Journal archives for February 2017

February 2, 2017

Observation of the Week, 2/2/17

This Lesser Oriental Chevrotain, seen in Thailand by @juddpatterson, is our Observation of the Week!

Just outside of Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan National Park is a series of watering holes that had originally been created by poachers. In dry times, many animals, including Scaly-breasted Partridges, White-rumped Shamas, Southern Red Muntjacs, and even King Cobras came to the watering holes and were easy prey for the poachers.

However, in 2009, “a couple of locals worked with the poachers to try a more sustainable strategy by giving birders and photographers access to these hides,” says Judd Patterson. “ Any initial skepticism quickly evaporated as hundreds of people scheduled visits. The demand continues to grow and now visitors from all over the world enjoy the abundant wildlife and pay the former-poachers a small fee for the privilege.”

Judd works for the National Park Service as a Data Manager for the Inventory and Monitoring Program, and in his free time is an avid bird watcher and bird photographer. He visited these watering holes and, behind a blind, photographed many animals, including the Lesser Oriental Chevrotain pictured above.

Chevrotains are part of the Tragulidae family of ungulates, and are also known as mouse-deer. They’re considered primitive ruminants, and are thought to be somewhat more like pigs than other ruminants, sharing the trait of four toes on each foot. The Lesser Oriental Chevrotain is considered the smallest of all ungulates, weighing in at no more than 2 kg (4.4 lbs), and its diminutive size helps it move quickly through the forest when it needs to. It is found through much of Southeast Asia.

“My first exposure came during the 2016 NPS Centennial when I was asked to assist with the Kings Mountain National Military Park bird bioblitz in South Carolina,” says Judd, photographing an ‘Akohekohe in Mau’i above). “It didn't take long for the expansive taxonomy, slick smartphone app, and mapping feature to capture my attention.

“Beyond birds I now stalk flowers for insects and butterflies, pester my botanically inclined friends for identification help, hope for help on mushrooms that pop up in the yard, and pause longer to study the fish that are flashing through the water. One of the most exciting elements of iNaturalist to me is the Identotron feature that is continually being fed and improved by new observations and identifications. Where else can you find an ever-adapting list of the most common species for any region and taxonomic level?”

- by Tony Iwane


- Here’s 10 adorable minutes of a Lesser Oriental Chevrotain doing some munching. Recorded at a watering hole outside of Kaeng Krachan.

- An article about the how the poachers’ watering holes were transformed into wildlife viewing areas.

- Judd also posts his bird photos at Birds in Focus.

Posted on February 2, 2017 06:41 PM by tiwane tiwane | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 9, 2017

Observation of the Week, 2/9/17

This Pompelon marginata moth, seen in Singapore by @sohkamyung, is our Observation of the Week!

“I had always been interested in nature, having been brought up on nature documentaries by Sir David Attenborough, but I only got more hands-on with nature recently,” says Kam Yung Soh. “A few years ago, we (including my wife and 10 year old son) decided to sign up for a butterfly count organised by the Singapore National Parks Board. It was a fantastic experience and since then, the family has been going out on weekends to the various parks and nature reserves in Singapore to discover nature, especially insects and butterflies. My wife and son are the ones who usually spot the creatures, which I then proceed to shoot.”

“I'm actually an Electrical Engineer by training. Neither me nor my family have any formal training in biology or natural history,” explains Kam Yung. “But my son is now pretty good at identifying butterflies, especially after we got the book A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore by noted local butterfly expert SK Khew.”

The Pompelon marginata moth that he photographed above was found during a family outing at Mount Faber Park in Singapore. “As we were walking along a shaded path, we saw an iridescent blue insect fluttering in the air,” recalls Kam Yung. “We initially thought it was a butterfly and wondered what kind of butterfly it might be. It was only after it had settled on a leaf, fortunately just next to the walking path, that we realised that it was a moth; and a beautiful one too.” The moth was identified by local expert Foo Jit Leang as Pompelon marginata.

Ranging throughout much of Southeast Asia, the Pompelon marginata moth is a day-flying species that hosts on Wild Cinnamon (Cinnamomum sp.), around which it is often found. Look carefully at the back of its head and you can see a hint of the brilliant red that covers much of its thorax and abdomen, which is broken up by black dots. This species is considered to be a Euploea butterfly mimic.

A passionate citizen scientist, Mr. Soh posts his photos to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ as well as iNaturalist, and he hopes they “will help to encourage friends to be more adventurous and see nature in the wild, and not just in the local zoo.”

