Many people have been wanting to see the photos and finds from the national meeting so here it is.
My Dad and I arrived on Friday just past noon. Owen and I took a stroll around the camp site where we found a gilbert's skink, a striped racer, and a horned lizard. I didn't get good shots of the skink and racer but I got this shot of the horned lizard.
Coast Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
032 by robertohess, on Flickr
On Friday night Jeff Nordland made a wonderful barbeque and Robert Fisher and Laura Patterson gave a talk. On Saturday everyone went to a preserve that hadn't been herped since the 1930's. I know others found other herps, but my highlight from the preserve was this horned lizard that Laura found.
Coast Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
015 by robertohess, on Flickr
Later that evening we stopped by a rocky spot in Imperial County where I found a gilbert's skink and T.J spotted a shovel-nosed snake crawling around in the rocks.
Western Red-tailed Skink (Plestiodon gilberti rubricaudatus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake (Chionactis occipitalis annulata) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake (Chionactis occipitalis annulata) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake (Chionactis occipitalis annulata) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
037 by robertohess, on Flickr
After that everyone split up to go road cruising in the Colorado Desert. Jonathan, Jeremy, Jeremy's dad, my dad, and I went together and found 2 sidewinders a shovelnose and a leafnose all at one stop.
Colorado Desert Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes laterorepens) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Colorado Desert Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes laterorepens) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Spotted Leaf-nosed Snake (Phyllorhynchus decurtatus) And Colorado Desert Shovel-nosed Snake (Chionactis occipitalis annulata) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Spotted Leaf-nosed Snake (Phyllorhynchus decurtatus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Some of us met up again to go looking for leaf-toed geckos in a canyon, where we found many geckos, a leaf-nosed snake and a beautiful speck.
Desert Banded Gecko (Coleonyx variegatus variegatus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Peninsula Leaf-toed Gecko (Phyllodactylus nocticolus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Peninsula Leaf-toed Gecko (Phyllodactylus nocticolus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Spotted Leaf-nosed Snake (Phyllorhynchus decurtatus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
On Sunday morning Owen found this speckled rattlesnake, and I saw some nice banded rock lizards.
Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Mearns Rock Lizard (Petrosaurus mearnsi mearnsi) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
Mearns Rock Lizard (Petrosaurus mearnsi mearnsi) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
In the afternoon, I found this black-tailed brush lizard in a desert canyon:
Black-tailed Brush Lizard (Urosaurus nigricaudus) by NicholasHess, on Flickr
My dad found this desert horned lizard walking a dirt road in the same canyon:
065 by robertohess, on Flickr
We also saw many desert iguanas there:
058 by robertohess, on Flickr
That's my new friend Jeremy from the Bay Area. He is the only one my age I know who is as crazy about herps as I am.
073 by robertohess, on Flickr
067 by robertohess, on Flickr
That's basically what I saw, but I want to see what others found.
Nicholas
NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Moderator: Scott Waters
-
- Posts: 8025
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:12 am
- Location: Hesperia, California.
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post.
That pic of the Shovel with his mouth open may be the coolest shovel shot I've ever seen...
While I hesitate to deprive the Forum (dare I say the World) of my astonishingly awesome photographic skills... the truth of the matter is, this year's incomprehensible bad luck continued throughout the meet, and I failed to find a single snake, and got only perhaps one Western Fence Swift vouchered, that no one else saw...
But boy howdy, it was fun... jim
While I hesitate to deprive the Forum (dare I say the World) of my astonishingly awesome photographic skills... the truth of the matter is, this year's incomprehensible bad luck continued throughout the meet, and I failed to find a single snake, and got only perhaps one Western Fence Swift vouchered, that no one else saw...
But boy howdy, it was fun... jim
- Kent VanSooy
- Posts: 1100
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 7:51 am
- Location: Oceanside
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Here's a repost of my pics, as it looks like we need a dedicated picture post. We had a good-sized group...
We were privileged to be hosted in the morning by Dr. Fisher from the USGS, and he took us to a recently-acquired parcel that was last herped by the late Lawrence Klauber. It was a beautiful area.
Laura Patterson from the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife was the first to find something really cool - a coastal horned lizard.
The others looked in the rocks and found a couple things, but I won't steal their thunder.
A second area in the parcel produced a couple Hammond's garter snakes.
The last area was good for a look back into time at what SoCal was like 100 years ago.
On my way home I spotted a couple additional serpents, first a striped whipsnake...
