Let's stay down south, but go back to a campus.
In late May, CTC met up on JK's turf down on the Farm. The plan was for a birding excursion at Lake Lagunita: in the weeks previous stunningly full from a year of plenty, but at this time returning to more of a vernal pool state.
The day was blustery and there really wasn't much action as we walked the first half of the loop. A pair of Hooded Orioles -- the day's winged highlight -- had just scattered off into the foliage when JK somehow scoped:
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| Anaxyrus boreas halophilus |
A Western, or California Toad! While one of the more common amphibian species in our state, either of us had not come across one in a while -- and pretty neat to find as a toadlet.
So after trying to photograph the hell out this poor jittery youngster, we continued down the trail, coming upon where the diversion from San Francisquito Creek feeds into the lake.
It was there where the thousands of our previous friend's brothers and sisters revealed themselves in a an almost hallucinatory manner. Each step we placed down on the earth, toads took to the air. Inside every burrow, hole and divot, their horizontal pupils were watching. In undulating waves, floating down the stream like Huck & Jim.
By now the sharp wind had calmed to a light whisper and we moved on, leaving the toads to continue their journey...
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| toad motherload location |
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| this was one many being carried down the stream |
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| the light stripe down the back is a key ID mark |
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| flooded burrows were another common hangout |
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| getting in close |
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