Amphibians of Oregon's Coast Range

Dedicated exclusively to field herping.

Moderator: Scott Waters

Post Reply
User avatar
jonathan
Posts: 3689
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 8:39 am
Contact:

Amphibians of Oregon's Coast Range

Post by jonathan »

I may be the only person on this entire forum who says that "Oregon's Coast Range" is his favorite place to herp in the state. Of course, the salamanders are the big attraction, and salamanders happen to be my favorite herp to hunt for. Here is a little tour of a few of the scaleless herp habitats of the coast.


When I was 12 year old, this spot in my hometown was my favorite spot to herp in the world:

Image




Because within this one little spot, here's what I could find:

Oregon Ensatina

Image

Image



Western Redback Salamander (all the colors!)

Image

Image

Image

Image



Western Long-toed Salamander

Image



(That spot also had Rough-skinned Newts, Dunn's Salamanders, Northern Pacific Chorus Frogs, American Bullfrogs, and Red-spotted Garter Snakes.)




More recently, this fantastic waterfall in a very unexpected spot in Clatsop County:

Image


Produced a Western Redback Salamander

Image



Dunn's Salamander

Image



And my lifer Columbia Torrent Salamander!

Image




Deep into the Coast range in Clatsop county, I bushwacked through difficult terrain into this tiny stream:

Image



Looked under this big overhanging log:

Image



And found the best little stream-pool of my life:

Image



What did you find in that picture? If you look very very carefully, you might be able to see a 5.5" long neotenic Cope's Giant Salamander:

Image



A 4" long larval giant and a 1.5" larval giant, both possibly also Cope's:

Image



And a Western Tailed Frog!

Image



I may be wrong, but something that looked like a 4" larval Coastal Giant was very close by in the same stream:

Image



Cope's Giants are my absolute favorite salamander to hunt in the Coast Range. Not described until 1970, they weren't even contained in the first field guide I owned. But once I knew about them, I went to a lot of trouble to track them down. The fact that they're often found near Coastal Giants, Columbia Torrents, and Tailed Frogs doesn't hurt.

The big difference in habitat between Cope's and Coastals is that Cope's like the still water in streams...which means that the stream has to be that much cooler and faster to provide the oxygen they need. As a result, Cope's aren't found nearly as far south as Coastal Giants, and tend to only be found in real mountain ranges.



While trying to get the first database records for Yamhill County, I ran into this lovely stream in Yamhill County:

Image


Which not only had migrating salmon:

Image



But also produced this half-submerged Coastal Giant Salamander larvae under a rock:

Image




In this gorgeous creekbed way down in Curry County:

Image



I ran into breeding newts:

Image



Sunning Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs

Image



And (just a little bit away) a Northern Pacific Chorus Frog

Image




Hiding in a Columbia County basement during the winter:

Image



Northwestern Salamander:

Image




Under the bark of a Del Norte County redwood:

Image



Clouded Salamander

Image




In deeper Del Norte County forest:

Image



Painted Ensatina

Image



And Califronia Slender Salamander

Image




Sitting in a Douglas County waterfall

Image



Southern Torrent Salamander

Image




Under a rock in a Curry County seep:

Image



Del Norte Salamander

Image



And in a pretty stream in Columbia County

Image



Northern Red-legged Frog

Image



Thanks for taking a look.
User avatar
M Wolverton
Posts: 417
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 2:46 pm
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Amphibians of Oregon's Coast Range

Post by M Wolverton »

Great post!
Richard F. Hoyer
Posts: 639
Joined: June 7th, 2010, 1:14 pm

Re: Amphibians of Oregon's Coast Range

Post by Richard F. Hoyer »

I second the motion. Very noce post Jonathan!
User avatar
JAMAUGHN
Posts: 1131
Joined: May 15th, 2011, 12:16 am
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Contact:

Re: Amphibians of Oregon's Coast Range

Post by JAMAUGHN »

Loved this post. Thank you!

JimM
kwheelz
Posts: 9
Joined: August 16th, 2012, 6:32 pm

Re: Amphibians of Oregon's Coast Range

Post by kwheelz »

Very nice photo story! Thank you.
Post Reply