Got up around 0700 and birded around the campsite while packing up and showering.
Pyrrhuloxia
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Lark Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark (calling)
0830 - Got on the road. It was 70° and overcast.
0900-0920 - we decided to try flipping some of the rocks at the edge of the falcon reservoir in Zapata. Saw nothing except Cliff Swallows and a Med. Gecko.
1000-1030 - stop to check the milksnake spot from day 1. Nothing there.
1100-1130 - stop at a tin site we had visited a few days before
Great Plains Narrow-mouthed Toads (Gastrophryne olivacea)
Texas Nightsnakes (Hypsiglena torquata jani)
Reticulated Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus reticulatus)
Tarantulas
1140-1210 - Stopped at a new trash area. It is now 74° but still overcast.
Texas Nightsnakes (Hypsiglena torquata jani)
Texas Banded Geckos (Coleonyx brevis)
Great Plains Narrow-mouthed Toads (Gastrophryne olivacea)
Tarantulas
Eastern Screech Owl (in building)
1230-1300 - We drove into a small town looking for a dump that I had herped years before. It had been cleaned up and fenced off. Instead, we opted to flip trash and railroad ties along the edge of the tracks. There was a large puddle along the road there and the ground was quite damp under the trash.
TMTC Great Plains Narrow-mouthed Toads (Gastrophryne olivacea)
TMTC Rio Grande Leopard Frogs (Rana berlandieri)
2 Flatheaded Snakes (Tantilla gracilis)
2 Eastern Green Toads (Bufo d. debilis)
2 Texas Toads (Bufo speciosus)
2 Illegal aliens (Homo sapiens mexicanus) hiding under the railway bridge.
1315-1330 - stopped at an old abandoned house to herp. We herped around a while, turning the tin and boards that were here and avoiding the aggressive bees inside the buildings. We found a couple of Texas Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus olivaceus) under stuff. As we walked back towards the car, Tim was walking ahead of me. After he passed an area I happened to look down and coiled in the grass next to a large armadillo sized burrow was an adult Desert Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula splendida). It was so dark and drab that at first I couldn't tell what it was. As I stood there and called Tim back to look, it started to move off so I picked it up. I took it home to photograph and released it several weeks later at the same spot. It was in need of a good shed (which it did that night).
Although splendida are among my favorite snakes, these south Texas Kings are a sorry lot. Most of them are just plain ugly and can't hold a candle to the beauty of one from El Paso or Hudspeth counties in the western tip of the state.
1400-1420 - Stopped at another abandoned houses that I have herped for years. It was quite a bit dryer here than further south. Under trash we found -
Eastern Green Toads (Bufo d. debilis)
Texas Banded Geckos (Coleonyx brevis)
Texas Nightsnakes (Hypsiglena torquata jani)
- an apparent breeding group of 1.5 under a small piece of tin. When I took this photo, several had already crawled off.
We also saw a singing male Black-throated Sparrow
1450 - Gassed up (@ $1.59/gallon).
We later made sandwiches along the road at another tin spot (79°). After eating we flipped the tin. I found some tin way back where I had never looked before.
Texas Spotted Whiptail (Cnemidophorus gularis)
Great Plains Narrow-mouthed Toad (Gastrophryne olivacea)
Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus)
We headed home from there. We slowed down along a highway near home to listen for frogs calling and heard Spotted Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris clarkii) calling (at 50°) and saw several Southern Leopard Frogs (Rana sphenocephala) hopping across the road.
2045 - arrive home. Total miles traveled = 1254 miles.
Species List
Our total species list was fairly short, considering we were in South Texas in March. This is partly attributable to the poor (cool) weather and partly to the fact that we stayed on the dry side of south Texas to go after a few target species. Had we chosen to work on the coastal side as well, we certainly could have doubled this number of species with little difficulty.
It should also be noted that we had TX hunting licenses and that all specimens were released at the site of capture, except for the female Milksnake, which I still have.
Spotted Chorus Frog (Pseudacris clarkii) (call)
Green Treefrog (Hyla cinerea)
Southern Leopard Frog (Rana sphenocephala)
Rio Grande Leopard Frog (Rana berlandieri)
Couch's Spadefoot (Scaphiopus couchii)
Eastern Green Toad (Bufo d. debilis)
Gulf Coast Toad (Bufo nebulifer)
Texas Toad (Bufo speciosus)
Giant (Cane) Toad (Bufo marinus)
Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Yellow Mud Turtle (Kinosternon flavescens) (shell)
Texas Tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri) (shell)
Texas Spotted Whiptail (Cnemidophorus gularis)
Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus)
Blue Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus cyanogenys)
Reticulated Collared Lizard (Crotaphytus reticulatus)
Little Brown Skink (Scincella lateralis)
Four-lined Skink (Eumeces t. tetragrammus)
Great Plains Skink (Eumeces obsoletus)
Mediterranean Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)
Texas Banded Gecko (Coleonyx brevis)
Texas Indigosnake (Drymarchon corais erebennus) (shed skin)
Texas Nightsnake (Hypsiglena torquata jani)
Southwestern Ratsnake (Pantherophis guttata meahllmorum)
Desert Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula splendida)
Mexican Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum annulata)
Western Coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum testaceus) (presumed sighting)
Texas Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora grahamiae lineata)
Flatheaded Snake (Tantilla gracilis)
Checkered Gartersnake (Thamnophis marcianus marcianus)
Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)
31 species in 4 days
Oh yeah, and we saw this monstrosity as well!
