Wednesday, 9:30-12:30 pm. 2 live newts! 60 dead newt.
Weather: cold, then rainy.
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights intersection to stop sign. I walked with Kat.
Newts: 62 newts, 2 of them alive! 60 of the newts were tiny juveniles, including the live ones. I've never seen so many little ones during one survey. 28 of the dead newts were found on the reservoir side. The live ones were walking towards the hill. We helped them cross, as well as the banana slug.
Other roadkills: our first rattlesnake, fence lizard, toad, Jerusalem Crickets, centipedes, beetle, caterpillar.
Traffic: 28 cars, 2 trucks, 0 motorcycles, 2 bikes, 0 pedestrians, 2 parked cars.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-02&order=asc&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Friday, 9:20-10:58 am. no live newts. 7 dead newts.
Weather: cold. Los Gatos got about 0.44" of rain this week - https://www.wunderground.com/history/weekly/us/ca/los-gatos/KSJC

Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked with Sophie L. and ??
Newts: 7 dead newts, pretty dry. I wonder why we haven't found more newts, and other animals. It rain on Tuesday, and a bit more on Wednesday.
Other roadkills: fence lizards, Jerusalem Crickets, a skipper, caterpillars, and the first millipede of the year.
Traffic: 27 cars, 4 trucks, 0 motorcycles, 0 bikes, 4 pedestrians, 20 parked cars (1 car at the farther parking lot).
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-04&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Wednesday, 12:24-3:14 pm. 1 live newt! 179 dead newts.
Weather: cold. got good rain in San Jose on Monday night-Tuesday afternoon.
Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked with Molly.
Newts: again we found many tiny juvenile newts, as well as many full size newts. I had 34 dead newts on the hill side, and 75 on the reservoir side. Only a few of the juveniles were found on the hill side, most were found on the reservoir side Molly had 65 newts.
Other roadkills: bullfrog, arboreal salamander, a few slender salamander, a snake, a ground squirrel, a young skunk, Jerusalem Crickets, centipedes, caterpillars, a few millipedes. Also many banana slugs (~10), almost all in one area.
Live animals - 1 live newt, trying to cross the road, a few deer, right by the quarry entrance, and a banana slug. I saw 2 other small groups of deer trying to cross the road on the way to the south section.
For the first time this year, the little seep by limekiln trail head was full of water.
Traffic: 66 cars, 10 trucks, 0 motorcycles, 8 bikes, 5 pedestrians, 12 parked cars (1 car at the farther parking lot).
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&on=2022-11-09&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Molly's observations - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=any&on=2022-11-09&place_id=any&project_id=146126&user_id=molly2&verifiable=any

Friday, 9:20-2:00 pm. 7 live newts!!! many hundreds of dead newts, mostly tiny juveniles.
Weather: cold. I got a frost warning in the morning, so I was expecting less newts.
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights intersection to Soda Spring Rd. We didn't make it to the stop sign as there were too many newts. I walked with Rani.
Newts: I had 471 dead newts, 433 of them juveniles! We also had 7 live individuals! I lost at least 20 more newts, due to issues with my phone. We also skipped some of the decaying tiny newts, when numbers were so high. Rani had about 10 dead newts.
Last week's note: most of the newts were tiny juveniles, including the live ones. I've never seen so many little ones during one survey. The live ones were walking towards the hill. = same today.... we helped the newts cross, and also one centipede. We watched one tiny newt racing on the road, all the way to the white line. 3 motorcycles passed by (from a safe distance), and it froze. It stayed on the white line for a long time, so we had to move it as well. Most of the tiny ones were found in one huge area. Very few outside that area.
Other roadkills: toad, Jerusalem Crickets, centipedes, caterpillars.
Traffic: 30 cars, 9 trucks, 7 motorcycles, 13 bikes, 0 pedestrians, 2 parked cars.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-11&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
We spoke with one bike rider, a Midpen ranger, and a family, who were all aware of the newt study, and were interested to hear how it's doing.

Saturday: 2:07 PM - 4:33 PM. 1 Live newt rescued while hundreds of tiny juvenile newts met their maker.
Weather: 55° F Sunny, feels like 52°F
Coverage: Soda Springs Rd to stop sign that marks the boundary of North and South Section
I walked with Lauren who is a volunteer I know from WCSV.
Newts: We had 157 dead newts, 35 Adults, 122 Juveniles (teeny-tiny)

Traffic: 34 cars. 10 bikes, 5 motorbikes, 0 pedestrians, 0 parked cars
My observations of the day: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?created_on=2022-11-12&place_id=any&subview=map&user_id=karangattu&verifiable=any

Notes:
There were a lot of tiny dead juvenile newts at the point where we started. Ironically, since our eyes still hadn't got used to how tiny they were, we ended up actually observing almost all of them on the way back, since the sun was to our back. We ended up also spotting a juvenile trying to cross the road on the way back, who we promptly rescued and put on the other side.

