2016 Review Part 1

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Rancorrye
Posts: 400
Joined: June 18th, 2012, 8:05 pm
Location: Utah
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2016 Review Part 1

Post by Rancorrye »

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

This chapter has been pretty slow this year so I'm not sure how many of you will see this or if anyone is still out there. I've been meaning to post some pictures from this year, but have just been putting it off. Looking back I don't think I've posted anything from this year. Hopefully this will inspire some of you to also share what you've found and been up to this year.

During the cold winter months I've had to find other things besides herps to photograph. I've become increasingly interested in photographing birds, more specifically raptors, but I attempt to get photographs of any interesting bird I come across. I've found it enjoyable and it gets me out of the house during the slow months. The equipment I have isn't the greatest for birds, but I ended up with a few shots I was happy with.


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Northern Harrier by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Short-eared Owl by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Great Blue Herons by Rye Jones, on Flickr


This shot didn't turn out very well. It was back lit and a little out of focus. I changed it to a black and white and ended up being pretty pleased with it.

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Great Blue Herons by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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American Kestrel by Rye Jones, on Flickr


The pronghorn have been pretty abundant near my house the past couple of years.

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Pronghorn by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Pronghorn by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Pronghorn by Rye Jones, on Flickr


Back to some birds. I promise I'll get to some herps shortly.

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Red-tailed Hawk by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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American Kestrel by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Great Blue Heron by Rye Jones, on Flickr


While it was still a little too cold for the majority of herps to start moving, I tried my hand at some macro photography with some arachnids and insects that I would find around my yard.

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Bark Crab Spider-Bassaniana utahensis by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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European Paper Wasp-Polistes dominula by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Bold Jumping Spider-Phidippus audax by Rye Jones, on Flickr


My wife and I have made it kind of a tradition the past several years to take an early spring trip down to Washington County. Its a nice break in warmer weather. Another benefit is the herps start moving about this time down there. Although I don't spend a lot of time herping on these trips, I do turn up some incidental finds.

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Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard-Sceloporus uniformis by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Red Cliffs Desert Reserve by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Western Side-blotched Lizard-Uta stansburiana elegans by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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North Creek by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Variable Groundsnake-Sonora semiannulata semiannulata by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Crayfish by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Yellow-backed Spiny Lizard-Sceloporus uniformis by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Snow Canyon by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Snow Canyon by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Johnson Jumping Spider-Phidippus johnsoni by Rye Jones, on Flickr


Back home the weather was starting to warm up and the early season herps started to move.

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Valley Garter Snake-Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi by Rye Jones, on Flickr


There's actually five garters in the photo.

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Wandering Garter Snake-Thamnophis elegans vagrans by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Western Painted Turtle-Chrysemys picta bellii by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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American Bullfrog-Lithobates catesbeiana by Rye Jones, on Flickr


I think this bullfrog was too dumb to find cover during the cold nights and found it dead near a trail.

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American Bullfrog-Lithobates catesbeiana by Rye Jones, on Flickr


A few more macro shots while the herping was still a little slow.

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Assassin Bug Nymph by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Ant by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Zebra Jumping Spider-Salticus scenicus by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Bold Jumping Spider-Phidippus audax by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Bold Jumping Spider-Phidippus audax by Rye Jones, on Flickr


Found this garter in-situ.

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Wandering Garter Snake-Thamnophis elegans vagrans by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Valley Garter Snake-Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi by Rye Jones, on Flickr


Credit goes to a couple friends for finding these awesome mutant garters and allowing me to get some shots of them.

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Wandering Garter Snake-Thamnophis elegans vagrans by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Wandering Garter Snake-Thamnophis elegans vagrans by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Wandering Garter Snake-Thamnophis elegans vagrans and Valley Garter Snake-Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Wandering Garter Snake-Thamnophis elegans vagrans by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Wandering Garter Snake-Thamnophis elegans vagrans by Rye Jones, on Flickr


Another pass time I enjoy in the spring while I'm waiting for things to warm up, is looking for rock art. Utah has a lot of it.

