Among the roots

  

Quick photo of a large Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) on Bodega Head today, 27 October 2025.  Although we only received ~0.2 inches total of rain this weekend, it was pretty nice salamander weather with consistent moisture for a couple of days.

At home in the rain

  

Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) in the rain in Cotati on 28 December 2024.  

Frog weather

 

 

I'm running out of time tonight, but here's a couple of quick photos of a beautiful Red-legged Frog (Rana draytonii) that we came across in the road tonight.  It's certainly been good weather for frogs!

 

 

 

I hope everyone is staying safe during these storms!

May luck be your friend

  

A couple of photos to help celebrate St. Patrick's Day!  

Above, a Sierran Treefrog (Pseudacris sierra) framed by Douglas Iris (Iris douglasiana) leaves.  

Below, Coast Rockcress (Arabis blepharophylla) and clover (Trifolium sp.) leaves:

 

 
With many thanks to Eric for the great photos!

Walk in the rain

 

During a short walk at Point Reyes today (20 January 2024), I looked down to see this newt crossing a path covered in pine needles.  My guess is Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), but let me know if you have a different opinion.

 

 

It was a fairly wet day today — a good day for amphibians!  

 

Out after the rain

  

We had to move some material on the ground today (15 January 2024), and look who was underneath!

Nice to see this beautiful Sierran Treefrog (Pseudacris sierra)...and it reminded me to check our rainfall totals.  So far we've received ~12 inches of rain, or about 38% of the average annual total.  Frogs have been quite vocal throughout our neighborhood.  Have you been hearing them in yours?

Twinkle toes

  

A quick snapshot of a juvenile Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) — only ~3 cm long, photographed in Cotati on 14 March 2023.

We've had quite a run of rain recently.  I'm rounding off a bit, but here are some numbers for rainfall amounts in Bodega Bay:

During the last 24 hours = ~1.5"
During the last week = ~4"
During the last month = ~7"
Since January 1st = ~20"
Since October 1st = ~30"

Which means we're very close to our average annual rainfall at this time (98%).

An unusual ending

  

I took a short walk in Walpole, MA, today (26 September 2022).  I ended up at a small pond and started noticing a few interesting animals in the warm afternoon sun (more on that later).  I was taking photographs and noticed a dragonfly a bit further away along the shoreline.  It was a female ovipositing (laying eggs), so it was in the same area long enough for me to snap a few distant photos.  

When I finished photographing the first subject, I decided to take a quick look for the dragonfly as I wasn't certain which species it was.  I was scanning for a dragonfly in flight and wasn't having any luck when I noticed a fluttering movement near the ground.  I looked down to see this:

 

 

I couldn't believe it, but the dragonfly had been caught by a Bull Frog (Lithobates catesbeianus)!

 

And amazingly it looked like this was a Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans), a dragonfly that used to be rare when I last lived in Massachusetts.  It sounds like Great Blue Skimmers (a southern species) have become more common in Massachusetts during the last 18 years, but they are still infrequently encountered.

 

Here are a couple of different angles:

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  Many thanks to Blair for helping to confirm the dragonfly identification and the current status of Great Blue Skimmers in Massachusetts.

Salamander weather

  

Today's rain reminded me of this salamander that I photographed earlier in the month.  I think this is a Speckled Black Salamander (Aneides flavipunctatus).  I haven't seen this species before, so if you disagree with my i.d., please let me know as I'm open to feedback!

I'm still learning about this species, but it appears to have a fairly restricted distribution, e.g., from about Sonoma County north to southern Humboldt County.

Here's a view of the entire animal (below).  Note the very dark background color:

 

 

From the forecast, it sounds like we'll be seeing salamander weather for a little while!

Tales from the Gualala toad

Last night I mentioned we went up to the Gualala River to look for toads.  Eric grew up with toads in his backyard and I used to interact with toads on Cape Cod.  We don't see toads on Bodega Head, so every now and then we both miss finding and watching toads.