“Using iNaturalist has changed the way I see nature by making me be more observant, especially for the smaller creatures like insects. It is probably a common mis-belief that Singapore is a completely urban place,” says Kam Yung. “The IDs of my sightings by fellow iNaturalist users have also helped educate me on the fascinating natural behaviour of the various creatures I observed, instead of just having a photographic record of them.”

- by Tony Iwane


- Here’s a nice PDF on P. marginata from Nature in Singapore. There are some cool photos and a Tachinid maggot that emerged out of on caterpillar.

- Check out more moths and butterflies of Singapore in their respective projects.

Posted on February 9, 2017 07:37 PM by tiwane tiwane | 1 comment | Leave a comment

February 14, 2017

(Bonus) Observation of the Week, 2/13/17

This group of Harlequin Ducks, seen in Canada by @slrtweedale, is our (Bonus) Observation of the Week!

This belated Observation of the Week comes from Sarah Tweedale. Enjoy!

“As a young girl I’d wander the forest and beach taking delight in exploring what was beneath the rocks on the beach, and in the forest fascinated by everything about it: the trees, and the way they danced in the wind, the different kinds of bark on the various trees, the bugs in the forest floor amongst the cedar bits and fir cones,” writes Sarah. “Finding fungus was like finding a treasure, and the discovery of little stands of Indian Pipe that sprung from the forest floor when the conditions were right, was a wonder to me, as was their pale translucency.” She also learned about photography from her father’s old Zeiss Ikon camera when she was a teenager.

With her career and her family, Sarah’s photography “took something of a back shelf. But not my eagerness to keep learning.” After retiring, she’s had more time to explore the surroundings of her home on Galiano Island, one of the Southern Gulf Islands in Canada’s British Columbia and work on her photography “with both my Canon 70 D and, very conveniently my iPhone.”

Sarah takes her Golden Retriever out for walks in the morning, and says “I meander out to the water’s edge by our flagpole and enjoy the feel of the breeze, sounds of seals, eagles, herons, songbirds, and in the winter, the early morning feeding of various ducks...on the morning I captured the photo of the Harlequins, I was just plain fortunate that I got to the edge of the water before our dog did, as she’d have flushed them off, and there they were, lined up on the rocks. There was little wind, so the waves were small, and the water fairly silky smooth. It made for a happy shot!”

Spectacular diving ducks that live along the northern coasts of North America, Harlequin ducks prefer rough coastal waters and and quickly flowing streams, where they search for the invertebrates and fish that make up their diet. In fact, researchers have found that many adult Harlequin ducks have evidence of broken bones, which is believed to be from their turbulent habitats. Unlike many other ducks, Harlequins make a “squeaky” noise when communicating; they are sometimes called “sea mice.”

Sarah uses iNaturalist to record her findings on Galiano Island, and says “In addition to logging information I find iNaturalist a wonderful resource [for] identifying and learning more about the species that live nearby. The great benefit to the whole enterprise, to me, is that the more I learn, the more I see. And the more I see, the more curious I am to learn more. iNaturalist is a great gift for a person like me. Thank you so much.”

- by Tony Iwane


- Check out more of Sarah’s photography and thoughts on her blog, Curious Spectacles.

- Here’s a short video of Montana’s Harlequin Ducks, with some cool footage of them in some quick streams.

- Harlequin ducks are a pretty interesting species. For instance, during breeding season females return to the same streams where they were born, bringing along a male they met on the coast! A longer article about them can be found here.

Posted on February 14, 2017 06:41 AM by tiwane tiwane | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 17, 2017

Observation of the Week, 2/16/17

Our Observation of the Week is this Martiodrilus earthworm, seen in Colombia by @hydaticus!

“Juan Palacio, one of my friends at [University of Texas at Austin], is from Colombia, and he invited me and another friend (Will) to the place where he did his Master’s research: Cueva de Los Guacharos National Park. Juan could not join us, unfortunately, but Will and I stayed in the park for a week,” explains Robby Deans (aka @hydaticus). “The park is known for its limestone caves and the oilbirds (Guacharos) that nest in them. We got to see many of these birds, and a variety of other awesome wildlife. Other highlights include Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, Eyelash Viper, and many great butterflies such as Rhetus dysonii and Morpho sulkowskyi.”

