I haven't posted much recently, so I figured I'd make up for it in one fell swoop.
After abundant winter rains, plenty of plant growth covered the board fields of Carlsbad by early March. Here's a classic...
And hiding under it are a couple unlikely roommates...
Southern Pacific rattlers were everywhere in Carlsbad - you didn't even have to flip the tins!
Smashing my all-time record for the number of snakes under a single piece of cover was this crotalid collection
Next stop in mid-march was rock-flipping for rosys in Riverside. Again, the rain's effects were evident
I'd seen only two black-headed snakes in my herping career, until a flip of a single rock yielded two more. Here's one of them
A few red diamond rattlers were lounging about, much more docile than their helleri counterparts on the coast
Granite spiny lizards were everywhere, but hard to photograph, with the exception of this willing subject
A beautiful female of the target species was found under a rock just a couple feet from the black-headed snakes
Back under her rock she goes
The snow in the San Bernadino mountains makes a beautiful herping backdrop
Yet another friendly red diamond...
A male boa was found to complement the female
And was released to his original rock home
With the arrival of April, it was time to head to the mountains. The scenary was verdant as the mountains loomed in the distance
First up was a large-blotched salamander
Next, a juvenile zonata
This striped racer sat remarkably still was his picture was taken. He finally sped off, and when I flipped the rock he was partly under, another racer was found hiding. It was almost as if he was guarding the entrance.
Here's a gallery of the other zonata from this year
As spring stretched into May, it was time for night-driving in the desert. Again, the flowers were fantastic
Here's a fine example of a shovel-nose snake, with lots of red
The red diamonds maintain their pleasant disposition into the desert
Apparently 2005 was the year of black-headed snakes - this was only the second I've ever seen in the desert
Nothing like a rosy to top off the evening
The socal summer herp doldrums had arrived, when fishing becomes the outdoor recreation of choice. Eventually October rolled around, and a trip to the high desert was in order. Flowers are still blooming!
This little desert spiny lizard consented to being photographed prior to his release
And as my wife said, "Uta better run, Uta better hide!"
As luck would have it, the best critter of the year was the last. I've only seen a handful of these in the wild, which is a privilege that sadly may not be available to future generations. What a magnificent animal!
2005 was a pretty good year, wouldn't you say? PS - no animals were collected, harmed, vexed, or bullyragged during the filming of this production!
