The Natural History of Bodega Head

    Quick photo of a large Arboreal Salamander ( Aneides lugubris ) on Bodega Head today, 27 October 2025.  Although we only received ~0.2 i...

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

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

    Today's rain reminded me of this salamander that I photographed earlier in the month.  I think this is a Speckled Black Salamander (...

    I wandered outside tonight with salamanders on my mind.  This is the first one I encountered — a young Arboreal Salamander ( Aneides lug...

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

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

  After ~2 inches of rain during the past 48 hours, I looked outside and spotted a couple of Arboreal Salamanders ( Aneides lugubris ) n...

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

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 ...

  Ensatina ( Ensatina eschscholtzii ) out for a moonlight stroll in Bodega Bay on 26 November 2018...perhaps in anticipation of tomorro...

  A few days ago we were walking in the woods in New Hampshire when Eric noticed some movement in pools of water on the trail.  We ...

It's been foggy and a bit humid lately, but I was still surprised to see this little salamander approaching our front steps this morning...

I was working in the dunes today, when a small movement caught my eye:   A small newt ( Taricha sp.) was walking across the sand! ...

    Well, after receiving almost 3 inches of rain in the past 24 hours, I stepped outside to see if any salamanders were out and about....

It's been raining for most of the day, so after dinner I thought I'd take a quick look outside to see if there were any amphibians a...

Have you been enjoying the rain this weekend? You're not the only one!   Arboreal Salamander ( Aneides lugubris) , ~6 cm (~2.4 in...

After the rain last night , how could we resist looking for amphibians?  We took a quick walk around the yard after dinner and were glad to ...

On the radio today, I heard that a task force is considering whether to declare a statewide drought in California. This may be the driest y...

Perhaps it is the Year of the Salamander!   Eric found this small Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii) in our yard in Sebastopol tonigh...