Red-legged frog sighted at Wavecrest

Comment 1 by Barry Parr  on  Jul 20  at  12:57am  •  All my comments • 

I’ve been told there is more information about Wavecrest at:

http://wavecrest.sanmateo.org/

…as well as some very wet-looking photos of Wavecrest at:

http://wavecrest.sanmateo.org/wetwavecrest/wetwavecrest.html

Can anybody comment on the migration habits of the RLF? Given that it was found near the drainage ditch and connected parts of that same ditch run very close to the proposed housing development, what are the chances of finding RLF on other areas of the site?

Here is some more detailed info on the RLF from enature.com

California Red-legged Frog Rana aurora draytonii

Habitat: Usually found near sheltered ponds or other permanent water with extensive vegetation. Also seen during rains traveling over land between ponds or other waters. [So its habitat could easily extend into the proposed housing development, particularly during the winter]

Voice: Series of weak throaty notes, rather harsh, lasting 2-3 seconds.

Breeding: December to March. Egg masses laid in permanent bodies of water.

Endangered Status: The California Red-legged Frog, a subspecies of the Red-legged Frog, is on the U.S. Endangered Species List. It is classified as threatened in California. A wide variety of factors contributed to the precipitous decline in California Red-legged Frog populations. The species, which once ranged over much of California from Point Reyes to the Sierra foothills and south to Baja California, can no longer be found in 70 percent of its former range and now survives in fewer than 250 streams in central coastal California. Placer mining in the 1800s, which resulted in clogged and muddy streams, dealt the first blow. Later, the frog was heavily harvested for food, and it is estimated that some 80,000 frogs were killed per year. The non-native Bullfrog was introduced when the Red-legged population declined, and the new frog furthered the native frog’s decline by preying on it. Throughout the 20th century, agricultural, industrial, and residential development and the accompanying irrigation practices, reservoir building, damming, and water channeling irreparably altered the frog’s habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plan for the California Red-legged Frog involves surveying, monitoring, and studying frog populations; protecting existing populations by reducing threats to them; restoring and creating habitat and placing it under protection and management; and re-establishing populations of the species within the historic range.