Little River, OR. April 16, 2017. Today I did some exploring to find some locations to take my Wildlife Sampling Methods class for some hands-on experience.
A BLM Forest Road
1120-1200. My first stop was at the end of BLM Road 27-3-11.1. The very end of the road had been bermed off, decommissioned, and restored to promote return of the native habitat. At the end of the driveable portion of this road were a few pieces of cut wood and some rocks. These proved productive for salamanders, 2 Dunn’s Salamanders and 1 Clouded Salamander (note square-tipped toes and long outer toe, vs short outer toe on Dunn’s and other Plethodon). There was also a nice set of wildflowers nearby, which I willingly photographed. My favorite is this one of three different colors of Pacific Trillium. There was also a “weird” black plastic/tar/rubber looking fungus.
An Old Rock Quarry Pond
1230-1315. I noticed a small pond in an small old rock quarry right next to the road. I explored a bit, thinking it was probably county-owned. I later looked into it and found it was private property, and obtained permission from the owner to explore again later. The pond is roughly 20 m x 10 m, with a max depth of about 1 m when I visited on this day. I suspect it reduces in size dramatically over the summer, and may even dry up altogether. Perhaps I’ll find out.
I grabbed my net and took a few swipes on the rocky/muddy bottom in 10-20 cm deep water. I obtained a couple eggs/embryos that I believe were Rough-skinned Newt, as well as some aquatic insects and some type of … spherical algae??? While doing this sampling I noticed a few adult newts in the pond. Some blackberries made it difficult to circumnavigate the pond, but I made it. A couple swipes in a small inlet and in some emergent grasses produced a very small Pacific Tree Frog tadpole and a couple of aquatic snails.
Poking around the rocks produced a couple hiding Pacific Tree Frogs, a very cold and lethargic juvenile Western Fence Lizard, and some type of larval lepidopteran.
Wolf Creek Trail
1320-1550. I had not ever been up this trail and decided to check it out. The trail is wide and well-groomed, though muddy in places. The creek as well as the forest are absolutely beautiful. Most of this area is what people call “old-growth” forest, with scattered very large trees and very large dead trees (snags) and down logs. There were abundant wildflowers, shrubs, a few salamanders, snails, and other invertebrates. I was surprised to find a Canyon Live Oak here.
Many more observations and photos here.
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Love your Dunns Salamander: I came across one today shroom hunting in the mtns above the Winco River.
Beauty website of exploration 😉