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Wild Horse Creek Panel by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Black Dragon Wash Petroglyph by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Wild Horse Creek Panel by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Wild Horse Creek Panel by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Black Dragon Wash Panel by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Ekker Panel Petroglyphs by Rye Jones, on Flickr


Its hard to tell from the photo, but this large painting is about 8' tall.

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Ekker Panel by Rye Jones, on Flickr


I get a few incidental finds on these trips too. I was surprised to find a few of these guys out on a rather chilly and windy afternoon soaking up some sun.

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Ornate Tree Lizard-Urosaurus ornatus wrighti by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Ornate Tree Lizard-Urosaurus ornatus wrighti by Rye Jones, on Flickr


I love the scenery in this part of the state.

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Wild Horse Creek by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Goblin Valley State Park by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Temple Mountain by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Goblin Valley State Park by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Wild Horse Creek by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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San Rafael Reef by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Buckmaster Hills by Rye Jones, on Flickr


I got some free time and made a quick weekend trip back down to Washington County. I ran into a few friends while down there and got to spend a bit of time herping with them.

Flipped a night snake and gecko within the first 15 minutes down there.

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Desert Night Snake-Hypsiglena chlorophaea deserticola by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Utah Banded Gecko-Coleonyx variegatus utahensis by Rye Jones, on Flickr


Found a few tortoises on a cold rainy morning.

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Desert Tortoise-Gopherus agassizii by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Desert Tortoise-Gopherus agassizii by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Desert Tortoise-Gopherus agassizii by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Variable Groundsnake-Sonora semiannulata semiannulata by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Mojave Desert Sunset by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Smith’s Black-headed Snake-Tantilla hobartsmithi by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Southern Desert Horned Lizard-Phrynosoma platyrhinos calidiarum by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Variable Groundsnake-Sonora semiannulata semiannulata by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Desert Night Snake-Hypsiglena chlorophaea deserticola by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Black-tailed Jackrabbit by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Common Chuckwalla-Sauromalus ater by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Utah Banded Gecko-Coleonyx variegatus utahensis by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Utah Blind Snake-Leptotyphlops humilis utahensis by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Goldenrod Crab Spider-Misumena vatia by Rye Jones, on Flickr


Due to the rainy weather, I got skunked the first night road cruising and had to call it an early night. The next night I figured I was going to get skunked as well, but decided to give it a shot anyway. It was pretty cold and never really warmed up much during the day. I didn't see anything for an hour or two. I kept telling myself, "One more pass." It ended up paying off. I started seeing long-nosed snakes and mojaves even with the temps down in the 60's. I think I saw about three or four of each which made me happy to not get completely skunked.

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Mojave Rattlesnake-Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Mojave Rattlesnake-Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Western Long-nosed Snake-Rhinocheilus lecontei by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Western Long-nosed Snake-Rhinocheilus lecontei by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Mojave Rattlesnake-Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Desert Night Snake-Hypsiglena chlorophaea deserticola by Rye Jones, on Flickr

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Utah Banded Gecko-Coleonyx variegatus utahensis by Rye Jones, on Flickr
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Bryan Hamilton
Posts: 1234
Joined: June 10th, 2010, 9:49 pm

Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by Bryan Hamilton »

Very nice! Those melanistic garters are really cool. I've seen a few melanistic elgans but they have all been completely black. I love the blindsnake. Someday I'll see one in the wild.

More rattlesnakes to come I hope?
Jimi
Posts: 1955
Joined: December 3rd, 2010, 12:06 pm

Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by Jimi »

Nice pics, good times.

Where'd you get that short-ear? We've got a multi-year sampling grid up for those, I'm curious if yours fell in one of the grid cells. They're one of those hard-to-assess nomadic bird species, several of the western states are working together to try & get a handle on them.

thanks for the pick-up on this cold, grey day
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Rancorrye
Posts: 400
Joined: June 18th, 2012, 8:05 pm
Location: Utah
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Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by Rancorrye »

Bryan Hamilton wrote:Very nice! Those melanistic garters are really cool. I've seen a few melanistic elgans but they have all been completely black. I love the blindsnake. Someday I'll see one in the wild.

