mtnotter's Journal

Knox County will be participating for the first time in the international City Nature Challenge. Over 200 cities are competing from April 24th – April 27th to see who can observe the most wildlife, record the most species and reach the most people.

Locally we’re competing with Chattanooga, Nashville and Washington County (Johnson City). To see a list of cities around the world that are competing, visit: https://citynaturechallenge.org/

Anyone can participate! Just make iNaturalist observations of wild animals, plants, fungi, you name it, during the challenge dates anywhere in Knox County. If you make the observations offline, be sure to upload them before the challenge is over.

To get updates to the challenge (events, status, etc.) you can “join” the challenge by visiting the project page: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2020-knox-county-tn

Tell your friends! We want to get as many people as possible looking for wildlife. I’ve tagged our current iNaturalist observers in Knox County in hopes you’ll participate and get your friends and family involved.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments section!

@vils_bioblitz_carter @chuck522 @katieashdown @bob11 @willkuhn @mfawver @bioblitz_aggregate_account @knorrbert @reallifeecology @nataliebee @stoat77 @naturalistinprogress @tinylemur @aplante @southdoylemiddle @sarahroth @trillium3 @sherchapman @candicejanco @kristenholbrook @ezefferman @ashley_bradford @randysmall @bwilkerson @bwade57 @jjmiller @cavemander17 @jcniemeyer @bdink @tinynail @tylermowery @jacobtyo @nickolusstahlman @lmcfaddin @rangerstephanie @tkoosman @andrealudwig @wilfredpost @jacwo2 @nataliatalace @layla @caterpillarscount @andrewcore @emilym_5 @blancadog @elliotgreiner @ogaoue @theboojum @thowe @adambean @d2b @caralynpoole @kmcmaha7 @atpaterson @lagoondon @sudaven @smgrayson @rforbes8 @jeremy62 @georgedanielson @skiss @joyg @errrosie @earthmomma @jessicajvenable @vols1998 @lrussoutk @sat_fat_skushi @airalcorn2 @coragrabel @laurel-steam-team @joncoffee @resplash @hannahhannah @hearthawk @dengregg @kdaniel20816 @wpb636 @pocketwitch @amy12 @scott916 @sadams48 @ryanfrangoul @janet8 @allisonvon @zkilleffer @sylvia_ @jessycasterling @appalachianladdy @ijamsnaturecenter @russelldu @heather377 @claredattilo @bug_eric @logpark @elfinjulie @janiehetu @casonberk @tjessel @benjaminfitzpatrick @logan13 @billpalmer @khenderson @qhensleh @viridi-seed-project-manager @cjward7 @cfry1 @jhuntoon @diana_sevier @billywelch @lbislander @hailey66 @rjvichich

Well, it's not that bad, but it was a bit of a bleak day. The weather fluctuated from cloudy to partly sunny all day, ending in a drizzle that lasted long enough to get everything wet. Even though temps were in the high 50's, I didn't notice any activity as the cold front passed through. We're supposed to have our first hard freeze tonight, with a low around 27. Tomorrow night is expected to dip to the low 20's.

We've had several light frosts starting in early November, but not enough to send my Purple Coneflower into dormancy. All of my Pokeweed and Queen Anne's Lace are dried up, though, and most of my Butterfly Weed has let go of its seeds. The azalea's are a beautiful yellow and the blueberry bush is a nice red. Most of the other deciduous plants have long since turned brown and lost their leaves.

I left on a trip on November 7th and the leaf colors were at their peak. When I returned on the 9th most of the colors had dulled significantly. It changed so quick.

Now I'm looking forward to planning a new layout and planting new plants to expand my pollinator garden. Two to three months of dreaming and planning and hopefully next spring I'll be able to attract even more to my yard.

I was raking leaves today and noticed that the lid on my water meter well was askew. Took a look inside and found this nice looking skink (Scincella lateralis). It's a new species for my yard. I believe he had fallen in and was trapped. Although, I noticed that for the first time there weren't any spiders, so I don't think he'd gone hungry for long. It was in the upper 50's and sunny, so I put the lid back on and let him go closer to my butterfly garden.

Attended the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network's annual meeting on Saturday with Karen and Doug and met May Berenbaum, author of "Bugs in the System". This was followed by a lunch meeting with Doug and Karen about monitoring network logistics.

Sunday we spent the afternoon at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The grounds are amazing, especially considering that you're in such a large city. Of course, being the animal person that I am, I was the most excited about seeing a hawk, even though it is a very common hawk. Plants are great, but for some reason I'm more fascinated by the animals that visit the plants, and especially the animals that eat the animals that visit the plants.

Monday I had just enough time to see The Field Museum (another excellent place to visit) with Karen before leaving for home.

Spent the afternoon trying to tag Monarchs at Knoxville Botanical Gardens from 12-4pm. Saw only a few Monarchs but several other butterflies were active along with plenty of bees. Temps were in the upper 50's, winds varied from brief periods of calm to a moderate breeze and the sky varied from mostly cloudy to mostly sunny. Patty and Eddy joined me for awhile, and then three new folks stopped by to help for the remainder of the afternoon.