A few of the resources from my personal library I use or have used for identification

Acorn, J., & Sheldon, I. (2003). Bugs of Ontario. Edmonton, AB: Lone Pine Pub.

Beadle, D. and Leckie, S. (2012). Peterson field guide to moths of northeastern North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Pub. Company.

Bird, D. (2017). Birds of Canada. 2nd ed.

Carmichael, I. and Vance, A. (2003). Photo field guide to the butterflies of southern Ontario. St. Thomas, ON: St. Thomas Field Naturalist Club.

Carmichael, I., MacKenzie, A., & Steinberg, B. (2002). Photo field guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of southwestern Ontario (3rd ed.). Grand Bend, Ont.: Friends of Pinery Park.

Carmichael, I., MacKenzie, A., & Steinberg, B. (2002). Photo field guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of southwestern Ontario (3rd ed.). Grand Bend, Ont.: Friends of Pinery Park.

Dickinson, T. A. (2004). The ROM field guide to wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto: Royal Ontario museum.

Evans, A. V. (2008). Field guide to insects and spiders & related species of North America. New York: Sterling.

Floyd, T., Hess, P. and Scott, G. (2008). Smithsonian field guide to the birds of North America. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Hall, P., Jones, C., Guidotti, A. and Hubley, B. (2014). The ROM field guide to butterflies of Ontario. Toronto, Ont: Royal Ontario Museum.

Harrison, C. (1978). A field guide to the nests, eggs, and nestlings of North American birds. Cleveland: Collins.

Jones, C. D., Kingsley, A., Burke, P., & Holder, M. (2013). Field guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of Algonquin Park and the surrounding area. Whitney, Ontario: Friends of Algonquin Park.

Kagume, K., Kershaw, L. J., & Bezener, A. (2008). Ontario nature guide. Edmonton: Lone Pine Pub.

Kaufman, K. (1990). Advanced Birding. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Nikula, B., Sones, J., Stokes, D. W., & Stokes, L. Q. (2002). Stokes beginners guide to dragonflies and damselflies. Boston: Little, Brown.

Paulson, D. (2011). Dragonflies and damselflies of the east. The University Press Group Ltd.

Peterson, R. (2008). Peterson field guide to birds of North America. 1st ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Pieplow, N., DiGiorgio, M. and Peterson, R. (n.d.). Peterson field guide to bird sounds of Eastern North America.

Reader's digest. (1991). Book of North American birds. Pleasantville, New York: Reader's Digest Association.

Sheldon, I. (1997). Animal tracks of Ontario. Renton, WA: Lone Pine.

Sibley, D. (2003). The Sibley field guide to birds of western North America. New York: Knopf.

Sibley, D. (2008). The Sibley Field guide to birds of Eastern North America. New York: A.A. Knopf.

Sibley, D. (2014). The Sibley guide to birds. 2nd ed. New York: Knopf.

Stokes, D., Stokes, L. and Brown, J. (2001). Stokes beginner's guide to butterflies. Boston, Mass.: Little Brown & Company.

Weidensaul, S. (1998). National Audubon Society first field guide to birds. New York: Scholastic.

Zim, H. S., Martin, A. C., Latimer, J. P., Nolting, K. S., DeFilipps, R. A., Freund, R., & Zim, H. S. (2002). Wildflowers: a guide to familiar American flowers. New York: St. Martins Press.

Túi vải không dệt được gọi là túi thân thiện môi trường và gọi tắt là túi môi trường, tên quốc tế là “non woven bags”. Xem chi tiết tại: http://sco.lt/4huuLB

This has been a very long week followed by yet another working weekend, feeling exhausted, but looking forward for tomorrow. A friend called me from the highlands saying he would bring me some Dragonflies. Lets see what they bring me.

For more information about the Brumely Bug Bioblitz, check out our event webpage .

