April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

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Zach_Lim
Posts: 1607
Joined: June 10th, 2010, 8:37 pm

April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by Zach_Lim »

Won't be able to hit the field until May, so I figured I will take this time to reflect on my April. In short, it was EXCELLENT. Not only did I have a great time locally within the Santa Cruz Mountains and coastline, I was also able to head into the Central Valley for the Yolo Survey, as well as down south for some much need SoCal herping!

So let's start.

Poking around my neighborhood in San Francisco, I noticed a strange Slender Salamander under a log...
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Along the coast in San Mateo County, I was able to spy a few San Francisco Garter Snakes as they basked, crawled, and swam in their pond. My buddy let me use his zoom lens for the first shot- I really need to invest in one!

San Francisco Garter Snake

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Over-exposed shot of a Northern Pacific Rattlesnake that I found under a log. Shame, it was so pretty...

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I dragged Luke Talltree and Jared Heald up north (err...North East?) to the Yolo Survey where Dave, Lawrence, and us found some great snakes!

Western Yellow-bellied Racer "Blue phase"

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From the survey

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Pacific Gopher snake "Striped phase"

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At the survey, I found my first getula of the year. And what a great one it was! My first locality specific morph- a Delta King!

California Kingsnake "Delta morph"

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California River Otter pup (too cute)

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Back in the City, Jared and I have been joining my buddy who is a biologist stationed in the Presidio in his herp surveys. The areas we herp are closed off to the public.

Coast Garter Snake

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Habitat shots

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Sidewinder Stephen was in town for a few days in the middle of April, so Jared and I took him out for some herping and post-field drinking. The herping was good clean fun. The partying afterwards not too much...

Jared managed his lifer Coast zonata at a new spot! Sidewinder got one too, but it was in a crack!

Coast Mountain Kingsnake

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Chubby toad hoping along a pond in San Mateo County

California Toad

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While Jared was busy flipping a zonata, I managed the largest ring-necked snake I have ever seen in the wild.

Pacific Ring-necked Snake

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Northern Pacific Rattlesnake

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Santa Cruz Garter Snake (the largest one I have ever seen)

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Back in the City, Stephen, Jared and I stopped by private pond for some red-Coast action.

Coast Garter Snake

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San Francisco Alligator Lizard

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A real dark Coast Garter under one of my City boards

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I really enjoy solo herping at times. As much as I love hanging out with my best buddies out in the field, at times, I need some alone time for some clarity.

Pacific Gopher Snake under a piece of tin I spread out.

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Another one under an old piece of plastic.

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Northern Pacific Rattlesnake

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However, when you are out solo herping, you miss the opportunity to freak out and share your excitement with others. This was the case when I flipped a medium sized rock on rock formation in Santa Cruz....

Coast Mountain Kingsnake - the largest I have ever found in the wild! Close to 3 feet in length!

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A pair of NorPacs in a crack

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Back along the coast, Jared found this crazy looking Coast Garter (much like the one Jim Maughn photo'd awhile ago)

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Pacific Gopher Snake that I found in a bush hanging out with a Racer

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Racer from the same bush

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FireFly in San Mateo County!?

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Jared Heald managed to flip an adult Rubber Boa under a piece of debris by a pond. This is the second boa I have ever seen along the coast (yards from the beach).

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Back in SF, we went out for some Coast Garters to get us ready for our SoCal trip.

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Now for some change in scenery.

From April 24-27, Jared, Dave, and I drove down South for some much needed SoCal herping! We spent the majority of the time with Ryan and Sidewinder Stephen, but did spend some time with some other FHF members! Big thanks and cheers to Phil, Nick, Cody, Andrew, Lou Boyer, and all others who joined us in the field!

Many, if not all, of the species that I personally found on this trip were Lifers. I only count herps that I find/found on my own as lifers. Simply put, it was an amazing trip that I hope to do so again in the near future.

Side-blotched Lizard

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Blainville's Horned Lizard - LIFER

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San Diego Gopher Snake - LIFER

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The first night there, we cruised the desert! I have personally never spent much time in the desert (Arizona as a child, but the memory is hazy), so I was beyond thrilled. The habitat was stunning. Unfortunately, the majority of snakes we found were DORs...so can't count as lifers!

Lyre Snake

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Desert Night Snake

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Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake

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Plenty of Desert Banded Geckos were found basking on the road.

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Lucky for me, the one live snake we found on the road was a species that was top of my "too see" list!

Leaf-nosed Snake

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The next day, we checked dumpsites in the hills of Riverside County. I cannot believe how much garbage is out there!

Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (found by Jared)

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Not finding much under all the old pairs of jeans, tarp, boards, mattresses, and other human debris, we went after some rocks....

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This is where I flipped a lifer...

Western Black-headed Snake - LIFER

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On the way out, Nick let us know of a DOR Striped Racer. Would have been a lifer...

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Cody took the crew out to one of his lines where this King popped up.

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After a quick check of that line, we headed back to the Tantilla rocks. There we had a huge crew of us- Lou, his son and brother, Phil and his friend, my pal Andrew from NY, Ryan, Stephen, Dave, Jared, and me.