Followed by a truly attractive Southern Pacific rattlesnake.
A BIG THANKS to Fundad to organizing a wonderful event. Jeff Nordland put in a huge effort as well. And here's what it feels like to be the group leader!
We were privileged to be hosted in the morning by Dr. Fisher from the USGS, and he took us to a recently-acquired parcel that was last herped by the late Lawrence Klauber. It was a beautiful area.
Laura Patterson from the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife was the first to find something really cool - a coastal horned lizard.
The others looked in the rocks and found a couple things, but I won't steal their thunder.
A second area in the parcel produced a couple Hammond's garter snakes.
The last area was good for a look back into time at what SoCal was like 100 years ago.
On my way home I spotted a couple additional serpents, first a striped whipsnake...
Followed by a truly attractive Southern Pacific rattlesnake.
A BIG THANKS to Fundad to organizing a wonderful event. Jeff Nordland put in a huge effort as well. And here's what it feels like to be the group leader!
- Fieldnotes
- Posts: 1474
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:12 pm
- Location: Anaheim, California
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Very cool! Sorry I missed out, looks like it was a blast. The Banded Rock lizard shot and, frankly, all the photos are amazing (as usual).
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Great pictures Nicholas!
Just to emphasize the ridiculousness...when Jeff Lemm and Matty stopped there while we were taking pics they found a THIRD sidewinder in-between the other two. So that was five snakes in one stop!RobertH wrote:After that everyone split up to go road cruising in the Colorado Desert. Jonathan, Jeremy, Jeremy's dad, my dad, and I went together and found 2 sidewinders a shovelnose and a leafnose all at one stop.
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
I'll add a full summary and a few crappy pictures.
Friday:
Some rock hunting and road cruising the night before most people got there, by Brian Hinds and a couple other dedicated early arrivers. I think rosy boa, helleri, speck, shovelnose, longnose, ringneck, red coachwhip, long-tailed brush lizard, western skink and others were found.
The camping area had some great habitat behind it, and Nicolas and Owen were the ones who best took advantage of it. Owen found a helleri back there, and Nicolas saw the horned lizard, gilbert's skink, and striped racer that he mentioned. I also found a striped racer, and there were lots of granite spinys, fence lizards, utas, and tiger whiptails all over the property. Nicholas found a dead gopher snake (probably human-killed) there the last day as well.
Birds were common too, with owls calling all night and turkeys, woodpeckers, jays, bluebirds, nuthatches, etc. in the daytime.
That night Jeff Nordland threw a great barbecue and Dr. Robert Fisher of the USGS gave a talk about his life journey as a herpetologist, the value of data in land use decisions, data gaps in southern California, and his research with Fiji's iguanas (five new species being described right now!). Laura Patterson with California Fish and Game talked about the need and possibilities for greater collaboration between field herpers and wildlife management agencies, including the possibility of relaxing laws for the purpose of data collection.
Saturday:
The next morning Dr. Fisher took a big group of us out to a new parcel that hadn't been herped since Klauber, as Kent mentioned. I herped with Jeff Nordland and his kids, who found a two-striped garter, gopher snake, chorus frogs, and lots of lizards. Helleri, night snake, rosy boa, ringneck snake, striped racer, western toad, and that horned lizard were also found, along with some "maybe" glimpses of potential Cope's Leopard Lizards.
In the late afternoon we headed down to the desert transition zone in Imperial County. Banded Rock Lizards and Gilbert Spinys were all over. Right away TJ got that shovelnose at its western range boundary and Nicholas got a gilbert's skink at its eastern boundary...how often do you see shovelnose snakes and gilbert's skinks out and about side-by-side in the same habitat?
Owen found a granite night lizard, and I got to show Jeremy, Nicholas's new friend from San Fran, what I believe may have been his first chuckwalla:
Soon Fundad and John Lauermann and the other guys drove up and immediately pointed out a rosy boa that we were walking right towards. A desert glossy eventually appeared too, and then we all headed towards the low desert for some road cruising.
Nicholas and I already mentioned the crazy five-snake stop, something that I don't think will ever happen to me again as long as I field herp.
Lots more banded geckos, shovelnose, leafnose, sidewinders were also seen by various cruisers, along with a longnose, DOR desert/coastal integrade patchnose and a ruber. Glossys and gophers were strangely absent from the desert cruising, perhaps due to the epic drought.
