2017 April 14--More Exploration of Umpqua Community College (UCC) Property

1445-1700. After my exploration attempts were cut short this morning, I came back to UCC to check cover boards and explore a little bit. The coverboards yielded a couple Western Skinks in the grassy oak and chaparral areas. I also photographed quite a few flowers and plants.

The most exciting find of the day was a young Foothill Yellow-legged Frog. It was perched on a small dead branch along a very small (12 inch wide) seasonal stream and hopped down into the stream as I hopped over it. Without this movement of the small frog I never would have noticed it. This species has declined over much of its range and there is great concern over its status (see this Conservation Assessment, and this Status Review). Populations in the Umpqua Basin seem to be doing better than most, but are still declining. There is some evidence that tadpoles of this species may be vulnerable to predation by Smallmouth Bass, as they do not recognize this non-native predator (see Paoletti et al. 2011) I'm interested to know more about this species here near UCC.

Also interesting was an Ensatina found under some small chunks of oak branch in a purely Oak hillside. I've read that they occur in such places, but I hadn't seen them in oak woodlands before. I continue to find Western Red-backed Salamanders in the forested talus area NE of campus.

Posted on Μάιος 07, 2017 0426 ΠΜ by umpquamatt