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!
Santa Rosa Island was our first destination and we had perfect weather.
We found the research station very comfortable with fantastic new stoves!
First thing Friday morning we
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!
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.
We found a handful of Alligator Lizards, hatchling Fence Lizards,and a Channel Islands Slender Salamander (Batrachoseps pacificus).
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