Jeff Nordland then took us up to a canyon known for leaf-toed geckos. Like Nicholas said, not only was it a beautiful, rocky canyon with geckos hanging out everywhere (10-12 leaf-toed geckos and 2 banded geckos found by the group), but we also walked a pretty speckled rattlesnake, shovelnose snake, leafnose snake, and a sleeping chuckwalla all in that same short section of canyon. Climbing up and down the canyon walls and watching the kids find their own beautiful geckos all over the place was a trip.
Sunday:
In the morning Fundad, Jim, Jeff Lemm and Matty, Matt Gruen, Laura Patterson, and I kicked around the rocks to the west of the campsite, trying to get as much data as possible from a previously poorly-vouchered area. At the first locale just a couple ridges over from camp, Jeff Lemm found a helleri and I found this cryptic speck. In one of those "should have been more careful" scenarios, I spotted the speck's body in the crack with my flashlight before I realized where his head was.
After that we didn't have much luck...it was dry and slow. Jeff did see a bobcat that Matt had flushed, and Fundad and I flipped a gopher snake from under this boat:
Meanwhile, John Lauermann and some guys led the kids on a lizard-noosing contest, won by Chris's daughter, the only girl there! Owen also found that speck Nicholas showed you. Jeff Nordland followed that up by taking the group on a desert lizarding expedition, which I believe resulted in lots of zebratails, whiptails, banded rock lizards, chucks, desert iguanas, desert horned lizards, and a few longnose leopard lizards and blacktail brush lizards.
After a little closing, that was pretty much it, though I'm waiting for some of the late leavers to tell us about the Baja Coachwhip or Atrox or some other great herp they got on the way out after I left.
I had a fantastic time, with a good diversity of species, some special moments on the rocks, the road, and in the canyon, and most of all some wonderful camaraderie with a lot of really cool herpers.
AFAIK, here's the species list from the trip:
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
Speckled Rattlesnake
Colorado Desert Sidewinder
San Diego Gopher Snake
San Diego Ringneck Snake
Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake
California Kingsnake
Longnose Snake
California Glossy Snake
Desert Glossy Snake
Leafnose Snake
Baja Coachwhip
Red Coachwhip
Striped Racer
Desert Patchnose Snake
Two-striped Garter Snake
Rosy Boa
Western Skink
Gilbert's Skink
Desert Banded Gecko
Leaf-toed Gecko
Granite Night Lizard
Western Fence Lizard
Granite Spiny Lizard
Side-blotched Lizard
Banded Rock Lizard
Zebratail Lizard
Longnose Leopard Lizard
Chuckwalla
Desert Iguana
Long-tailed Brush Lizard
Black-tailed Brush Lizard
Desert Horned Lizard
Coast Horned Lizard
Coastal Whiptail
Great Basin Whiptail
Western Toad
Baja California Chorus Frog
Friday:
Some rock hunting and road cruising the night before most people got there, by Brian Hinds and a couple other dedicated early arrivers. I think rosy boa, helleri, speck, shovelnose, longnose, ringneck, red coachwhip, long-tailed brush lizard, western skink and others were found.
The camping area had some great habitat behind it, and Nicolas and Owen were the ones who best took advantage of it. Owen found a helleri back there, and Nicolas saw the horned lizard, gilbert's skink, and striped racer that he mentioned. I also found a striped racer, and there were lots of granite spinys, fence lizards, utas, and tiger whiptails all over the property. Nicholas found a dead gopher snake (probably human-killed) there the last day as well.
Birds were common too, with owls calling all night and turkeys, woodpeckers, jays, bluebirds, nuthatches, etc. in the daytime.
That night Jeff Nordland threw a great barbecue and Dr. Robert Fisher of the USGS gave a talk about his life journey as a herpetologist, the value of data in land use decisions, data gaps in southern California, and his research with Fiji's iguanas (five new species being described right now!). Laura Patterson with California Fish and Game talked about the need and possibilities for greater collaboration between field herpers and wildlife management agencies, including the possibility of relaxing laws for the purpose of data collection.
Saturday:
The next morning Dr. Fisher took a big group of us out to a new parcel that hadn't been herped since Klauber, as Kent mentioned. I herped with Jeff Nordland and his kids, who found a two-striped garter, gopher snake, chorus frogs, and lots of lizards. Helleri, night snake, rosy boa, ringneck snake, striped racer, western toad, and that horned lizard were also found, along with some "maybe" glimpses of potential Cope's Leopard Lizards.
