salamander venue...

 
Mind you, we didn't catch any salamanders while I was there, but here's some pics of the site to give you an idea.

Nice, very peaceful place. The military has (at least for now) some REALLY nice pieces of land that hugely benefit (ecologically) from the fact that regular folks and strip malls are not allowed to wander around there.

I took this picture because I'd never seen the hills quite that color. A dark, mysterious, blue-ish green.

My boss took this early morning shot. That's Mount Diablo on the left-ish.

Much of this land (lightly used by military these days) is leased to ranchers, so there are gates everywhere (my role was gate open-and-closer, as my co-workers drove), and cows (and evidence, thereof). But it is peaceful and lovely.

And, because of the cattle, we had to surround each wildlife fence we built with electric fence so the cattle wouldn't go for a nice scratch on one of the posts, thus flattening our fencing. =)

See the bright flags (click on the picture below)? That's for the electric fence--it's only fair to warn the creatures (including Homo sapiens) something's up...

 

 Co-worker checkin' buckets at our largest site (over 100 buckets!)

 Nest in Baccharis sp. shrub near one of the sites.

Coyote cruising for ground squirrels...

ooh, good scratch!

(taken from car via normal old zoom vs. fancy lens, so...)

And, unpacking:

That's AFTER I'd scraped MOST of the mud off. =)

So, der ya go.

Those salamanders have some nice digs.

xobb