The March field work plan was to sample reptiles on Santa Rosa Island from Friday the 16th -Sunday the 18th, Mainland from Monday the 19th-Thursday the 22nd, and Santa Cruz Island from the Friday the23rd-Sunday the 25th.
Amanda C. and I left Auburn University on March 15th to meet up with Amanda S. at Westmont College. We had a great view of our island destinations from the plane (from left to right: Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel Islands!
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Santa Rosa Island was our first destination and we had perfect weather.
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We found the research station very comfortable with fantastic new stoves!
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First thing Friday morning we
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had great success, sampling 13 Alligator Lizards and 3 juvenile gopher snakes! Amanda S. demonstrated that even being 7 months pregnant won't keep her from her dwarf reptiles!
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Friday afternoon Amanda C. and I hiked up the Torrey Pines Trail and had a incredible view amongst one of the two remaining stands Torrey Pines - a rare/endangered relic of the ice age.
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We found a handful of Alligator Lizards, hatchling Fence Lizards,and a Channel Islands Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps pacificus).
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