In the late afternoon we headed down to the desert transition zone in Imperial County. Banded Rock Lizards and Gilbert Spinys were all over. Right away TJ got that shovelnose at its western range boundary and Nicholas got a gilbert's skink at its eastern boundary...how often do you see shovelnose snakes and gilbert's skinks out and about side-by-side in the same habitat?
Owen found a granite night lizard, and I got to show Jeremy, Nicholas's new friend from San Fran, what I believe may have been his first chuckwalla:
Soon Fundad and John Lauermann and the other guys drove up and immediately pointed out a rosy boa that we were walking right towards. A desert glossy eventually appeared too, and then we all headed towards the low desert for some road cruising.
Nicholas and I already mentioned the crazy five-snake stop, something that I don't think will ever happen to me again as long as I field herp.
Lots more banded geckos, shovelnose, leafnose, sidewinders were also seen by various cruisers, along with a longnose, DOR desert/coastal integrade patchnose and a ruber. Glossys and gophers were strangely absent from the desert cruising, perhaps due to the epic drought.
Jeff Nordland then took us up to a canyon known for leaf-toed geckos. Like Nicholas said, not only was it a beautiful, rocky canyon with geckos hanging out everywhere (10-12 leaf-toed geckos and 2 banded geckos found by the group), but we also walked a pretty speckled rattlesnake, shovelnose snake, leafnose snake, and a sleeping chuckwalla all in that same short section of canyon. Climbing up and down the canyon walls and watching the kids find their own beautiful geckos all over the place was a trip.
Sunday:
In the morning Fundad, Jim, Jeff Lemm and Matty, Matt Gruen, Laura Patterson, and I kicked around the rocks to the west of the campsite, trying to get as much data as possible from a previously poorly-vouchered area. At the first locale just a couple ridges over from camp, Jeff Lemm found a helleri and I found this cryptic speck. In one of those "should have been more careful" scenarios, I spotted the speck's body in the crack with my flashlight before I realized where his head was.
After that we didn't have much luck...it was dry and slow. Jeff did see a bobcat that Matt had flushed, and Fundad and I flipped a gopher snake from under this boat:
Meanwhile, John Lauermann and some guys led the kids on a lizard-noosing contest, won by Chris's daughter, the only girl there! Owen also found that speck Nicholas showed you. Jeff Nordland followed that up by taking the group on a desert lizarding expedition, which I believe resulted in lots of zebratails, whiptails, banded rock lizards, chucks, desert iguanas, desert horned lizards, and a few longnose leopard lizards and blacktail brush lizards.
After a little closing, that was pretty much it, though I'm waiting for some of the late leavers to tell us about the Baja Coachwhip or Atrox or some other great herp they got on the way out after I left.
I had a fantastic time, with a good diversity of species, some special moments on the rocks, the road, and in the canyon, and most of all some wonderful camaraderie with a lot of really cool herpers.
AFAIK, here's the species list from the trip:
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
Speckled Rattlesnake
Colorado Desert Sidewinder
San Diego Gopher Snake
San Diego Ringneck Snake
Colorado Desert Shovelnose Snake
California Kingsnake
Longnose Snake
California Glossy Snake
Desert Glossy Snake
Leafnose Snake
Baja Coachwhip
Red Coachwhip
Striped Racer
Desert Patchnose Snake
Two-striped Garter Snake
Rosy Boa
Western Skink
Gilbert's Skink
Desert Banded Gecko
Leaf-toed Gecko
Granite Night Lizard
Western Fence Lizard
Granite Spiny Lizard
Side-blotched Lizard
Banded Rock Lizard
Zebratail Lizard
Longnose Leopard Lizard
Chuckwalla
Desert Iguana
Long-tailed Brush Lizard
Black-tailed Brush Lizard
Desert Horned Lizard
Coast Horned Lizard
Coastal Whiptail
Great Basin Whiptail
Western Toad
Baja California Chorus Frog
-
- Posts: 8025
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:12 am
- Location: Hesperia, California.
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
you have Sunday morning listed as Sat. morn Jonathan... and left me out... not that I got even one shot. we went separate ways bout 5 min before you found the speck... Almost got to see a black tailed Brush, that Matty spotted bout ten ft away from me... but gone when i got there. TJ, on his first ever field trip, spotted 3 snakes, including a Baja coach, again bout ten ft away from where i was... it vanished into a Yucca by the time i got there...