We kicked off National Moth Week with a great night mothing with my hosts for the GBIC2 conference @dhobern, @dschigel, and @kcopas here in Denmark. I credit dhobern with getting me into moths back in 2013 during one of his visits to CA, so it was nice to do a repeat 5 years later! Here's what we saw.

Chia sẻ nhiều lợi ích về sản phẩm túi vải không dệt và túi vải môi trường. Xem thêm: http://sco.lt/5DyWyP

...to everyone who participated in our BioBlitzes--we just get better at this every year!

Let us know if you have any ideas about how to improve the event, or if you want to volunteer to help organize the next one.

It's now officially Sunday, so the 4th Annual Sagehen BioBlitz has ended. Thanks to Lynn, Janet and Ashley for organizing, to all the expert naturalists who volunteered their time today, and to everyone who showed up to help us document life in the Sagehen Basin!

Even with only 14 people having uploaded observations so far, it looks like we have smashed the previous goalposts for number of total observations, and number of species observed. I can't wait to see what the numbers look like when everyone has contributed!

I created an umbrella project so you can compare the past 'Blitzes with this year. Check it out here.

Some of the day's great observations so far include a new Juniper species for the basin from Janet Zipser Zipkin! Alex Gallandt and I sprinted all over looking for a horsetail (Equisetum hymenale) that I saw this spring and only belatedly realized was a new species for the list. This was my/our third trip to look for it, and today we finally succeeded in collecting the plant for the Sagehen herbarium.

These discoveries may not seem like a big deal until you realize that researchers and students have been aggressively collecting all over the Sagehen basin for 68 years now. There's no telling who will make the next big discovery, so get your observations uploaded soon, before you get busy and forget!

We have missed a number of watches this year. We finally got out to Berry Springs Park and discovered terrible water levels (I sound like a broken record, but this is what we are seeing everywhere). We walked in the creek bottom and didn't get muddy.

An Eastern Kingbird greeted us in the parking lot. That was a bit of an indicator of things to come.

It was a surprisingly good night for observations. We heard Green Tree Frogs, Blanchard's Cricket Frogs, and Rio Grande Leopard Frogs. Our recordings of them were from Berry's Creek Just below the dam. We also heard and recorded Cricket Frogs at the pond, but did not report because the recordings are poor. Others heard an American Bullfrog (we saw it, but did not get a photo).

Other than that we observed 2 Great Blue Herons (saw one and heard the second as it flew up the creek while we were recording frogs). There were three Yellow-Crowned Night Herons around the pond and a few snakes. I only saw and photographed a Diamondback watersnake. It was moving fast and I captured a bit of his midsection.

I took a few photos of plants because I want to document what's growing, for my future reference. For now I'm attaching those observations reported.

Having been blessed with an excess of energy at the beginning of the summer, I went out in the field again on June 16 on a trip organized by the Mt Cuba Center, and led by Emily Tinalli and Renee Kemmerer, to see some typical New Jersey Pine Barrens flora at the Franklin Parker Preserve.

We started off outside the preserve, examining a roadside patch of candyroot (orange milkwort). A wet ditch nearby held a variety of other interesting plants, including bog clubmoss and bushy bluestem. Entering the preserve, we followed a sand road across the old CNJ Southern Division, picking up typical dry-habitat species like bearberry, pine barren sandwort, and goat's rue. Thanks to directions (and transport) from Mark Szutarski, we got to examine a field nearby which held a spectacular specimen of clasping milkweed.

A wetland below one of the former cranberry bogs held a nice example of Sparganium americanum (bur-reed), with its distinctive infructescences. Our path led us through typical pitch pine-scrub oak forest, with a varied and mostly ericaceous understory, to a fen on the branch that drains the eastern portion of the old bogs into the West Branch of the Wading. A few rose pogonias were still blooming, and the bladderworts are in flower. Encouraged to explore the fen, we cautiously brachiated from white-cedar to white-cedar, finding Sabatia difformis blooming and Lophiola aurea under way. Perhaps the best find was a single Narthecium americanum, the yellow asphodel--extirpated from the rest of its range (where it never seems to have had more than a tenuous footing in historical times), its beautiful yellow spikes are no longer to be seen except in the watersheds of a few Pine Barrens rivers.

