Author Archives: mihir

Salamanders at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park

By mihir | Published: 20 March 2011

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 […]

Posted in Places, Trip Report | Tagged Arboreal Salamander, California Newt, California Slender Salamander, Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, Tilden Re, Western Toad, Yellow-eyed Ensatina | 3 Responses

Dragonflies, Amphibians at Morgan Territory

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 Amphibian, Places, 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, Morgan Territory Regional Preserve, Pacific Chorus Frog, Puma, Sierran Treefrog, Western Skink, Western Tiger Swallowtail, Western Toad, Widow Skimmer, Wilson's Warbler | 1 Response

Afternoon Walk and Rattlesnake at Briones Regional Park

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 […]

Posted in Places, Trip Report | Tagged Briones Regional Park, Western Rattlesnake | Leave a comment

Rattlesnakes and Kingsnakes on Mines Road

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 […]

Posted in Trip Report | Tagged "Mines Road", California Kingsnake, Great-horned Owl, Grey Fox, Western Rattlesnake | 1 Response

Dragonflies and More at Shadow Cliffs

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 […]

Posted in Places, Trip Report | Tagged Black Phoebe, Common Green Darner, Pied-billed Grebe, Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area, Western Pond Turtle, Western Pondhawk, Widow Skimmer | Leave a comment

Mitchell Canyon and the End of a Quest

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, Mount Diablo Fairy Lantern, Mount Diablo State Park, Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Variable Checkerspot, Western Rattlesnake, Western Tiger Swallowtail | 2 Responses

Garter Snakes Galore

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 […]

Posted in Backyard, Reptile, Species | Tagged California Red-sided Garter Snake, Coast Gartersnake, Pleasanton, Tilden Regional Park | Leave a comment

February Finds: Two Species of Salamanders

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 […]

Posted in Amphibian, Places, Trip Report | Tagged California Newt, California Slender Salamander, Yellow-eyed Ensatina | 1 Response

Field trip to Morgan Territory, East Contra Costa Co.

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 […]

Posted in Places, Trip Report | Tagged Aquatic Garter Snake, California Ground Squirrel, California Red-legged Frog, Coyote, Morgan Territory, Morgan Territory Regional Preserve, Western Rattlesnake | 2 Responses

Mines Road and San Antonio Valley, 8/10

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 […]

Posted in Places | Tagged "Mines Road", "San Antonio Valley", Black-tailed Jackrabbit, California Thrasher, Desert Cottontail, Greater Roadrunner, Tule Elk, Turkey Vulture | Leave a comment