April 25, 2019
Fairfield Osborn Preserve, Sonoma County, California
1300 – 1545, sunny

This year, I took Field Biology up to the preserve a bit later in the semester, and we did see a slightly different set of organisms, mostly because, unlike last year, we were actually able to get into Copeland Creek to look for the amphibians that live there. Again this semester, I had a couple of preserve naturalists in class, who are permitted to handled some of the listed species onsite, which turned out to be very handy.

When we arrived, a preserve naturalist giving a tour to some school children had caught this Western Toad in the parking lot, and had placed it in a bucket to be easily viewed. What a gorgeous amphibian!

We followed our usual route: from the upper parking lot, we headed down to the meadow to check coverboards, and then continued down to the creek, where we spent a good chunk of time. Then, back past Turtle Pond.

Flipping coverboards revealed a few vertebrates, including Western Fence Lizard and Pacific Chorus Frog (although I think we only saw 1 chorus frog today, which is fairly unusual). On of my students found a very tiny skull in the grass – some kind of rodent or shrew, no doubt. We saw a variety of interesting invertebrates, as well, including a couple of Western Forest Scorpions, Minor and Salmonfly Cicadas, a California Sulphur-winged Grasshopper, and a Nicklin’s Shoulderband Snail.

The meadow was filled with Western Blue-eyed Grass in bloom, and Wavy-leafed Soap Plant that was not in flower. Along the path we also saw a great deal of California Blackberry and California Wild Rose, some Blue Dicks, Common Bracken, Great Horsetail, Coyote Brush, and of course, plenty of Pacific Poison Oak. We found Miner’s Lettuce and California Hedgenettle. Also lots of Coast Live Oak, although unfortunately, some of the oaks are showing advanced signs of Sudden Oak Death, including Cramp Balls and cankers.

As we made our way to the creek, we found Western Sword Fern, and right alongside the creek, I found Giant Wakerobin in bloom, in the spot where I typically see them. There is also Bigleaf Maple growing beside the creek, and we found a Button’s Banana Slug. We had excellent luck in the creek itself, where students found California Giant Salamander and Rough-skinned Newt.

The highlight of the day, however, was definitely the Foothill Yellow-legged Frog that we found in the creek. One of my preserve naturalist students waded into the pool just above the old swimming hole “dam” site on the creek, and was able to catch one of at least two or three Yellow-legged Frogs that were visible in the water. This was a great sighting, not only for my students, but also for myself. This is the first time I’ve seen one of these listed frogs in the wild (my previous sighting was a wild animal, but it had been caught for display during a workshop event).

When it was time to start heading back to the Nature center, we took a different path back, to check under some additional coverboards. Here, we saw more Western Forest Scorpion, and I saw a great variety of plants, including Coffeeberry, Soft Rush, and some type of Stinging Nettle (maybe Slender). I also found some Gilled Polypore growing alongside Dendroalsia Moss.

As we were getting ready to leave, we did make one more discovery in the parking lot. Since there’d been a Western Toad here earlier in the day, we took a look around to see if we could find one, and SUCCESS! A gorgeous little Western Toad (which doesn’t seem to be the same individual, although it might be due to the different lighting under which the photos were taken). Either way, it’s amazing to see just how cryptic this animal is against the tree bark on the fallen logs where it spends a lot of time.

Species List

• Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) When we arrived, a preserve naturalist giving a tour to some school children had caught this toad in the parking lot, and had placed it in a bucket to be easily viewed. What a gorgeous amphibian! On the way out, we took a look around the parking lot to see if we could find another toad, since one had been found here earlier in the day. SUCCESS! A gorgeous little Western Toad (which doesn’t seem to be the same individual, although it might be due to the different lighting under which the photos were taken). Either way, it’s amazing to see just how cryptic this animal is against the tree bark on the fallen logs where it spends a lot of time.
• Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla) We didn’t see as many chorus frogs as usual; I only have a (very poor quality) photo of just one individual.
• Western Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum) Growing in the meadow.
• Wavy-leafed Soap Plant (Chlorogalum pomeridianum)
• Pacific Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum)
• Common Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)
• Western Forest Scorpion (Uroctonus mordax) We found several scorpions today, under coverboards or by flipping rocks and logs.
• Sudden Oak Death (Phytophthora ramorum) I found advanced signs of Sudden Oak Death on some of the trees near the path, including cankers.
• Cramp Balls (Annulohypoxylon thouarsianum)
• Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) Found under one of the meadow coverboards.
• California Blackberry (Rubus ursinus) Lots of blackberry in flower right now.
• California Wild Rose (Rosa californica) Not in bloom yet.
• Great Horsetail (Equisetum telmateia) Present in some of the wetter areas of the meadow and along the path down to the creek.
• Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis)
• Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia)
• Nicklin’s Shoulderband Snail (Helminthoglypta nickliniana) Found under a coverboard.
• California Sulphur-winged Grasshopper (Arphia behrensi) Found under or near one of the coverboards by one of my students.
• Minor Cicada (Platypedia minor) Found a couple of cicadas under coverboards, including what I think is this species.
• Salmonfly Cicada (Platypedia areolata) Found a couple of cicadas under coverboards, including this one that had just completed its moult.
• Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata)
• Blue Dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus) In bloom; such pretty flowers.
• California Hedge Nettle (Stachys bullata) Not yet in bloom.
• Giant Wakerobin (Trillium chloropetalum) I was happy to find trilliums blooming down by the creek.
• Western Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum)
• Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa) My students were able to capture multiple newts in the creek, giving everyone a great look at these cool animals.
• Button’s Banana Slug (Ariolimax buttoni)
• Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum) Growing right beside the creek.
• California Giant Salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus) Students were able to locate and capture a couple of giant salamanders in the creek, by looking around the rocks where the salamanders like to hang out.
• Foothill Yellow-legged Frog (Rana boylii) This was a great sighting during a Field Biology field trip. One of my students (a preserve naturalist) got into the creek just above the old swimming hole dam, and found a couple of these frogs in the water. This is the first time I’ve seen one in the wild (my previous sighting was a wild animal, but it had been caught by someone else).
• Coffeeberry (Frangula californica)
• Slender Stinging Nettle (Urtica gracilis)
• Soft Rush (Juncus effusus)
• Gilled Polypore (Trametes betulina)