Robby’s current research involves aquatic invertebrates, but the invertebrate photographed above is decidedly terrestrial. “I was at the back of the group, but I could see a long thin animal slowly moving down the trail,” recalls Robby. “My first thought was that it was a snake, so I was already excited. Then, Will says he thinks it is a caecilian, and so I get even more excited. After Will picked it up and turned around so I could see it, we immediately realized it was a worm, and the two of us just started laughing at how impossibly big it was. It was definitely one of the more memorable moments of an awesome trip.”

What they found was an earthworm of the Martiodrilus genus (the first one posted to iNaturalist!), which are native to South America can can grow to several feet in length. Robby says this one appeared to be 2-3 feet long, depending on how stretched out it was. Not much is known about this genus, but like other earthworms they dig through the soil, aerating it and creating rich humus for plant life. And while Martiodrilus are large, they are dwarfed by the Giant Gippsland Earthworm from Australia, which has been recorded at around 3 meters in length!

Robby continues his research at UT and also teaches field courses, including Entomology and Vertebrate Natural History. “I [also] have started getting more into photography over the past three years, which helps me to share what I see with everyone else,” he says.

“I first started using iNaturalist just to share my photos and sightings with other people who are interested in natural history. Now that more people are using it, I use it more often to see what other people are finding. Things are always changing, and enough people are using the site now that you can really track those changes. The site also does a great job of linking other sources of information, and it is the only place I know of that has point observations on a map for all taxa together in one place.”

- by Tony Iwane


- Are there Martiodrilus videos on YouTube? Of course.

- And of course David Attenborough visits Australia’s giant worms.

- Interested in Vermicomposting? Here’s a how-to from University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Posted on February 17, 2017 04:53 AM by tiwane tiwane | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 24, 2017

An iNat Introduction to Mushrooming

As promised in this post, here's part two of a video series to help iNat users get out and exploring new taxa. This time, it's mushrooms!

Here in the Bay Area we're lucky to have Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California co-author Christian Schwarz (@leptonia) nearby, so I made a sojourn to Santa Cruz and to record some of this advice and thoughts about searching for these these crazy organisms. He's a great teacher and a real enthusiast, and I hope you find him as inspiring and helpful as I did. It was tough to finish the video because every time I started editing it, I wanted to immediately get out and find some fungi instead of staying in - and I was never particularly into them before!

The video is meant to be a very basic intro to finding and photographing mushrooms for iNaturalist; if you find yourself wanting to get more in-depth knowledge, Christian suggests joining a local mushrooming or mycological group to get some hands-on tutelage in the field.

  • Tony
Posted on February 24, 2017 12:21 AM by tiwane tiwane | 0 comments | Leave a comment

Observation of the Week, 2/23/17

Our Observation of the Week is this Cryptic mantis, seen in Zimbabwe by @i_c_riddell!

A longtime nature enthusiast, Ian Riddell has been a Ranger for Zimbabwe’s Department of National Parks since he was a student, and was a professional Safari Guide as well. “I use iNaturalist for nearly all my records,” he says, “having found it soon after it started after searching for some site where I could put my piles of records to use – and Zimbabwe showed as a big blank on the map.”

He’s since added over 600 observations from Zimbabwe (nearly half of all iNat observations there), including the stunning young Cryptic mantis seen above. As you can tell, this insect was found not on an adventure in the bush (“the bush is the colloquial term for any venture out of the city to wild places,” says Ian), but in his home.

“I noticed the mantid out of the corner of my eye whilst combing the cat! There was something ant-sized moving on a folded blanket on a verandah table,” he recalls. “Not an ant ‘cause the movement was wrong, so dashed inside to grab the camera and a gorgeous tiny mantid was revealed.”

The Cryptic mantis ranges throughout southern Africa, and females can grow up to about 5-6 cm in length, with the males a bit smaller. As an adult, it will have green, leaf-like wings and several leafy projections from his hind legs. In the photo you can see the thin prothorax behind its head, which is a trait of the species.

Ian says he’s “Still interested in all aspects of nature; in the garden, on a bird outing, a National Parks visit, bio-diversity surveying, whatever,” and currently does some work for BirdLife Zimbabwe, leads some birding trips, and writes short ornithological and travel articles. And he’s still into learning, admitting that “A lot of spare time is taken up on identifying past and present discoveries; moths are a real challenge!”

- by Tony Iwane


- Are there Cryptic mantid videos on YouTube? Of course

- Here’s an article about another amazing mantis, the Orchid Mantis.

Posted on February 24, 2017 06:53 AM by tiwane tiwane | 0 comments | Leave a comment