|
Locations
Dates
Weather
Species Summary 
|
I left Ventura at about 10:30AM for Randsburg/Trona Road. My first stop was at Jawbone to flip through junk at an abandoned house. It was probably to hot to flip and an unidentified Sceloporous and a couple Side-blotched Lizards were the only herps. I got back on the road to Randsburg.
Randsburg Road Next stop was north of Randsburg a few miles to scout out some lava outcroppings but turned up only a few Side-blotched Lizards. Next I found a great area on south of Trona with lots of rock and dunes.
Nice habitat on the way to Trona It was slow at first but then the lizard action picked up with some extremely fast, light-colored lizards which may have been Mojave Fringe-toed, if they range this far north. Finally got a good look at one which had a banded tail (uncontrasty), speckled pattern, plain face and a hint of "belly bars". Can't remember if the legs were barred. Then found a Tiger Whiptail. After that finally got within photo distance of a lizard which is apparently a female type Zebratail without any "belly bars".
Zebra-tailed Lizard Finished up my hike with a "for sure" Zebratail, male type with speckling an no blotches. I continued on to Darwin Falls and arrived late afternoon to hike the wash with nothing worth mentioning. I then proceeded to end of road and met up with field-tripping members of Southwestern Herp Society. They were coming back from the falls where the claimed Chuckwallas, Lesser Earless???, Leopard Lizard??? etc. along with Red-spotted Toad and Western Spadefoot Toad. Pressed them gently for info about their night-driving plans and they indicated that they might find Rosy Boas etc. but they were tight-lipped about where they were going. While we were talking a Rufuous Hummingbird landed on my tailgate to inspect a bright sandwhich wrapper. As they left I hiked toward the Falls planning on returning in the dark. Nothing much on the hike up but did flush a Burrowing Owl. In the marshy stream near the falls I found lots of California Toads but didn't hear or see anything which could've been a spadefoot. I searched carefully by headlamp on my return but failed to see anything at all.
California Toad Since I didn't have any better ideas about where to cruise I decided to try HWY 190 on my way to spend the night at Owen's Lake. Conditions seemed pretty good, no wind, cool but not cold, and no moon. The first pass all the way to Owen's lake produced three snakes. The first was a neonate Panament Rattlesnake east of the Darwin turnoff.
Neonate Panamint Rattlesnake I detoured onto Darwin Road with nothing then had a Sidewinder after getting back on HWY 190.
Sidewinder Then lastly a beautiful yearling Great Basin Gophersnake which I captured and photgraphed the next morning at Fossil Falls.
Yearling Great Basin Gophersnake After reaching Owens Lake I went back to just inside Death Valley NP and retried the route with nothing more. NOTE: The snakes were found between approximately 8:30PM to 10:00PM. The two rattlesnakes were very sluggish and did not even strike. The gophersnake was more active. The night air temps where somewhat chilly ...probably low 60s, high 50s and cooling fast. I Woke up at Owen's Lake to a beautiful sunrise and a Great Horned Owl calling.
Whitney sunrise at Owen's Lake
A closer view of the tallest peak in the lower 48 states After stowing my sleeping gear I went into Lone Pine for coffee then headed back to the east side of Owen's Lake to search the dunes for tracks. I Persisted for about an hour before swarms of no-seeums drove me out. (suffered over 25 bites). I left the area to arrive at Little Lake and Fossil Falls on the way home. I used the nice pumice stone substrate to photograph the gophersnake I had caught the night before then hiked Fossil Falls for about two hours. Aside from lots of Side-blotched, I found three Chuckwallas. The first was near the trailhead and was a sub-adult size lizard which would hide in a crack on approach but then come back out to sun. I was finally able to get in close for some nice pics.
A young Chuckwalla The next was a huge adult seen basking on a flat rock. It was extremely wary and hid on my approach. I postioned myself with anticipation of its re-exposure and waited over 15 minutes but it only peered from its crack and would have none of it. Lastly I saw another whopper Chuckwalla which miraculously permitted me to stalk painstakingly to get some nice shots. These lizards seem as if born of the very stone they make their home. This one provided a nice cap-off for a great trip!
A larger Chuckwalla as first discovered
After stalking for a better look |
