fieldnotes's Favorites

Thought it was a shovel nosed but my friend thinks that it could be a variable ground snake. Found on the 18 headed to the desert from big bear in the western most edge of their range. Someone else I know who is more knowledgeable on the matter confirmed it is a ground snake. Looking for further insight on the matter. Found at almost exactly 5,000 feet elevation and did have complete bands that went around the belly

“96 degrees” on my vehicle’s temperature gauge, at 8:37pm. (Approx 4,000 feet elevation) Felt cooler than that. I think my temp gauge was off. I have seen 3 variable groundsnakes in this area now, 2 this week and 1 last summer. All were different colors. The first one was black and orange banded with some white, the second was white and striped with orange, and now this one, white with orange bands. Really awesome! Hence the name “variable” haha.

91 degrees at 8:50pm. It was less than 12 inches long, maybe 6 or 8 inches long, it was very skinny. It had a black head and silver body and obviously by the pictures, moved super fast. This was was tiny and skinny around. Like pencil sized.

While working for California State Parks I made this observation above Hidden Lake and submitted my finding to Gary Nafis Calherps. First documentation of this species in the Hidden Divide Natural Preserve. Documented at 8'740. This individual and one other were seen within a long crevice over a period of a week in late October early November.Possible elevation record for species. Look at photos to see seasonal extremes.

This observation is for the snake. The observation of the hawk and description of the hunt can be found here (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65537385). It has been mostly sunny and warm recently, which would explain why this snake was out in the first place.

I am adding a few more pictures. One of them has two that look the same to me and another that one looks different. Also I can not Figure out how to reply to a comment so I am sorry if you have asked questions I just do not know how to reply.

Western Zebra-tailed Lizard (Callisaurus draconoides rhodostictus) - I didn't know they lived in the Santa Ana Wash. It is near the westernmost area of their range. They are usually found in the desert, but are also found in the washes on the coast side of the mountains in the San Jacinto Wash, Cajon Wash, and Santa Ana River.

The second Speckled Rattlesnake we had encountered in the late afternoon. Our class stumbled upon it while we had been searching the then flowing stream for signs of any amphibians. Some of my classmates decided to climb over the boulders that supported the embankment of the nearby trail, to reach the pools on the other side, when the rattlesnake alerted us to its presence. No harm came to either the rattlesnake, no to the classmates that panicked at the sound of the rattle, such as the girl that screamed and jumped off of the boulders in front of me.

Leatherback sea turtle observed by professional marine naturalist Isadore (Izzy) Szczepaniak to Leatherback Watch Program manager Dr. Chris Pincetich. Sighting was 9/8/2013 and sighting shared 9/13/2013

My friend saw a tortoise in this area over summer (June, July or August, I forget) the day after a thunderstorm, when the tortoise was out and cruising around. So this could be the same one. Today I just finished a hike and saw some large holes over by this hilly section so I went over to look in all of the holes. The first three I didn’t see anything, so I was expecting to keep seeing nothing and I look in this burrow (no flashlight needed) and I see this tortoise!!!!!! I was shocked!!! It was so cute. In the first photos it was still kinda in the burrow and then it took a couple steps out and sat there the rest of the time. Gosh I just feel so lucky. They are my favorite animal besides bighorn sheep. The temperature was 78 when I started hiking around 3pm and then when I saw the tortoise at 5:42pm, I was back to my car around 6pm and it was 72 degrees out. I’m so happy to have seen it! Update on 10/30/21 - I told my friends about the tortoise and they found it’s burrow today (10/30/21) and the tortoise!

"It's about 2.5 inches SVL with a 3 inch long tail. It, along with some babies (her words) hang out in the flower bed in front of my mom's shop, and when she waters, they come out." - Jennifer McKenzie

Jennifer McKenzie's mom observed and photographed this Moorish Wall Gecko, and then sent the photo to Jennifer. Jennifer then sent the photo and observation to rascals@nhm.org.

My second encounter with an axanthic morph (lacking of any red/yellow pigmentation). This snake could easily be mistaken for the very similar L. getula, but when taking a closer look you will notice the black face/black nostril of this snake, something unique to L. zonata, whereas L. getula has a white face/white nostril. Spotted this snake not even 5ft off trail. Made for quite the easy handle, after only a few seconds of trying to slither away the snake got quite relaxed, laying still for minutes, allowing me to handle it for about 15 minutes in total before putting it back onto the granite boulder in which it was found. I’d say this was quite the healthy adult. About 2 1/2 to 3 ft in length, and seeming to have recently shed (the dorsal and ventral scales of the snake glistened dramatically in direct sunlight). So blessed to have come across yet another one of these more uncommon morphs for the species here in the Sierra.

This turtle was found dead on the beach of Montaña de Oro, partially eaten by vultures. The Fish and Wildlife biologist was kind enough to show my group what he recovered. He wasn't exactly clear on the specific species since he is a Sea Otter specialist.