Red Diamond Rattlesnake - multiple snakes spotted by Phil, Ryan, and Cody/Stephen

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While people were busy with "big game", I started flipping tiny rocks in hopes of landing another Tantilla.

Instead, I got a purple worm...

South Western Thread Snake - LIFER

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Wish I looked more thrilled! Probably my favorite flip of the trip!

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After the rocks, we headed to another dumpsite where Andrew flipped a gorgeous snake under some carpet.

San Diego Night Snake

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Oh, and there was this snake-like thing, as well. Funny story about this little guy...but you know, what we do is secret.

California Legless Lizard

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On our final day down South, we checked some prime snake habitat. Walking up to some rocks, I found an Abberant King! However...it was clearly dethroned...

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However, at a near by dumpsite, I managed my first SoCal King!

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Near the king, Jared had a close call with this beast...

Southern Pacific Rattlesnake

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To close out SoCal, we checked a creek for potential two-stripe garters. All I found were tadpoles...

California Tree Frog (?) - LIFER

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In short, I had a great April. Great finds, beautiful habitat, and great company really made this a great month.

Here is to a great May!

Oh, and just for fun, here is a shot of my band Scalped playing in April. When I am not herping, this is what I do!

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RobertH
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 9:38 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by RobertH »

Zach, great post. The large zonata is gorgeous. Nice shots of it, too.

I am amazed you managed to flip both a Tantilla and a Thread Snake in the short time you were down here. Those are rarely seen, especially the second one.

Just to show you the untapped potential of your new camera, I took the liberty to edit one of your ruber shots:

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After
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I hope you can see that there is a positive difference. All I did was add a little bit of contrast, warmth, saturation and sharpening, and crop out some of the empty space to the left of the snake. This helps in photos such as this one where the light is a bit diffuse and the sun doesn't light up the colors and bring out the contrasts as much. The problem is that the human eye adjusts for the lack of color and contrast and you can't see what the image will like to the camera when you take the picture. This, btw, is one big difference between a DSLR and a mirrorless digital camera like the one Nicholas uses: The latter has an electronic viewfinder and shows the image the way it will actually look. This way, the photographer can make the necessary adjustments right there and then. But since you have a DSLR, you either have to anticipate what is needed (difficult) or edit your pics later. The editing program that comes with Flickr is adequate for most purposes (that's what I used to edit your ruber shot). But almost any editing software will do.

Have a good month of May,

Robert
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Owen
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Joined: June 11th, 2010, 12:35 am
Location: San Jose', Northern Catcrapistan

Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by Owen »

Nicely done. I haven't seen a lyre since the 70's, so I envy you. I just need to figure out where I can find 4 new 2014 species locally so that I can catch back up to you! Oh, wait... Soquel Survey (I can think of 3 snakes, a lizard and a salamander that I don't have yet that have been found there ;) )
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LouB747
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:50 am
Location: Huntington Beach, CA

Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by LouB747 »

It was nice meeting up with you Zach as well as meeting everyone else. Sorry we had to head down the hill a little early. Here's a pic of the king we found down there.
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And here's a slightly different look at one of the Rubers
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Glad the Legless Lizard was found. Wasn't really sure what to do with it. I guess you guys can call that find a COC.

And to all the guys I met who's names I can't remember, it was nice to meet all of you. For me, meeting one or two and remembering names is OK. But meeting so many, forget it! I guess I'm getting old. I do hope we can get together again sometime. I almost always herp alone. Herping with others was really fun. Send me a PM if you want.

Awesome finds...Black Headed and Threadsnake. Haven't found either of those.

Parting shot of a Japanese Keelback (Japanese Tantilla!) I found in Tokyo yesterday. Hoping for another Blue Coral in Singapore tomorrow! Lou
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El Garia
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Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by El Garia »

Lots of cool finds, Zach. I'm envious of your humilis, man. They're like giant versions of the Ramphotyphlops I would catch as a kid.

Looks like you got, what?… 11 lifers? :beer:
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JAMAUGHN
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Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by JAMAUGHN »

Damn, Zach. What a month. I'm beyond impressed with your SoCal finds. I was just down there too, and it was all lizards, all the time for me. Not a single snake. (Not that I'm complaining...I was pretty happy with the lizards!)

I guess the urgency is off the phrynosoma around here now, but I'm still game if you want to go looking in May!

JimM
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Calfirecap
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Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by Calfirecap »

Looks like this is going to be the 'Big Year' for you Zach. You nailed it with the So Cal expedition.
hellihooks
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Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by hellihooks »

Good stuff Zack... I was younger than you are now when I found my last threadsnake... :shock: You're also kicking my butt in our little 'Z competition'... :roll: :lol: :lol: I've seen 5...but only flipped one, myself... :? lol jim
Zach_Lim
Posts: 1607
Joined: June 10th, 2010, 8:37 pm

Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by Zach_Lim »

RobertH wrote:Zach, great post. The large zonata is gorgeous. Nice shots of it, too.

