Thursday, January 28, 2021

First try: 7:00 am - about 8:45 am
Second try: about 12:30pm – 1:45pm

It rained 4.25 inches yesterday and today!!!

Found and documented 109 newts: 51 fresh, 52 old ones (still present), 17 missing

This survey didn’t go well. It rained heavily and was very windy all night and all day during the surveys.

I wasn’t able to complete the 7am survey because both my camera and my phone died from waterlogging. I got about mid-way between Limekiln & Priest Rock trailheads when my camera died. Then I switched to my cell phone and that died a short time later at the entrance to the Rowing Club. I had no choice but to come home to dry out my equipment.

Another problem I had was that my sharpies wouldn’t write on the very wet tags. I also tried a blue ballpoint pen and was able to get a few flags labeled. However, the ballpoint eventually failed too, probably because it was soaking wet like everything else (clothes, towels, tissues – there was nothing to dry the tags with). So, I ended up leaving blank tags for most of the new newts I found (51 new ones).

After I dried out my cell phone and my camera at home, I returned at about 12:30pm to finish the “7am” survey from the rowing club back to St. Joseph’s Hill. I was never able to complete the 2nd round (9am) this morning due to all the technical difficulties. Sorry, Merav! I feel like I failed you.

Missing:
• Flags #6, #16, #31 – these newts have been missing for awhile, but the flags are still there.
• Flags #7A, #7B,(#7C was new with this survey), #10A, #10B, #17, #28, #30, #39, #59, #60 - newts that are newly missing with this survey. I removed flags #28 and #30; left #17 there to mark the unused flag stash.
• I couldn’t find Flags #1, #15, #23, #24, #27, #47, #48, #59, #61. I might’ve overlooked them – visibility was awful. Or they might’ve blown away. I found 3 flags on the street or in a ditch of water.
New:
• Flags #63 through #106 are new for this survey. There were also 3 newt HTH observations.
• At the location of Flag #20, there are now 2 newts – one old and one new.
• Flag #31B – I couldn’t find newt #31, but there appeared to be a new one at this location on the ground a few feet from the road, so I used the same flag and labeled this one #31B, just in case this is the same newt that has moved its location.
• I forgot to measure the new newts – sorry Merav!

Errors & Issues:
• I found three flags in the street or face-down in a roadside creek. The wind or a mudslide probably misplaced them.
• Flag #53 photograph wasn’t a newt – it was a fancy pattern in the concrete reflecting a pool of water. Don’t know if I just missed newt #53 or what. I didn’t include my photo of #53.
• I think there were 2 flags labeled #57 – it was hard to read.
• Flags #65-66 were not used.
• Flag #71 photo wasn’t a newt – it was a crushed bay nut, so I didn’t include it.
• There were 2 flags labeled #82, so I’m recording them as 82-A and 82-B in iNat.
• There were 2 flags labeled #21; the second one should be #22.
• I have a few photos that were whited-out due to bright light reflecting off the water and my cellphone freaking out from being too wet. I included them, but @merav may decide to remove them if they’re not useful.
• I also included photos of just the flags when the newts were missing. Don’t know if @merav wants to keep these.

Weather: Heavy rain all night and morning (1.65 inches on 1/27; 2.6 inches on 1/28!!!) Also, there were strong winds & flowing water on the road. Roaring water is now flowing through the culvert at Limekiln Canyon.

Traffic: I was overwhelmed with the above difficulties, so I didn't accurately count vehicles, but I'd guess there were about 20 pickups & road maintenance trucks. They had the road scrapers out this morning to clear fallen rocks in several places and probably scraped many of our newts away. Many of the trucks were travelling fast – I had a few close calls. Only a handful of cars. There were also 3 runners and one bicyclist.

Notes for next time:
o Pre-label flags so it doesn't have to be done on the road, which is a problem when it’s raining. Things get confusing very fast if we can't label as planned.
o I wasn’t aware that when there are multiple newts at a location, we were supposed to create a separate iNat observation for each one. For example, if Flag #15 has 2 newts, there should be 2 iNat observations; one for each newt.
o As the newts accumulate on the road, it takes much longer to do the work. The two hour difference between Round 1 (7am) and Round 2 (9am) is probably not enough time.
o I wasn’t clear about when to remove the flags. Sometimes when newts went missing, the flags were removed. Sometimes an “X” was written on the flag and the flag was left in place.
o With the heavy rain & wind, there was a lot of detritus on the road (leaves, crushed bay nuts, rocks) that made it tricky & more time-consuming to spot the newts.
o With this heavy rain, there were lots of newts on the road. Sometimes there were so many in one spot, it was hard to match the right flag with the right newt, especially if there wasn’t a convenient place to sink the flag due to rocks, steep dropoff, etc. (Does that newt slime come from several feet down the road? Does it belong to this newt or a new one?)
o When it’s dark out, such as during the storm this morning, it takes the camera longer to focus so you have to be out on the road longer than usual. I had a couple close calls.
o The longer the study continues, the more complex it becomes. You have to find all the old newts, pull the flag (match it to the right newt), photograph them, and then put the flag back. You also have to find all the new newts, create a new flag, and photograph them. You also have to be aware of any missing newts so they can be documented. This might be easier to do as a team. For myself alone out there, I was very overwhelmed (maybe I’m just a confused old woman – Merav probably could’ve figured out a way to do this successfully).

P.S. My camera and cellphone have made a complete recovery, thank goodness!

Posted on January 29, 2021 01:53 AM by truthseqr