One elderly woman stopped her car and asked us if we are the newt patrol, to which I nodded. Then she started reminiscing how they used to see the streets filled with them when she was growing up. They would also come to her backyard pool, so when she would invite her friends over to the pool, each one had to release one newt back in the wild before they could jump in the water. She called those "newt parties".

Wednesday, 9:08-12:28 pm. no live newts ?? dead newts.
Weather: cold, then nice. has been dry since last week's rain event (Tuesday?)
Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked with Kat.
Newts: we found many tiny juvenile newts, and some full size newts. I had 70 dead newts on the hill side, and 36 on the reservoir side.
Other roadkills: a few slender salamanders, last week's skunk, Jerusalem Crickets, spiders, centipedes, caterpillars - dozens of the French broom caterpillars, a few millipedes.
The little pool by limekiln trail head was already almost dry.
Traffic: 49 cars, 11 trucks, 5 motorcycles, 2 bikes, 4 pedestrians, 19 parked cars (2 cars at the farther parking lot).
We had 3 great conversations with people concerned about the newts!
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-16&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Friday, 9:15-1:15 pm. 1 live newt! We had 254 dead newts, mostly tiny juveniles, again. Not as bad as last week, though.
Weather: cold, then nice.
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights intersection to the first stop sign. I walked with Sophie.
Newts: Sophie had 10 adult newts. I had 244 dead newts, 243 of them juveniles! I had 62 newts on the reservoir side, and 182 on the hill side. The tiny babies were in the same hotspot as last week, most of them were very dry, a few were fresh.
Other roadkills: Jerusalem Crickets, centipedes, caterpillars, different crickets and grasshoppers, some honey bees, a rodent.
Traffic: 38 cars, 7 trucks (FedEx, SJJJ, PGE), 0 motorcycles, 14 bikes, 0 pedestrians, 4 parked cars.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-18&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any
Sophie's observations - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-18&place_id=any&user_id=sophie1037&verifiable=any

Monday, 11:16-12:46 pm. no live newts, 2 dead newts.
Weather: cold, nice.
Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked alone.
Newts: only 2 newts today, after so many dead ones last week.
Other roadkills: slender salamander, Jerusalem Crickets, centipedes, many caterpillars. The skunk was gone, but I could still smell it...
The little pool by limekiln trail head was already mostly dry.
Traffic: 26 cars, 4 trucks, 0 motorcycles, 3 bikes, 7 pedestrians, 12 parked cars (1 car at the farther parking lot).
I spoke with the sheriff today! He stopped by, and was very interested to hear about the newts. He wasn't aware of the problem, and took my card, to learn more about our efforts.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-21&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any

Wednesday 8:12 am - 12:00 pm. 1 live newt and 30 dead ones (27 juveniles)
Weather: 41°F...Brrr!
Coverage: Aldercroft Heights intersection to the first stop sign. I walked alone since everyone I know is out to celebrate some quality time with their family.

Traffic: 3 Runners (pedestrian), 23 Bikes, 1 Parked Car, 32 cars
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-23&place_id=any&q=roadkill&user_id=karangattu&verifiable=any

Notes: The dead juveniles were all concentrated in the same spot I had seen them last time.
I saw a live one on the side of the road, so I picked up the tiny fellow.

I saw a lot of genista broom moth caterpillars squished but did not document to be more conservative with my battery use since I forgot my portable power bank.

Wednesday, 9:15-11:00 am. no live newts, or dead newts!
Weather: cold. It is supposed to start raining tomorrow.
Coverage: Jones trailhead to the second stop sign. I walked with Keith.
We didn't see any newts today, but that would probably change tomorrow, with the rain event predicted.
Other roadkills: Jerusalem Crickets, centipedes, a beetle, and still many caterpillars. The skunk and its smell were gone.
The little pool by limekiln trailhead was dry.
Traffic: 18 cars, 2 trucks, 1 motorcycle, 2 bikes, 10 pedestrians, 14 parked cars (3 car at the farther parking lot).
1 car stopped by. The guy says he sees us on the road often, wondering how the newts are doing, and if there is any solution. I hope we'll be able to share some good news soon.
My observations of the day - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-11-30&place_id=any&user_id=merav&verifiable=any