I even walked a canyon on the way home in the Cajon where i KNOW there are rosys (but never one documented)... conditions were IDEAL... saw a SB and a fence... and didn't manage a pic of either...
oh well... still grinning, albeit a rather bemused grin...
I even walked a canyon on the way home in the Cajon where i KNOW there are rosys (but never one documented)... conditions were IDEAL... saw a SB and a fence... and didn't manage a pic of either...
oh well... still grinning, albeit a rather bemused grin...
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Dang it, sorry Jim!hellihooks wrote:you have Sunday morning listed as Sat. morn Jonathan... and left me out... not that I got even one shot. we went separate ways bout 5 min before you found the speck... Almost got to see a black tailed Brush, that Matty spotted bout ten ft away from me... but gone when i got there. TJ, on his first ever field trip, spotted 3 snakes, including a Baja coach, again bout ten ft away from where i was... it vanished into a Yucca by the time i got there...
Yeah man, when I found that speck I actually thought you were still close enough to hear me and called out for you twice. It was ugly though - you've shown me better.
TJ saw a baja coach? I hadn't heard about that. I've still never seen one. When TJ spotted the shovelnose right in front of my face he was beating me on snakes 4 to 1, but I made a late rally in the last 24 hours.
-
- Posts: 8025
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:12 am
- Location: Hesperia, California.
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
No biggi... might as well not have been there, for all the good I did... But... it was fun hitting the field with good buds... actual numbers were secondary for me, anyhow.jonathan wrote:
Dang it, sorry Jim!
Yeah man, when I found that speck I actually thought you were still close enough to hear me and called out for you twice. It was ugly though - you've shown me better.
TJ saw a baja coach? I hadn't heard about that. I've still never seen one. When TJ spotted the shovelnose right in front of my face he was beating me on snakes 4 to 1, but I made a late rally in the last 24 hours.
Yeah... a pure black adult (4 ft+) TJ's like: "THERE'S A SNAKE... A BIG BLACK ONE!!" I'm like "GRAB IT... QUICK!!!" Dave came crashing through the brush to help... and that's all she wrote.... no second chances with Coaches... GONE! I didn't even get a glimpse. Actually...I was holding up a big piece of ac that Matt and I had flipped while Matt was trying to get a smallish gopher out of a gopher hole... but it got away too. We flipped the big piece of ac together... and I should have spotted the gopher first, having the better angle... but... just didn't look in the right spot, before Matt spotted it. Soooo... I Helped flip a snake... but it didn't get vouchered... so... didn't happen...
- SurfinHerp
- Posts: 653
- Joined: October 18th, 2010, 8:55 pm
- Location: San Diego, CA
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Hi Everyone,
I didn't take too many photos, and most of those I took focused on my boys Trevor and Brady.
Here are some pics that I think are worth sharing....
The kids had a lot of fun on the rope swing I hung up next to the bunkhouse at The Oaks
Hiking to the cabin on Saturday
Brady and Fundad
Trevor holding the gopher snake we found on the way to the cabin
Brady with the gopher snake
Klauber's cabin
It's seen better days
Long-nosed snake found on Saturday evening
Collin P. was excited to hold the long-nosed snake
Very nice rosy boa we found a couple minutes after the long-nosed snake
Brady looking silly with his coonskin cap, headlamp, and the rosy
Cool little sidewinder
This was a jumbo sized shovel-nosed snake
Desert glossy snake
Trevor admiring the first leaf-toed gecko he's ever found on his own
This is the canyon where we found loads of lizards on Sunday
Look at the muscles on this buff desert iguana!
I took this selfie while driving back down the canyon with 12 people loaded into my 8-passenger Pilot!
From the left: Robert, Nicholas, Lawrence, Chris, Collin, myself and Brady.
Overall, I had a really good time at our Meeting. It was cool to meet some of the Nor. Cal. guys for the first time.
Let's do at least one event like this in CA every year! I suggest one in So. Cal. and one in Nor. Cal. annually.
Jeff
I didn't take too many photos, and most of those I took focused on my boys Trevor and Brady.
Here are some pics that I think are worth sharing....