I am amazed you managed to flip both a Tantilla and a Thread Snake in the short time you were down here. Those are rarely seen, especially the second one.

Just to show you the untapped potential of your new camera, I took the liberty to edit one of your ruber shots:

I hope you can see that there is a positive difference. All I did was add a little bit of contrast, warmth, saturation and sharpening, and crop out some of the empty space to the left of the snake. This helps in photos such as this one where the light is a bit diffuse and the sun doesn't light up the colors and bring out the contrasts as much. The problem is that the human eye adjusts for the lack of color and contrast and you can't see what the image will like to the camera when you take the picture. This, btw, is one big difference between a DSLR and a mirrorless digital camera like the one Nicholas uses: The latter has an electronic viewfinder and shows the image the way it will actually look. This way, the photographer can make the necessary adjustments right there and then. But since you have a DSLR, you either have to anticipate what is needed (difficult) or edit your pics later. The editing program that comes with Flickr is adequate for most purposes (that's what I used to edit your ruber shot). But almost any editing software will do.

Have a good month of May,

Robert
Thank you so much for the information, Robert! The photo looks 100 x better, and better reflects the actual animal that I photographed.
I pretty much ran out into the wild with the camera- did not even think about photo editing. I will sit down with the tool later tonight and attempt some edits on some of my more recent photos.
Owen wrote:Nicely done. I haven't seen a lyre since the 70's, so I envy you. I just need to figure out where I can find 4 new 2014 species locally so that I can catch back up to you! Oh, wait... Soquel Survey (I can think of 3 snakes, a lizard and a salamander that I don't have yet that have been found there ;) )
I didn't find a live Lyre, Owen, so you still got me there! 3 snakes at the survey, eh? Rubber, Zonata, and what else? What lizard? What 'mander?!
LouB747 wrote:It was nice meeting up with you Zach as well as meeting everyone else. Sorry we had to head down the hill a little early. Here's a pic of the king we found down there.

And here's a slightly different look at one of the Rubers


Glad the Legless Lizard was found. Wasn't really sure what to do with it. I guess you guys can call that find a COC.

And to all the guys I met who's names I can't remember, it was nice to meet all of you. For me, meeting one or two and remembering names is OK. But meeting so many, forget it! I guess I'm getting old. I do hope we can get together again sometime. I almost always herp alone. Herping with others was really fun. Send me a PM if you want.

Awesome finds...Black Headed and Threadsnake. Haven't found either of those.

Parting shot of a Japanese Keelback (Japanese Tantilla!) I found in Tokyo yesterday. Hoping for another Blue Coral in Singapore tomorrow! Lou
Had a blast, Lou! Wish I knew where you ran off to! We were still on that hillside when we noticed that your car was gone! Have no idea how we missed you at the dumpsite!

That can of beans....damn....you wouldn't believe how much fun we had coming up with explanations about it!

We even took a picture because of it!

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Gorgeous King and great ruber attack shot!

That Keelback is gorgeous!
El Garia wrote:Lots of cool finds, Zach. I'm envious of your humilis, man. They're like giant versions of the Ramphotyphlops I would catch as a kid.

Looks like you got, what?… 11 lifers? :beer:
The threadsnake was beyond bizarre. Reminded me somewhat of a rubber boa!
Yep, plenty of lifers...more if they were all dead on the road!
JAMAUGHN wrote:Damn, Zach. What a month. I'm beyond impressed with your SoCal finds. I was just down there too, and it was all lizards, all the time for me. Not a single snake. (Not that I'm complaining...I was pretty happy with the lizards!)

I guess the urgency is off the phrynosoma around here now, but I'm still game if you want to go looking in May!

JimM
I still gotta see one in the Bay Area, Jim! Let's do it!
Calfirecap wrote:Looks like this is going to be the 'Big Year' for you Zach. You nailed it with the So Cal expedition.
Fingers crossed for a big year for all of us, Lawrence!
hellihooks wrote:Good stuff Zack... I was younger than you are now when I found my last threadsnake... :shock: You're also kicking my butt in our little 'Z competition'... :roll: :lol: :lol: I've seen 5...but only flipped one, myself... :? lol jim
The year ain't over, Jim! You might catch up haha!
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Owen
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Location: San Jose', Northern Catcrapistan

Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by Owen »

3 snakes at the survey, eh? Rubber, Zonata, and what else? What lizard? What 'mander?!
longicaudae
coerulea
granulosa

Yeah, I'm surprised that I don't have the gator yet. I did manage the horny toad and orange backed spiny on my return from my beer run to Firestone Walker. :beer:
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Speckled Rosy
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Location: Canyon country, Ca

Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by Speckled Rosy »

Awesome post! ..and looks like quite the ragtag bunch of herpers! looks like you guys had fun.. This wasnt the best year down here either..

Good going on the lifers.. thats what its all about.. :thumb:

-Dan
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LouB747
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Re: April 2014- NorCal + SoCal Retrospective

Post by LouB747 »

Short video of the threadsnake.

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