Herping Anza Borrego - Ideal Nighttime Temperature for April?

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fanghead
Posts: 2
Joined: August 15th, 2022, 5:17 pm

Herping Anza Borrego - Ideal Nighttime Temperature for April?

Post by fanghead »

Hi there! This is my first post! Really excited to join the community and hopefully meet other herpers in my area (San Diego). I've been herping my whole life, and now live in San Diego where there are so many species to find!

I was wondering if today might be a good day to go to the Anza Borrego desert. Daytime high is about 88, and will be sub 70 at 9, sub 60 at 12AM. The last few days have been hotter; this is the last day of a 3-day heat wave in the area.

Do you think it's worth it to go cruising the desert at this time? I know there is generally less activity sub 70 (at around 9PM). Considering the gas to get there, do you think I'll find many herps? I'd love to spot a speckled or a longnose, any other snakes would be icing on the cake. Are these species active sub 70? Which species, if any (besides glossies, rosy boas, which I know) would be active around this temperature?

Attached a couple images from my last anza borrego trip to kick off my activity here.

Thanks!

Joel
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Flaxington
Posts: 8
Joined: April 14th, 2011, 2:16 pm
Location: Anaheim, California
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Re: Herping Anza Borrego - Ideal Nighttime Temperature for April?

Post by Flaxington »

Conditions are prime for everything. The long-nosed Snakes are in the flatlands and the Speckled Rattlers are in the rocks, above the sandy zone, they are active now. The pictures you posted are nice, but ideally, it is best to take pictures of nocturnal species at night using a flash. Night shots can be difficult at first but with some practice at home using small objects perfection can be achieved. Nighttime pictures look so much better, even if the animal is on asphalt.

I'm wishing that I could be in the desert tonight, because everything is crawling now.

I looking forward to seeing more of your awesome pictures.

--Will
fanghead
Posts: 2
Joined: August 15th, 2022, 5:17 pm

Re: Herping Anza Borrego - Ideal Nighttime Temperature for April?

Post by fanghead »

Thanks for the reply. It was a very successful night: 5 snakes, a gecko, and some cool inverts, birds, and mammals.

Also, thanks for the photo tips, although both of those photos were taken after sundown (the leafnose at dusk); the poor quality is more limited by the megapixels of my iPhone 11. One day I will upgrade, and my photos will improve! For now, I just take photos to show my friends.
Cebusman
Posts: 10
Joined: February 21st, 2023, 4:18 pm
Location: 50 miles N of NYC

Re: Herping Anza Borrego - Ideal Nighttime Temperature for April?

Post by Cebusman »

Herping is still good for nighttime cruising in the area. My son just took a trip at the very end of May and found plenty of snakes, geckos and invertebrates. Also went a little further north off of Rte 40 and found snakes and geckos night cruising and multiple lizard species during the daytime. Will, thanks for your book, it has been invaluable!

Gary
Vipera1234
Posts: 18
Joined: December 29th, 2021, 2:43 am

Re: Herping Anza Borrego - Ideal Nighttime Temperature for April?

Post by Vipera1234 »

I think you can also very the altitude quite a bit, when I was there I found that the lower, flatter parts were considerably hotter than the higher rocky parts. If one of the two doesn't produce a whole lot, switching might help. Good luck and keep us posted if you find something, I miss that desert a lot!
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