The herps were also on hand: I spotted a carpenter frog happily bobbing in the cedar water, and a green frog sheltering near some sundews at water's edge. (Sadly, no picture of the king snake that swam up to join the action shortly after Emily plunged into the fen.) The hot trek back along the old bog edges did reveal a Nuttallanthus canadensis popping up in the dry sand.

I went over to Webb's Mill afterwards and shot a few pictures I haven't logged yet, but by then I was out of water and ready to go home. Still, a good day, and an interesting return to the Pine Barrens after several years away.

Through trial and error, I have learned how to properly photograph mushrooms for ID.

First, photograph the mushroom from the top and the side. Then carefully dig up the mushroom. This will expose any underground structures. Then photograph the underside of the cap. If possible, bring a ruler with you to record size.

Note the texture of the mushroom. Is it dry or slimy? Sniff the mushroom. Is there any odor?

You will need to check for bruising, which is a color change when the mushroom is damaged. Squeeze the stem. You may have to wait a few seconds. Use a pocketknife to cut the underside of the cap. Does it change color? If your mushroom has gills and a milky fluid starts to leak out, it belongs to the genus Lactarius.

If the mushroom is on the ground, what kind of trees are growing around it? Most mushrooms will only be present around certain types of trees. If it's on wood, what kind of wood? Is the wood alive or dead?

This page has more details on note-taking: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/collecting.html

An important mushroom identification feature is the spore print color. How to make a spore print: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/spore_print.html Warning: most state and federal lands do not allow mushroom collection. Check with park rules before taking home a mushroom.

Butterflies and Dragonflies in the yard around the pool today.

After finishing work with Morgan on the morning of the 15th, I decided to turn northward along the Susquehanna to look for a different set of ferns. The mica-schist ranges of the River Hills provide dry, acid rock crevices, judiciously fed by seepage permeating through the outcrops, which favor Asplenium montanum and its allopolyploid descendants A. bradleyi and A. pinnatifidum. In the early 20th century, the hybrid A. × gravesii (A. bradleyi × pinnatifidum) was several times reported, but A. bradleyi itself is pretty hard to find these days. I know of some good spleenwort sites on local preserves, such as Kelly's Run and Tucquan Glen, but I also wanted to seek out some less-visited areas that might still harbor undiscovered treasures.

First, I checked on a known locality on the York County side of the river; a fallen tree made it tricky to access part of the site, but A. pinnatifidum and its backcross with A. montanum, A. × trudellii, were still occupying their familiar ledges, together with the usual tufts of A. montanum tucked into dry ledges and an A. platyneuron above in the woods.

From there, I headed up the river to visit the Muddy Run Wildlife Management Area. Muddy Run, a historic locality for spleenworts, has been dammed to form a pumped storage reservoir. However, the valley below the reservoir is not only preserved, but publicly accessible.

My initial foray down-valley seemed disappointing. Unlike the narrow gorges at Tucquan Glen or Benton Hollow, there didn't seem to be much outcrop in the hillsides. Ferns were the pretty standard woodland ones of the area; I didn't find marginal wood fern, a common haunter of rocky hillsides, until much further downvalley, testifying to the deeper soils.

As I bushwhacked around on the steep slopes downvalley, trying to avoid bouncing several hundred feet downhill onto the Port Road, outcrops and a xeric, acid forest began to reveal themselves. The reptiles were out in force, a box turtle and garter snake making their appearance. After photographing a chestnut stump sprout near a large outcropping, I tracked down some A. montanum in its crevices. There wasn't much else around...until I found a smaller outcrop nearby that was hosting a nice small colony of A. pinnatifidum. Dutifully crossing a valley and inspecting some more outcrops, I finally found the real prize of the day: a new station for A. bradleyi. It was probably known to the old-timers, but not reported anytime recently. Sadly, I didn't see any little plantlets around it; just an evergreen tuft clinging to its little niche in the schist. Still, it's always thrilling to be able to report another example of this rare fern.

