North section - 02/14/2022
Monday, 9:07-12:52 no live newts. 499 dead newts!!
I walked with Robin. And so glad she was there!
Weather: cold, nice.
Coverage: from the Jones Trailhead parking lot to the second stop sign.
Newts: I documented 326 dead newts, Robin had 173 newts. Some were a bit small, probably no juveniles. We saw at least 6 live newts in the little pond by Limekiln trail.
Other roadkills: Tylobolus millipedes, 2 fence lizards, turkey vulture, spider, caterpillars, moths, California Tortoiseshell butterfly.
Traffic: 39 cars, 4 trucks, 3 motorcycles, 3 bikes, 13 pedestrian, 15 parked cars (3 cars in the farthest parking lot).
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-02-14&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Robin - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-02-14&place_id=any&user_id=anudibranchmom&verifiable=any
Comments
When will the slaughter end? This is already a record year and there are still at least 6 weeks left in the migration season. So terribly sad!
Agreed! Any ideas why we're seeing such high numbers? and weird trends? High-low-high with no rain in sight
It's a mystery... Could it be that the weather was too cold overnight for awhile, now it's warmer? Could it be this year there's been more rain, which triggered their migration and they're coming from many miles away? Could there be fog that's providing moisture even though we haven't had rain for awhile? Remember last year Feb. had the largest number of roadkill even though it didn't rain all month. I just don't know.
Interesting idea - I wonder what the temperatures were like over the 2 weeks of very high roadkill numbers in January? It makes sense if you think about your findings in the report you wrote last year, how frost is one of the only parameters affecting newt movement.
@merav, the site where we get the rainfall data also has a tab for temperature lows and highs.
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