This year so far

My first snake of the year was also the same snake as the last snake of 2010. I found him on December 28th and then missed him completely in January, I was bummed about that, but he was found in February.

Lucky

There were some others out through March:

Rusty



Lucky again, but out from the bush





Crotalus viridis

Energizer

Desert Striped Whipsnakes Coluber taeniatus taeniatus were out

Bill and I were out hiking and he spotted this whipsnake:

It watched us and seemed to be intrigued by the movement of Bill's tripod





In fact right after this shot it jumped down right in front of Bill, then realized what was going on and bolted into the rocks



Southwestern Fence Lizard Sceloporus cowlesi

Bill got a tip on where to find some leopard frogs nearby so we took off to the super secret locale and found these:

Northern Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens)

We also saw two fence, two salamander larvae and an unidentified fleeing snake.

Nikki and I went out to a check out a new locale and found these:

Eastern Side-blotched Lizard (Uta stansburiana stejnegeri)

Both individuals were very dark in color for the species probably due to the lava


Yesterday I was driving out of town for work and the night before I saw something in the database about a road and saw that road, so I turned around and cruised. The entry said something about ac, so I looked and found some boards, but no herps under them. I continued on the road since it paralleled the road I was taking and then came upon this:

Sonoran Gopher Snake Pituophous catenefir affinis

at least 4 1/2 feet long

beautiful pattern

I was driving and saw a sign that had fallen onto the ground, I flipped it and found three Great Plains Skinks (Plestiodon obsoletus). They disappeared into the grass before I could get a picture, but I came back later and got this video:

Here is a still from the video:


I also got a trip to Bosque del Apache as well:

I saw an assortment of birds and turtles:

American Coot

Big Bend Slider (Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae)

Red-tail Hawk



Cormorants

Big Bend Slider (Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae)

Great Blue Heron

Big Bend Slider (Trachemys gaigeae gaigeae)

Bald Eagle eating something







I started home and almost hit these:








Well, that's the start of the year! Thanks for looking!
Josh

Went to the zoo yesterday

We went to the zoo yesterday after work to see the saltwater crocs eat. Here are some videos of them eating:

Here's part 2:

We also walked around the zoo and got some other videos:
Giraffes running around:

Rhinos playing:

Hippos:

Part 2:


Josh

Bosque del Apache on the first day of winter

Since it was the first day of winter I figured the herp season is probably over now, then I checked the weather for the bosque and it was getting up to 66. So, I figured I'd head down and do some birding and possibly turn up some herps. It was a good thing I decided to bird otherwise I would've gotten practically nothing. I arrived and found these ladies crossing the road:

Mule Deer

I went to an overlook and saw this in a tree nearby:

Bald Eagle


I moved on to a marshy area and spotted this from the bridge:

Western Painted Turtle

I searched the area hoping to at least turn up a uta, but nothing but birds:

Northern Pintail

Sandhill Cranes


Canadian Geese

Snow Geese








Sandhill Crane

Northern Pintail

On my way out I saw the deer again and observed some interesting behavior:













Well, that's all I got pictures of. Other species seen but not photographed include:
Black Pheobe
Mallard
Cedar Waxwing
Marsh Hawk
Mourning Dove
White-winged Dove
Raven
Bullfrog
American Coot

Among others. Thanks for looking!

Josh

A crappy day herping...but hey, it's December!!!

The temps were high and we've been seeing some snakes at some dens with some regularity. You can see what I've found in the past here: http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2933 I went to check on the two atrox that have been out and only found these:




Both these snakes had meals in them so it only makes sense that this would be their dung. I went to check on another den and passed another site that I haven't seen anything at for a while. I was just going to head to another den and decided I should check on this one just in case. I climbed up and saw this:

Prairie Rattlesnake

It had been a month since I'd seen activity at this area, so I was pretty excited. It coiled up like in the second picture and was flicking its tongue all over. I sat and watched it and then it slowly retreated into a nearby hole. It was very aware of my presence. I searched around the area because I have encountered multiple snakes at this site together. I did not find another snake, but did find another pile of poo. No picture of this one it was deep inside a crack and the picture didn't turn out. I think the season is finally over :( Can't wait until spring :D

Josh