Six people joined me this morning for the monthly group walk on Hill Country Conservancy's Nalle Bunny Run wildlife preserve. When I arrived at the preserve a little before 7:00 I heard a Painted Bunting singing nearby and I was able to get a couple photos. Here it is at the top of a Cedar Elm tree:

Unfortunately when we started the walk with the group, we heard this bird a few times but were unable to see it. We heard many more birds that we actually saw this morning, but we saw plenty of cool stuff. On our way down the hill we found a pair of Lesser Goldfinches, and I briefly saw the female go to a spot where I heard juvenile begging. And after looking closely I realized it was a nest! (See the attached observation.)

At the spring I found this feather that really puzzled me for awhile. I consulted @davescott who co-wrote this great field guide to feathers, and his opinion is that it's from a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. Also at the spring @natashahaggard found this Texas Cave Scorpion! So cool, and a first for the Nalle Bunny Run!

Down on the sandy prairie we got to watch a (probable) family group of five or six Western Kingbirds. Here's one of them:

Insects and plants were much easier to observe this morning. Some of the plants the group enjoyed seeing, feeling, smelling and tasting included Mustang Grape, Toothache Tree, Camphor Weed, croton, Gum Bumelia, Anacua tree, Kidneywood, and Blackjack Oak.

Cool insects included a lifer dragonfly for me, this male Five-striped Leaftail we found down by the Chimney Swift tower:

Four-striped Leaftails are much more common, and @greglasley has this great web page explaining the difference. Look at those blue eyes!

See the attached observations for a few more cool things, including a very scary robber fly.

Here's our complete bird list on eBird.

Here are my photos on Flickr.

And here are all the observations Natasha Haggard made this morning. Thanks Natasha!

I am most probably making a run up to the Upper Buffalo National River/Northern Ozark area of Arkansas the week of August 6th and thought I would throw it out here to see if anyone had an interest in joining in at some point. I know it's short notice, but figured I would throw this out here and see if anyone has any interest of exploring outside of Texas. I will be going that way regardless. I thought it may be novel to NOT be the only one taking pictures of any and everything I see whilst roaming there.

The area is full of trails, both long and short, that are mostly very well shaded with cool water mountain streams and rivers always close by. Plus the added draw of grotto's, waterfalls and the odd small cave (which are some of the few open in the Ozarks outside of show caves). Which are all a big draw to me right now with this lovely "balmy" weather we are currently enjoying in TX.

I tend to sleep in Jasper Arkansas and iNat around the Newton County area, up and down the Boxley Scenic Drive area to Ponca and over to Jasper. I always seem to find something new every time I hit the area. Here's my obv's so far.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=1391&user_id=oddfitz&verifiable=any&view=species
Yes, I know I have a salamander problem.... And there is a small pond in the Henry Koen Experimental Forest that was loaded with Spotted sally egg masses early in the year, that I want to check back on. I haven't hit the odonata's as hard as I should have in the area, not to mention the plants (shush @sambiology), as I tend to get sidetracked on the herps (I still need to find a Pygmy Rattlesnake there).

