overturning another nearby log revealed a juvenile Yellow-eyed Ensatina.

Yellow-eyed Ensatina Juvenile near South Park Drive

Both these species of salamander become more active during the wet season – the current months offer a great opportunity to spot them.

Find more information about the San Francisco Bay Area’s amphibians at sfbaywildlife.info.

Las Trampas Regional Wilderness

Las Trampas is one of the few parks which is accessible early in the morning. We started our hike at about 7 am with high hopes for spotting wildlife. There was the faint hope of seeing a Puma (Mountain Lion) since they have been seen here. We decided to take the trail leading to Las Trampas Ridge. Along the way we saw some of the usual birds. One interesting sight was a dead tree with 2 Acorn Woodpeckers and 2 Nuttal’s Woodpeckers foraging very close to one another.

Being amongst the early ones on the trail, we saw many animal tracks on the patches with loose soil. We were able to pick out Deer, Coyote, Fox, Bobcat, Raccoon and some bird tracks. We also saw Gray Fox scat, indicating a diet of seed and berries.

As it got warmer we started seeing Western Fence Lizards. Our hopes were to see the Coast Horned Lizard, especially since we saw sandy soil and many ant colonies. Instead we were rewarded with another lizard species, its scales glistening in the morning sun. We got great views of a Western Skink, a new species for me!

Western Skink

Once we crested the ridge, we got great views of Mt. Diablo, Highway 680 and Walnut Creek. The view westwards was still a bit hazy. We noticed a stock pond, a bit off the trail and proceeded to check it out. Some cows came by to drink water but the pond life seemed to tolerate their presence.

Pond at Las Trampas

There was bird activity near the water and we saw Lark Sparrow, Goldfinches, both Towhees and a Hermit Warbler. I managed to get two new species – a dragonfly – the Common Green Darner – and a damselfly – the Familiar Bluet.  There were also some Variegated Meadowhawks.

Variegated Meadowhawk

After scanning the edges of the pond for a while we started noticing the Pacific Tree Frogs that were well hidden. There were some almost grown up tadpoles. We were puzzled by air bubbles rising up every once in a while. Then we noticed something coming up to the surface and disappearing again. It was a real treat when we were able to make out that they were California Newts.

Pacific Treefrog

The rest was all downhill, literally and figuratively. The long walk back, in the heat, was rather uneventful. We did notice a lot more activity from the Western Fence Lizards along the edge of the wide trail (a dirt road) including an abundance of small, baby lizards which should have been a lot warier of potential predators. And the quest for the Horned Lizard continues …