The kids had a lot of fun on the rope swing I hung up next to the bunkhouse at The Oaks
Hiking to the cabin on Saturday
Brady and Fundad
Trevor holding the gopher snake we found on the way to the cabin
Brady with the gopher snake
Klauber's cabin
It's seen better days
Long-nosed snake found on Saturday evening
Collin P. was excited to hold the long-nosed snake
Very nice rosy boa we found a couple minutes after the long-nosed snake
Brady looking silly with his coonskin cap, headlamp, and the rosy
Cool little sidewinder
This was a jumbo sized shovel-nosed snake
Desert glossy snake
Trevor admiring the first leaf-toed gecko he's ever found on his own
This is the canyon where we found loads of lizards on Sunday
Look at the muscles on this buff desert iguana!
I took this selfie while driving back down the canyon with 12 people loaded into my 8-passenger Pilot!
From the left: Robert, Nicholas, Lawrence, Chris, Collin, myself and Brady.
Overall, I had a really good time at our Meeting. It was cool to meet some of the Nor. Cal. guys for the first time.
Let's do at least one event like this in CA every year! I suggest one in So. Cal. and one in Nor. Cal. annually.
Jeff
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
I whole-heartedly second that idea. With a group smaller than was expected at this national meeting (which turned out to be a CA chapter meeting), it should be easier to organize future CA chapter meetings. Since this meeting was down here in the South, the next meeting should probably be up north. I suggest Olema campground in Marin County in fall.Let's do at least one event like this in CA every year! I suggest one in So. Cal. and one in Nor. Cal. annually.
Robert
- ZantiMissKnit
- Posts: 1037
- Joined: September 14th, 2012, 9:43 am
- Location: Boston area, MA
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
I'm so sorry that I missed this! Maybe next time!
- todd battey
- Posts: 239
- Joined: June 7th, 2010, 6:27 am
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
It looks like you guys had a blast. Nice shots!
-
- Posts: 8025
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:12 am
- Location: Hesperia, California.
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
I would make concerted efforts every year to attend such an outing, but now that you mentioned it Robert... Fair warning...I eventually will be making a post in the MOF ( though probably not till after peak season is over), addressing why this year's NATIONAL MEET ended up being a Ca outing. Not looking to rock the boat, nor do any finger-pointing, but rather strive towards finding ways these Nat Meets can be made better....RobertH wrote:I whole-heartedly second that idea. With a group smaller than was expected at this national meeting (which turned out to be a CA chapter meeting), it should be easier to organize future CA chapter meetings. Since this meeting was down here in the South, the next meeting should probably be up north. I suggest Olema campground in Marin County in fall.Let's do at least one event like this in CA every year! I suggest one in So. Cal. and one in Nor. Cal. annually.
Robert
For me... if there was one disappointing aspect to this year's meet... it would be not getting to meet folks I've long looked forward to meeting...
- Calfirecap
- Posts: 638
- Joined: June 16th, 2010, 8:09 am
- Location: Santa Cruz Co. California
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
We can now replace the SD Nightsnake sighting with a CA glossy snake from Saturday's Bioblitz and also add a DOR Baja Coachwhip and DOR Cal King to the list that I got on my way out Monday morning. I'm a little embarrassed about the mis-identification which I didn't realize until going through my photos. I also didn't realize the magnitude of the find until after talking with Fundad about it. Chock it up to youth and inexperience
Here's a Desert Glossy Matt and I found road cruising later that night, both Glossys were lifers.
This shovel nose was another lifer thanks to Matt's sharp road cruising eyes.
This one I stumbled upon while walking the canyon looking for the Leaf-toed Geckos.
Still yet another lifer was the Banded Rock Lizards that were quite plentiful:
Western Long-tailed Brush Lizard from Jeff's field trip into Anzo Borego.
The kid's lizard noosing event turned out to be a lot of fun. I think this is Trevor..
Colin
The awards ceremony:
Side-blotched Lizards were present, but I wouldn't say abundant.
And lastly here's one of Derek, Baxter, and I at Check-in.
Anyway it was a great well rounded trip. The presentations by Dr. Fisher and Laura Patterson were great. Dr. Fisher was motivational, interesting and most certainly entertaining. A hard act to follow, but Laura pulled it off like a pro. We all got to go out in the field and herp with people we had only known from the forum, and a lot of us picked up a few lifers as well.
Thanks goes out to everyone there. As Brian put it, this was the 'A' team.
Lawrence
Here's a Desert Glossy Matt and I found road cruising later that night, both Glossys were lifers.
This shovel nose was another lifer thanks to Matt's sharp road cruising eyes.