Jasper is a small town with a few small family run hotels that tend to cater to hikers, canoers and bikers. Not the Ritz, but bed and showers type places, plus a couple of good cafes in town. There is also the Steel Creek campground next to Ponca for any that may prefer a tent.
https://www.nps.gov/buff/planyourvisit/camping.htm

Copying many that I have meet over the course of the last year or so as well as many of those that will be mothing this week. I'll be at Strawn Friday and Saturday am if anyone wants to chat in person or respond here if there is any interest.
@sambiology @annikaml @cgritz @kimberlietx @brentano @tfandre @tadamcochran @walkingstick2 @wildcarrot @butterflies4fun @catenatus @galactic_bug_man @aguilita @andyk @cwd912nb @cameralenswrangler @greg1414 @daniel112 @fiddleman @drtifflipsett @bob777 @jblinde @rehb @charley @lkholt @k8thegr8 @itmndeborah @birdsbatsandbugs @katelyn3 @kalamurphyking @mchlfx @sammyjames @mnbrewer @cdroz105 @littlebitt_of_nature @fratto @valt @jwn @schylerbrown @sara39 @cosmiccat @lbullington24 @gcwarbler @briangooding @sarahg @justjenny7 @bosqueaaron @postoak @spqnancy @betsymarsh @dorothy12 @lovebirder @amynature @daricrogers @apcorboy @naturemom @greglasley @lulubelle @pfau_tarleton @mikeintyler @nanofishology @alisonnorthup @hydaticus

P. S. What I would really like, if there were two or three folks who were adventurous and not claustrophobic who may want to spend a day over in Stone County at Blanchard Springs Caverns Recreation area about an hour and a half east of Jasper. The cave is managed by the US Forest Service and is amazing. I have been on the basic Dripstone Trail in the cave as the longer Discovery Trail is only open from June to August due to the bats that hibernate there. But I'd like to go on the Wild cave tour to see if we can turn up any troglobite species. I was fortunate enough to get shots of an Ozark Blind Grotto Salamander and a species of troglobite Harvestman on the upper short trail. But from what I understand this cave has pseudoscorpions, a type of beetle and other "creepy crawlies" further in.... Speaking to a couple of the rangers who work the cave, they have also seen the occasional cave crawfish. The area surround the cave and spring is amazing and has lots of observation opportunities as well.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/osfnf/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5351305

Happy National Moth Week!!

Our first day has observations rolling in by the minute with over 600 observations so far! If you do not see your country represented please add a comment below so we can add your country as a project and don’t forget to register your public or private event here: http://nationalmothweek.org/register-a-nmw-event-2018/

See below for a breakdown on regions with the most observations so far!

Top 3 continents
1. North America
2. Europe
3. Asia

Top 3 countries
1. United States
2. Canada
3. United Kingdom

Top 3 US States
1. Alabama
2. New York
3. Texas

BioBlitz – Les 10 et 11 août 2018
Venez découvrir avec nous la diversité des espèces qu’abrite le parc national de Pukaskwa. Un BioBlitz est une activité palpitante où des scientifiques, des naturalistes et des visiteurs se regroupent pour repérer et identifier le plus grand nombre possible d’espèces en 24 heures! Passez une journée à la recherche d’insectes, de plantes et d’animaux en compagnie de nos étonnants biologistes et spécialistes. Venez en famille et profitez des activités pour les gens de tous âges!

Le calendrier des événements
Le 10 août 2018
De 12 h à 13 h : Introduction et ouverture d’inscription pour le BioBlitz avec le personnel de Parcs Canada
De 13 h à 14 h : Plantes vasculaires et fougères avec Robert Routledge
De 14 h à 15 h : Papillons avec Amy Mackie
De 18 h à 19 h : Marche sur la médecine avec Raphael Moses
De 19 h à 20 h : Observer les oiseaux avec Carter Dorscht (apportez vos jumelles!)

Le 11 août 2018
De 7 h à 8 h : Observer les oiseaux avec Carter Dorscht (apportez vos jumelles!)
De 9 h à 10 h : Reptiles avec Amanda Layng
De 10 h à 11 h : Piégeage avec John Twance
De 11 h à 12 h : Thé sur la médecine avec Raphael Moses

(L’horaire peut être modifié sans préavis.)

Bioblitz – August 10 & 11, 2018
Join us as we discover the diversity of species found in Pukaskwa National Park. A BioBlitz is an exciting event where scientists, naturalists and visitors get together to find and identify as many species as possible in 24 hours! Spend a day looking for insects, plants and animals with amazing field biologists and specialists. Bring the whole family: there will be activities for all ages!

