http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper By Bryan D. Hughes, Future Darwin-Award Winner Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:15:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/10/13/american-bullfrog/ This little Arizona Tree Frog (Hyla wrightorum) was spotted by Floyd on a recent trip down South.  Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/10/11/arizona-tree-frog-my-first/ Kris gets revenge on a neonate Whipsnake. Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/10/08/eye-for-an-eye/ Here's from a trip way back in May, where Kris and I struck out on snakes, but not for lack of effort. We hiked so hard I seriously had trouble walking the next day, and it takes quite a bit to do that to me. We got up before the sun ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/10/05/supertrail/ ... a couple pictures from a recent trip that failed to produce my target species, but provided some nice practice with my HDR technique. Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/10/01/skull-valley-arizona/ During the early summer I went to Idaho to visit some friends, and took the opportunity to route a 'herpable' route back home. I did what I could, and managed to turn up a few Great Basin Gophersnakes (Pituophis catenifer deserticola) along the way. An antelope running from me: Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/09/06/gophersnakes-in-central-utah/ Here are a couple more Banded Rock Rattlesnakes (Crotalus lepidus kauberi) found while searching for willardi this year. Here is an adult male of average size, and probably the prettiest I've seen of this species in my limited experience. ... and another young male out and about in the night. Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/09/03/banded-rock-rattlesnakes/ For the non-herpers: A 'lifer' is the first encounter with an animal. What could be considered a first encounter differs from person to person. Mine is a satisfactory experience where I am able to photograph it and basically be in a situation where I can stare at it until I'm ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/30/3-lifers-in-a-day/ Being out in the wildnerness looking for snakes puts a person in a lot of attractive surrounding, and every trip comes with a story. Here are a few HDR (and non HDR) pictures taken in-between snakes. This one is (we believe) an impromptu grave. It was found just 3 or 4 ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/27/field-herping-byproducts/ Here's a neonate we found out and about in South Eastern Arizona. Pissy little guy with a bright red nose. Maybe that's why he was so upset. Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/24/sonoran-whipsnake-coluber-bilineatus/ With the rain come the animals, and then me out after them. Trips have been productive, and I'm proud to say I've knocked several species off my life list. Rather than post a bunch of mega-threads, I'll just throw out my 2008 monsoon season one animal at a time. It seems ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/21/banded-rock-rattlesnake-crotalus-lepidus-klauberi/ Here's my second-ever Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii) I've ever found. The somewhat surreal look to the pictures is due to a compositing technique known as HDR, which are becoming quite popular these days. Fortunately for me, a goo 90% of the HDR pictures out there are of old barns or ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/18/speckled-rattlesnake/ Here's a good example of the diamondbacks that live up in Yavapai county. A lot of the same greys we see down closer to Phoenix, but a little better contrast in my experience. Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/15/western-diamondback-rattlesnake-2/ On a slow night, we found a young Black-Tailed Rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus) out and about. I got a few pictures, but the area wasn't pose-friendly. Oh well ... a nice snake regardless. Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/12/black-tailed-rattlesnake-2/ Early one morning ... "Oh, hi! Let me take a picture of you!" "Hmm, a little out of focus. let me try agaaaIIIIIHHH!!!!" ~ The End ~ Share http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/09/a-snake-story/ ... continued from parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Here are some more pictures from the drive back to Arizona. That night we stayed just inside New Mexico, and spent a few hours along the border. ... when herps are few, you'll get scenery pictures. In the night, we found a couple toads ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/06/new-mexico-trip-july-2008-part-6/ ... continued from parts 1, 2, 3, and 4. We went for a short hike along the Delaware River in the afternoon. Temperatures were a little too hot to see much other than some whiptails. I did get some pictures of a softshell turtle. It was my first, so I was ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/08/03/new-mexico-trip-july-2008-part-5/ ... continued from part 1, 2 and 3. In the morning we went to see the caves. I'll keep this post separate, since it's a lot of cave pictures, and this site isn't called caveexplorer.com. If you want to see more, I uploaded the full set to my Flickr account. That's it for ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/07/31/new-mexico-trip-july-2008-part-4/ ... continued from part 1 and part 2. We eventually arrived at my parent's house in Carlsbad mid-morning. After relaxing a bit, we went out to an area near town to see what there is to see. I brought my parents with me as well. Here's my mom holding a Red-Spotted Toad ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/07/28/new-mexico-trip-july-2008-part-3/ ... continued from part 1. We crossed into New Mexico about a half hour after dark and headed East. We found another young Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) pretty quickly. It had a pretty minimal pattern on it, and had more pink coloration than I'm used to seeing in the Phoenix ... http://fieldherper.com/fieldherper/2008/07/25/new-mexico-trip-july-2008-part-2/