Berry Springs Preserve Herps of Texas report, 18Aug2018

A great turnout of humans on a hot August night at Berry Springs Preserve resulted in four amphibian observations (three documented with photos or recordings), one snake observation, and one turtle observation. Between the spotters and the catchers, we saw three separate Rio Grande Leopard Frogs (Call Index = 0), one Gulf Coast Toad-let (CI = 0), a Plain-bellied (aka, Blotched) Watersnake, and a Common Musk Turtle (aka, Stinkpot). It was the first time that I had seen the latter at Berry Springs Preserve.
Blanchard's Cricket Frogs (CI = 2) were calling on and off throughout the 1.25 hours of monitoring. Two separate American Bullfrogs were seen (Larry got a long-distance photo of one of them), and one of them called as we were leaving, but I wasn't able to get a recording.
Other critters seen and/or heard included a Great Blue Heron, coyotes, bats, and crawfish. And Randy got so close to an armadillo he could almost touch it.
The sad news is that, although the nearby gauge (USGS 08105095 Berry Ck at Airport Rd nr Georgetown, TX) recorded 0.78" of rain six days earlier, there had been no rain for a month prior to that, and the ponds were almost dry. The sloughs were completely dry, and Berry Creek was very low. Let's hope for cooler weather and more rain soon.
The monitoring period was 20:10 - 21:25.
Participants were Kathy, Amy & Mike, Mike, Leia, Heike, Tonja and Ryan, Carolyn, Keri, Larry and Marek, and Randy. Let's hear it for grandsons !!
Environmental conditions at the main pond at sunset:

• Air temperature = 89.1 deg F
• Water temperature = 83 deg F
• Sky = No/few clouds
• Water level = Much below average
• Relative humidity at sunset = 34 %

Publicado el 20 de agosto de 2018 a las 12:18 AM por k_mccormack