Last weekend the weather let me down. I had spotted turtles on the brain, but the damp, cool, cloudy weather meant I was highly unlikely to find anyone basking, and I decided not to make the drive.

Instead I did some work in the garden, but I did work in one herping stop for a quick fix. The green corridor around Cobbs Creek was one of my first herping spots, and I figured it would be an easy place to flip a quick redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus) to give me the herpey boost I'd need to get through the week.

The City has been doing a lot of work in the creek to improve storm water drainage into the creek and restore/improve the creek bed. The last time I was here I found equipment and sections of enormous pipe waiting to be buried. This time I found graded earth covered with straw and, presumably, grass seed.


Further along the dirt road along the creek I found new trees planted back into the woods.

I also found my target species, this a 'lead' back phase. I didn't look under very many logs to find it, but that's the nice thing about red backs. Sure they're so damn common I might get sick of them, but they're there when I need them.