Rough-skinned newt. Photo: ap.

The newts are on the move again. Each fall, after the rains start, the newts of Berkeley’s Tilden Park start migrating from the woods to waters of Wildcat Creek, where they mate and lay their eggs. South Park Drive, popular with cyclists and Sunday drivers, crosses their migratory path. Each year from November 1 to April 1 the road is closed to cars, to prevent the newts from getting squished. (How did the newt cross the road? Not by being run over, that’s for sure.)

The newts in question are the California newt, Taricha torosa, brown with a yellow/orange belly, and the rough-skinned newt, Taricha granulosa, which also has an orange belly and, as its name suggests, has rough, brown skin. The newts’ orange bellies are warning signs to predators—both species produce tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin. However, the rough-skinned newt’s toxin is ten times more powerful than the California newt’s toxin.

Newts lay egg masses, like these, in ponds and slow-flowing streams. Photo: Jennifer Skene.While these two species are not technically threatened, their habitat has been impacted in recent years: their forests and fields have become our neighborhoods, roads have chopped their remaining habitat into fragments, and the streams and ponds where they lay their eggs have been degraded. The least we can do at this point is refrain from running them over!

Newts are amphibians, animals that spend the early part of their life in the water, and their adult life on land. Amphibians are going extinct at an alarming rate; their decline has been referred to as the world’s Sixth Mass Extinction. Habitat destruction is playing a role, but the main problem is an infectious fungus, called chitrid. San Francisco State professor Vance Vredenburg studies yellow-legged frogs in the high altitude lakes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He has seen hundreds of frog populations die out because of chitrid. Learn more about Vance’s work and amphibian declines in QUEST’s TV story, Disappearing Frogs, and in a recent New York Times article and accompanying audio slide show.

Chitrid hasn’t affected the newts in Tilden, but the closure of South Park Drive reminds us that amphibians worldwide face some serious threats.

37.883758 -122.228064

The water flowing past Big Break Regional Shoreline through the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers drains half of California's watershed, and creates the largest estuarine environment on Pacific shores.

We once again enlisted the help of our colleagues at the East Bay Regional Parks District on this feature. They've collaborated with us twice before, on science hikes in Briones Regional Park and Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve.

We were welcomed at the gate by EBRPD Naturalist Mike Moran. Normally, we'd have rolled right on in to the parking lot, but the district has closed the parking area temporarily as part of a significant renovation, to include new trails and interpretive facilities. The lot should reopen sometime in November of this year (2010). Check the EBRPD website for closure updates if you are planning a visit. That said, don't be discouraged by the locked gate, even without the lot, the shoreline is still accessible through the foot path to the right of the main entrance.

Before we'd even unpacked our gear, Mike pointed out some raptors on the horizon, perhaps a quarter mile away. Some careful spotting through the binoculars revealed they were likely a pair of Swainson's Hawks. To my untrained eye, it might have appeared they were juvenile Red-tailed Hawks, but the different markings on the underside of the wings (e.g. lack of the black bars on the leading edge), plus the overall narrower profile of the wings themselves indicate otherwise. I've learned not to rely on the presence of a red tail, but Mike's keen eye helped me add this majestic buteo to my life list. What a way to start the day.

Other highlights? An amazing number of dragonflies and damselflies, including the Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum). Stumbling upon a field of the understated but lovely yerba mansa plant (Anemopsis californica). Getting to see the marsh monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus), a close cousin to the sticky monkeyflower (Mimulus aurantiacus) so common in the drier areas of our region. And lastly, an encounter not with an actual bird, animal or plant, but with something they had left behind– Otter scat.

And there's much more that I can tell you in this short post – please go check out the science hike and let us know what you think. Even better, through our partnership with EveryTrail, you may take it with you in print or via your smartphone and let us know how it goes.

38.00885 -121.73230

That was one of the things we wanted to document when we began our exploration of Briones Regional Park, just east of Berkeley. This park is a favorite spot for locals, but is also home to some amazing wildlife. With the help of East Bay Regional Parks naturalist Meg Platt, we put together a science hike where you can see some of the amazing things the park has to offer. But you'll also notice on the map that we didn't pinpoint exactly where the newts live.

As Meg described, this is a fragile species and thanks to Parks District's work, the newts are able to thrive in Briones and several other East Bay parks. But it's important for hikers and park users to give this species plenty of space, especially during mating season. Make sure to keep dogs out of the park's ponds. Luckily, the East Bay Regional Parks district puts together programs for the public so everyone can safely discover this amazing species.

Check out the interactive map of the Briones exploration online, and watch our audio slide show about California Newts.

Lauren Sommer is an Associate Media Producer for QUEST.

37.9275 -122.15554