Berry Springs Preserve Herps of Texas report, 17Sep2016
It still felt like summer at Berry Springs Preserve, but nine people braved the heat and were treated to four amphibian species: Rio Grande Leopard Frog (Call Index = 2), American Bullfrog (CI = 1), Gulf Coast Toad (CI = 0), and Blanchard's Cricket Frog (CI = 1). The pond behind the improved campground was almost dry, so we stayed near the main ponds.
Before sunset, we saw Yellow-crowned Night Herons (several adults and one immature) hunting around the ponds, and Chimney Swifts and lots of Common Green Darners flying over the ponds. At sunset, we saw a few bats (and heard them on the bat detector) flying over the ponds, and they were still hunting overhead when we left an hour after sunset in the light of the Harvest Moon. The water table was still high - the pump next to the main pond was flowing under artesian pressure.
The monitoring period was 19:00 - 21:00.
Participants were Kathy, Randy (super frog catcher) & Sandra (super frog catcher's helper), Christine (super toad catcher), Hunter & Tonja (welcome !), Mike & Amy (welcome !), and Vincent.
Environmental Conditions at the main pond at sunset:
- Air temperature = 79.8 deg F
- Water temperature = 83.0 deg F
- Sky = No or few clouds
- Water level = above average
- Relative humidity at sunset = 60 %