Bioblitz schedule
August 10, 2018
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.: Introduction/Sign in for Bio Blitz Event with Parks Canada Staff
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.: Vascular plants and ferns with Robert Routledge
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Butterflies with Amy Mackie
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.: Medicine walk with Raphael Moses
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.: Bird watching with Carter Dorscht (bring your binoculars!)

August 11, 2018
7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.: Bird watching with Carter Dorscht (bring your binoculars!)
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Reptiles with Amanda Layng
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Trapping with John Twance
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Medicine tea with Raphael Moses

(Schedule is subject to change without notice.)

In my last essay I suggested that advocating on behalf of native plants required demonstrating a dollar value for native plants in order to change any attitudes among typical landowners. I realize that the people likely to see my essays already value native plants for deeper, more visceral reasons than money, but I can't think of any consideration other than money that's likely to change attitudes or behaviors of landowners who are currently disinterested in native plants. Since I haven't discovered any easy way to translate native plant seed grown on my own place into money, the money value of the seed might not be the best point to use in advocating on behalf of native plants. But maybe there are other ways to connect native plants to money.

One possible money connection that has occurred to me is the possibility that cattle might use native plants to self medicate. I thought of this possible connection by comparing my cattle farm with that of a neighbor. With his 15 foot bush hog and air conditioned tractor to pull it, he clips his pastures several times each growing season, greatly reducing the ability of his cattle to nibble anything other than forage species. With my worn out 10 foot bush hog and open tractor, I clip only once per season, except where cockle burrs are bad, and then only twice. Every health issue that happens to cattle always seems to hit his herd worse than mine. Pink eye is running through his herd this year. Several of his cows got so sick with it that he took them to the vet for shots. I've had six cases and none got sick enough to require any intervention. He spends lots more money than me on mineral because he buys mineral laced with antibiotic to protect against anaplasmosis, which has affected a number of his cattle. I buy ordinary mineral and so far have had no cases of anaplasmosis. He's had 11 still born calves in the last 2 years. I've had zero still born calves, not only in the last two years but several years prior to that. He attributes the different health outcomes to me being the luckiest fellow there ever was, but I think we must be doing something different.

On the matter of the still born calves I suggested that I made a better choice of herd sires than he did. At first his push back was that the auctioneer at the bull auction said "Easy going and easy calving."

"But" I asked, " did you get a piece of paper to back that up?" He did have a registration paper for his bull, but he hadn't looked at it. I asked to look at it. It showed that the bull he chose had a calving ease value of one. I had gotten cost share money when I selected my current sire and the sire I selected had to have a calving ease value of at least 4 to qualify for the money. I told him about the cost share opportunity but he didn't apply. It involved fulfilling an educational requirement. The mere mention of the word education puts him off. Once I showed him something to back up my point, he loaded his bull up, sold it and bought a new one with higher calving ease values.

On other health differences between our herds, I suggested to him that my cows might self medicate on the weeds they find in my shaggy pastures. He replied that he liked to be able to find his cattle. I have no hard evidence I can show him that might sway him to mow less frequently. And I can't name which plants in my pastures might be the ones cows munch on when they're feeling bad. I did find with a simple search that cattle self medicating is a real thing.- http://orgprints.org/8282/1/engel_animal__self-medication.pdf - Here's a quote from the article on suggested research protocols - "Provide an environment that closely matches the species’ natural habitat in order to observe and utilize self-help strategies. "

It isn't studied much because there are no monied interests that would stand to gain from the findings. Instead a number of monied interests would likely lose by farmers employing less maintenance to their pastures. Perhaps those native plant lovers who are also connected to Academia could use their influence to push for more research in this area.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14439598

Since getting obsessed with iNaturalist again about a week ago after a very long hiatus. I find myself looking just a little bit closer at everything and finding that I see differences in things that I just lumped into one group. It reminds me of when I suddenly recognized that beech drops as their own thing a few years ago. They had always just registered as dead plants on the forest floor. As soon as I saw one, I could see them everywhere and almost couldn't see how I ever could have overlooked them.

