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.