More rattlesnakes to come I hope?
Thanks, Bryan. Those garters were definitely cool. There's something about a black snake that just makes them that much more cool. There will be more rattlesnakes for sure!
Jimi wrote:Nice pics, good times.

Where'd you get that short-ear? We've got a multi-year sampling grid up for those, I'm curious if yours fell in one of the grid cells. They're one of those hard-to-assess nomadic bird species, several of the western states are working together to try & get a handle on them.

thanks for the pick-up on this cold, grey day
Thanks, Jimi. The short-ear was from Farmington Bay if I recall correctly.
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Jason Hull
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Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:43 pm

Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by Jason Hull »

Nice installment Rye. I love the different Jumping Spiders and the Garter Snakes as well.
Great photos all the way through.
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Rancorrye
Posts: 400
Joined: June 18th, 2012, 8:05 pm
Location: Utah
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Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by Rancorrye »

Jason Hull wrote:Nice installment Rye. I love the different Jumping Spiders and the Garter Snakes as well.
Great photos all the way through.
Thanks, Jason. Do we get to see some more lutosus from out your way any time soon?
NACairns
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Joined: December 30th, 2013, 7:27 am

Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by NACairns »

Great post, I really like the macro work especially the jumping spiders.
Thanks for sharing.
Nick
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Rancorrye
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Joined: June 18th, 2012, 8:05 pm
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Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by Rancorrye »

NACairns wrote:Great post, I really like the macro work especially the jumping spiders.
Thanks for sharing.
Nick
Thanks, Nick. Glad you enjoyed it.
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gbeck
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Joined: July 15th, 2014, 8:48 pm
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Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by gbeck »

Great post and awesome shots. It was fun to look through and remember several shared experiences there. You mentioned your tradition of going down to Washington Co. with your lady- I imagine it's pretty painful to be down there and not get out much for herping, but I bet it'd be more "painful" if you did, haha.
hondo-dan
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Joined: August 25th, 2014, 8:00 pm

Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by hondo-dan »

Nice pics Rye. I've been having a fun time finding raptors this winter as well! That one you have listed as a red-tailed hawk appears to actually be a ferruginous hawk. Do you have a Instagram account I can follow? That's where I post almost all my pictures now.
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gbeck
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Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by gbeck »

Do you have an Instagram account I can follow?
Fieldherpforum is about as "social media" as Rye gets, haha.
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Rancorrye
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Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by Rancorrye »

hondo-dan wrote:That one you have listed as a red-tailed hawk appears to actually be a ferruginous hawk.
What are you basing your ID off of? Not arguing, just curious. I don't see ferruginous, but then again I'm still learning...

gbeck wrote:
Do you have an Instagram account I can follow?
Fieldherpforum is about as "social media" as Rye gets, haha.
Yep, that's about right. Here and Flickr, haha.
hondo-dan
Posts: 22
Joined: August 25th, 2014, 8:00 pm

Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by hondo-dan »

I'm with you on that Rye, I'm still learning too. You are correct though on it being a redtail. I was basing it initially on the amount of white coming up into the head. Almost all the redtails I've seen have had a pretty distinct line at the neck where it changes from light to dark feathers. However they seem to be quite variable in color as well. Anyway I ran it by a couple birding friends and they said redtail.
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Rancorrye
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Re: 2016 Review Part 1

Post by Rancorrye »

hondo-dan wrote:I'm with you on that Rye, I'm still learning too. You are correct though on it being a redtail. I was basing it initially on the amount of white coming up into the head. Almost all the redtails I've seen have had a pretty distinct line at the neck where it changes from light to dark feathers. However they seem to be quite variable in color as well. Anyway I ran it by a couple birding friends and they said redtail.
Good to know. I have noticed quite a bit a variability in them. I started looking at some juvenile ferruginous and the coloration does look pretty similar. Thanks for verifying.

Rye
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