Yesterday I was out for a walk and took a photo of a Japanese Beetle because I thought it would just be fun to add it to my iNaturalist collection but I didn't think much about it. It was just a Japanese beetle. They're everywhere.

"Japanese Beetle"

But when I went in to ID it for sure, I realized it was not a Japanese Beetle at all. It seems to be a Dogbane Leaf Beetle, something I didn't even know existed. Suddenly, all greenish metallic beetles aren't just Japanese Beetles anymore.

It's like putting on glasses for the first time when you had no idea your vision was not 20/20.

Hey all of you wonderful moth-ers!

Today is the first day of National Moth Week, which runs through Sunday, July 29. I want to encourage everyone to watch your porchlights closely over the next 9 nights and log as many moths as you can to the iNat app, using the Moths of Oklahoma project and the National Moth Week project.

Secondly, on Tuesday night, July 24, we’re having an OFFICIAL MOTHING NIGHT that is registered with National Moth Week. We’ll be meeting in the Thunderbird Chapel parking lot along Highway 9, east of Norman, just before sunset (about 8:30 pm). We’ll have lighted sheets set up and will probably watch for moths until about 10:45. Anyone and everyone is invited to come!

If you have questions, feel free to call/text or email me.

Zach DuFran
zdufran@gmail.com
405 308 8972

Short walk around a park at the north end of the lake. Too many mosquitoes to hang around long. One unidentified weed that was around the shoreline - some sort of reed or emergent grass. Found a really pretty alder.

During the week of 9 July, 2018, ecologist Holly Bickerton and noted naturalist Dan Brunton inventoried the bog/fen mat that lies adjacent to the beaver pond loop on the Crazy Horse Trail. They have kindly shared their plant list for the bog mat, where they found 46 species, 13 of which are Regionally Significant. (Note: some species listed already exist as observations in this project.)
- Lycopodiella inundata (regionally significant)
- Osmunda cinnamomea
- Osmunda regalis
- Thelypteris palustris
- Pinus strobus
- Typha latifolia
- Calamagrostis canadensis
- Glyceria borealis (uncommon)
- Glyceria canadensis (regionally significant)
- Glyceria striata
- Carex canescens (uncommon)
- Carex comosa (uncommon)
- Carex echinata (regionally significant)
- Carex lacustris (uncommon)
- Carex retrorsa
- Carex utriculata (regionally significant)
- Cladium mariscoides (regionally significant)
- Dulichium arundinaceum (uncommon)
- Eleocharis erythropoda (uncommon)
- Eleocharis palustris
- Eriophorum tenellum (regionally significant)
- Eriophorum virginicum (regionally significant)
- Scirpus cyperinus
- Calla palustris
- Juncus brevicaudatus
- Iris versicolor
- Platanthera clavellata (regionally significant)
- Pogonia ophioglossoides (regionally significant)
- Salix bebbiana
- Salix petiolaris
- Alnus incana
- Brasenia schreberi (regionally significant)
- Drosera rotundifolia (uncommon)
- Spiraea tomentosa (uncommon)
- Nemopanthus mucronatus (regionally significant)
- Triadenum fraseri
- Viola sororia (uncommon)
- Epilobium palustre (regionally significant)
- Cicuta bulbifera
- Lysimachia terrestris
- Lysimachia thyrsiflora (uncommon)
- Lycopus uniflorus
- Utricularia macrorhiza
- Utricularia minor (regionally significant)
- Galium tinctorium (uncommon)

Estimados todos, hoy es un día para pensar en la zona de confort, Naturalista cumple ya su 5to año de vida en México bajo el aval de CONABIO gracias al Dr. Carlos Galindo @carlos2.
Durante este tiempo la plataforma ha crecido y evolucionado, nos ha permitido expandir el conocimiento de la ciencia básica como es el conocimiento de la biodiversidad, nos ha permitido extender las colecciones biológicas fuera de los centros de investigación, complementar los inventarios de la riqueza biológica de este país, nos ha dado la oportunidad de ver especies que antes solo existían en una sola publicación, tenemos el reto de buscar complementar las publicaciones científicas con datos de campo en tiempo real.