This one I stumbled upon while walking the canyon looking for the Leaf-toed Geckos.
Still yet another lifer was the Banded Rock Lizards that were quite plentiful:
Western Long-tailed Brush Lizard from Jeff's field trip into Anzo Borego.
The kid's lizard noosing event turned out to be a lot of fun. I think this is Trevor..
Colin
The awards ceremony:
Side-blotched Lizards were present, but I wouldn't say abundant.
And lastly here's one of Derek, Baxter, and I at Check-in.
Anyway it was a great well rounded trip. The presentations by Dr. Fisher and Laura Patterson were great. Dr. Fisher was motivational, interesting and most certainly entertaining. A hard act to follow, but Laura pulled it off like a pro. We all got to go out in the field and herp with people we had only known from the forum, and a lot of us picked up a few lifers as well.
Thanks goes out to everyone there. As Brian put it, this was the 'A' team.
Lawrence
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
California Glossy AND Baja Coachwhip AND California King! Nice job!
Good to round out the data.
I also heard that TJ briefly spotted a live 4' Baja Coachwhip.
Good to round out the data.
I also heard that TJ briefly spotted a live 4' Baja Coachwhip.
-
- Posts: 8025
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 8:12 am
- Location: Hesperia, California.
- Contact:
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
David saw it as well, for confirmation...jonathan wrote:
I also heard that TJ briefly spotted a live 4' Baja Coachwhip.
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Excellent works guys!! Great pics and some awesome finds. Lawrence, that CA glossy is such a great find, well done!! Matty and I want to thank everyone for a great weekend, we had a blast.
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Great Photos and Stories Everyone.
It was a great event, and I would like to thank the following people, in no particular order.
Dr Robert Fisher (USGS)-For taking the time out of his busy schedule to meet with us, to present his very motivational and educational presentation, and for taking us to the newly acquired land for our Bio Blitz, and that hasn't be surveyed since
the Late Great Lawrence Klauber surveyed it 80 years ago, including seeing the hunting cabin he stayed in several times. He even has notes in log book about it. How cool is that?
Laura Patterson- For visiting us on here own time and taking the time to herp and talk with us. Seriously think about the folks how awesome is that?
The NAFHA members that showed up made the event extra special- Without you all of you this event would not have been possible. There was some red tape and not a single complaint. I am feeling proud to know each and everyone of you.
The California Board Members that worked so hard at putting all of this together, and contributing so much work to make this event possible. A ton of hours went into it all, and I am thankful for all of it.
Jeff Nordland
Lawrence Erickson
Derek Holt
John Lauermann
Matthew Gruen
Yours Truly
Brian Hinds
Chapter President
It was a great event, and I would like to thank the following people, in no particular order.
Dr Robert Fisher (USGS)-For taking the time out of his busy schedule to meet with us, to present his very motivational and educational presentation, and for taking us to the newly acquired land for our Bio Blitz, and that hasn't be surveyed since
the Late Great Lawrence Klauber surveyed it 80 years ago, including seeing the hunting cabin he stayed in several times. He even has notes in log book about it. How cool is that?
Laura Patterson- For visiting us on here own time and taking the time to herp and talk with us. Seriously think about the folks how awesome is that?
The NAFHA members that showed up made the event extra special- Without you all of you this event would not have been possible. There was some red tape and not a single complaint. I am feeling proud to know each and everyone of you.
The California Board Members that worked so hard at putting all of this together, and contributing so much work to make this event possible. A ton of hours went into it all, and I am thankful for all of it.
Jeff Nordland
Lawrence Erickson
Derek Holt
John Lauermann
Matthew Gruen
Yours Truly
Brian Hinds
Chapter President
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
I'll through in a couple of additions. One additional find during the bio - blitz was a Granite Night Lizard by Ashley Stokes. The other correction is there were two girls (Genevieve) present during the lizard noosing contest (sorry Jonathan ).
It really was a great time and a great group. It turned out that the rules the board put in place didn't take away any of the enjoyment we got from the experience. What it did do was to help our image with those outside agencies we (mostly Brian) have been working so hard to foster. I really am proud to be part of this California board. To all those who participated, a huge thank you!!!!
It really was a great time and a great group. It turned out that the rules the board put in place didn't take away any of the enjoyment we got from the experience. What it did do was to help our image with those outside agencies we (mostly Brian) have been working so hard to foster. I really am proud to be part of this California board. To all those who participated, a huge thank you!!!!