We hadn't looked for them along the Gualala River before, but I had heard that young toads have been reported emerging from the river in the fall.  So with yesterday's rain showers, we figured it was worth a shot and it would be new territory for us.

It took some patience and persistence, but eventually we found two toads.  The first was a small individual (~3 cm long) hiding under a rock.  Here's the view I showed last night and two others.  Note the variety of colors, including orange under the feet:

 

 

 

 

It sounds like I should be calling these California Toads (Anaxyrus borealis halophilus) now, a subspecies of Western Toad. But it can be hard to track the taxonomy, so let me know if you have different information.

 

Later, Eric encountered a larger toad partially buried in the rocks near the river.  It was hard to spot, but luckily it moved slightly, revealing itself as amphibian rather than rock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a few other fun observations from our time in northern Sonoma County yesterday, so stay tuned!

P.S.  Sounds like Gualala was one of the wettest places in the county yesterday with ~1.5" of rain.

Toadally thankful

  

We were hopeful that today's precipitation would bring us some luck in finding a toad...and it did!  I'll write more tomorrow, but here's a wonderful photo that Eric took of a juvenile Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) near the Gualala River on 18 September 2021.  So thankful for the rain!

New legs and an old tail

  

 A tadpole with hind legs (above)...

 and a frog with a tail (below):

 

 

Sierran Treefrog (Pseudacris sierra) photographed 3 July 2021.

Gold in the rain

  

I wandered outside tonight with salamanders on my mind.  This is the first one I encountered — a young Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) in Cotati on 27 January 2021.  We received ~1.5-2" of rain during the last 24 hours.

New Moon stroll

  

An Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii) out for a New Moon stroll on 15 November 2020, just before the rain started.

At home under a log

During a neighborhood walk a couple of days ago, Eric peeked under a log and was surprised to see quite a gathering:

 

Arboreal Salamanders, a Sierran Treefrog, isopods, and a spider!  There must have been something special about that spot.  We gently replaced the log, but it's hard not to wonder how all of them might have been interacting.

Leap of faith

 

At various times in the past, Eric has challenged me to find and photograph a frog for leap year.  I'm happy to say that 2020 is the year I was successful!

 

Here's the crazy thing.  This is the most common frog in our area, but I'm not sure what to call it.  The taxonomy is confusing and obviously more work is needed to sort out this issue.  

I'll call it a Sierran Treefrog (Pseudacris sierra) for now...but you might also see it called a Pacific Treefrog (Pseudacris regilla), and you might see the scientific name as Hyliola sierra.  In previous posts I have also called it a Pacific Chorus Frog, but the official checklist of the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (2017) uses treefrog, so that's what I'll use.

Happy 2020 Leap Year!

Salamander weather, at last

 

After ~2 inches of rain during the past 48 hours, I looked outside and spotted a couple of Arboreal Salamanders (Aneides lugubris) near our front steps.  The adult (above) was over 6 inches long, but there was also a juvenile that was only ~1.5 inches long:

 

I'm so glad they're finally enjoying some rain!

 

One foot

You might remember that last week I tried to find a salamander and failed.  Tonight (16 January 2019), I was successful!  

It's quite stormy (lots of rain and wind), but I went out for a few minutes to see if an amphibian might be out and about.  I bumped into this beautiful Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) in our backyard:

 

Here's a close-up of one front foot:

 

I think this brings us up to ~12 inches of rain so far this winter?

Wet weather?

Hmmph.  I thought it would be raining more tonight, and that I might be able to go out and find a salamander fairly quickly.  Perhaps there will be heavier rain later this evening?  For now I've gone back to the archives for one of my favorite little salamanders — a juvenile Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii) taken in February 2013:

 

Moonlight stroll

 

Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii) out for a moonlight stroll in Bodega Bay on 26 November 2018...perhaps in anticipation of tomorrow's rain?