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Thanks for the correction John! Did we get vouchers of the night lizard? That's a cool find - I didn't manage to find one all weekend and I'm usually pretty good at getting them.
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
I Showed up Thursday and Matt and I hit the field for a bit, it was cold and dry, but we found a few things I found on
Thursday
Coronado Island Skink
Speckled Rattlesnake
Desert Banded Gecko
Colorado Desert Sidewinder
Southern California Toad
Didn't herp much on Friday, but Lawrence and I took a walk around the campground and found this guy cruising in the cold morning.
Helleri
More coming
Thursday
Coronado Island Skink
Speckled Rattlesnake
Desert Banded Gecko
Colorado Desert Sidewinder
Southern California Toad
Didn't herp much on Friday, but Lawrence and I took a walk around the campground and found this guy cruising in the cold morning.
Helleri
More coming
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
Yep, it's already in the data base...I'll post some pictures as soon as I can...jonathan wrote:Thanks for the correction John! Did we get vouchers of the night lizard? That's a cool find - I didn't manage to find one all weekend and I'm usually pretty good at getting them.
Re: NAFHA National meeting post - lots of photos
A Couple finds at the USGS/Bio Blitz survey of the property.
I wanted to make sure we got there early enough to observe morning activity, and it's a good thing we got there when we did.
Much of the group went off into the wetlands, but a couple of us went up into the rocks, including Dr Fisher and I. I headed straight to a good looking area and as soon as I got there, this dude was out for a morning cruise.
I called Dr Fisher over and we admired him for a couple minutes along with the view.
We bush wacked our way back to the group because we had limited time. That's when I found a opening to the depths of the earth. I called Dr Robert Fisher over to help open the pathway to the depths, together we pealed back the opening and once we arrived there we found this cool ringneck snake. Beautiful light green. This was the first snake Dr Fisher and I found as a team together, and to be honest it was quite an honor to find it with him on land that hasn't been herped since Laurence Klauber herped it, two deep meaningful honors for me in the same morning. One of my all time herping moments, for me.
Here is Dr Fisher with the ringneck
San Diego Ringneck Snake
We were a couple minutes late getting back to the meet point, DOH!, and the group let me hear about it, "rightfully" so, I might add, DOH!
Soon we were off to the next little spot to check. Dave Zeldin, (his first time at a NAFHA event), his friend and myself team worked this helleri. (Dave's friends name escapes me, my apologizes, if anyone remembers it please pm me).
I didn't see much else except common lizards, but as a group we did very good on diversity at the bio blitz.
Here is a picture of some of the motley crew at the hunting Cabin Klauber stayed in. I love this photo! What an Honor.
I would like to thank everyone for pushing through the rigid time constraints of the Bio Blitz, and for doing some kick arse herping during that time. We did good.
Fundad
more coming event photos coming
I wanted to make sure we got there early enough to observe morning activity, and it's a good thing we got there when we did.
Much of the group went off into the wetlands, but a couple of us went up into the rocks, including Dr Fisher and I. I headed straight to a good looking area and as soon as I got there, this dude was out for a morning cruise.
I called Dr Fisher over and we admired him for a couple minutes along with the view.
We bush wacked our way back to the group because we had limited time. That's when I found a opening to the depths of the earth. I called Dr Robert Fisher over to help open the pathway to the depths, together we pealed back the opening and once we arrived there we found this cool ringneck snake. Beautiful light green. This was the first snake Dr Fisher and I found as a team together, and to be honest it was quite an honor to find it with him on land that hasn't been herped since Laurence Klauber herped it, two deep meaningful honors for me in the same morning. One of my all time herping moments, for me.
Here is Dr Fisher with the ringneck
San Diego Ringneck Snake
We were a couple minutes late getting back to the meet point, DOH!, and the group let me hear about it, "rightfully" so, I might add, DOH!
Soon we were off to the next little spot to check. Dave Zeldin, (his first time at a NAFHA event), his friend and myself team worked this helleri. (Dave's friends name escapes me, my apologizes, if anyone remembers it please pm me).
I didn't see much else except common lizards, but as a group we did very good on diversity at the bio blitz.
Here is a picture of some of the motley crew at the hunting Cabin Klauber stayed in. I love this photo! What an Honor.
I would like to thank everyone for pushing through the rigid time constraints of the Bio Blitz, and for doing some kick arse herping during that time. We did good.
Fundad
more coming event photos coming