Como alguna vez comentó Pedro Najera @najera, "la zona de confort es un bello lugar donde nada crece",.

Gracias a Naturalista de manera personal he podido aprender de muchos expertos, hoy buenos amigos, sin poder mencionarlos a todos, me han enseñado sobre muchos grupos taxonómicos, jamás hubiera esperado aprender de abejas, palomillas, libélulas, líquenes, escarabajos, chinches, y tantos otros grupos grupos!

La plataforma nos ha permitido exponer evidencia para la conservación de zonas importantes, como el río Santa Catarina en la zona metropolitana de Monterrey.
https://www.naturalista.mx/observations?place_id=118641&subview=table&view=species
Incluso ha servido ya como apoyo para fortalecer estudios para el decreto de nuevas ANPS en N.L.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FYcIgovUf7aCNP_lteJkYIwuNC59NlbC/view
https://www.naturalista.mx/observations?place_id=93993&subview=table&view=species

Cada vez más la plataforma se incluye en la sociedad, que tanto más debemos salir de la zona de confort?

La herramienta de "diario" es poco utilizada, no es momento ya de incluir publicaciones en linea?, nuevos registros?, registros notables?

Muchos compañeros y amigos como @juancruzado @juancarlosgarciamorales1 @hugoalvarezg @xanergo @alexiz @pioleon @ahuereca @francisco3 @monifern @huracan @blakesito @coatzin @gonzalezii @bodofzt @adriananelly @idlegrraphics @net8a @franciscoacos @biolily y muchos otros, contribuyen de manera activa al fortalecimiento de la plataforma, co-descubridores de nuevos registros locales, nacionales e internacionales, apoyados y corroborados por expertos nacionales e internacionales.

¿No es tiempo ya de seguir rompiendo esquemas e ir más allá en esta era digital?
¿Cuales son los nuevos retos para los próximos 5, 10 y más años?

Saludos a todos.
Aztekium

Between 2015 to 2017, California forests experienced historically high levels of tree mortality from the combined effects of drought and bark beetles, and today large swaths of brown, dead pine trees in the Sierra are a common sight, especially in the southern Sierra Nevada. Aerial surveys conducted by the U.S. Forest Service estimate that some 129 million trees have died in California since 2010.

https://www.knvc.org/the-latest/the-great-basin-bristlecone-pine-may-hold-key-to-bark-beetle-management/

Since the 1900s mountain yellow-legged frogs have disappeared from nearly all of their former range in Southern California. By the 1990s fewer than 100 were thought to remain, in a handful of isolated headwater streams. Predation by introduced fish, primarily rainbow trout, is one of the best-documented causes of the frogs’ decline. Another threat is habitat damage from recreation.

https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2018/mountain-yellow-legged-frog-07-20-2018.php

I was not able to photograph and/or catch any Tramea in Aosnak today. I got take two bodies, the usual set up and my backup body (Olympus EPL 7 + M.Zuiko 75-300mm). Taking hand held pictures with a 300mm (eq. to 600mm in 35mm sensor) is fairly difficult and most of the photos lacked the sharpness I was after. While so, it was pretty rewarding to be able to take many pictures of Neurothemis ramburii as the main camera body-lens combination (Olympus OMD EM10 markii + MZuiko 60mm f2.8 macro) did not allow me to get as close as I wished to get and Neurothemis ramburii as I startled them every time I moved closer, so most of the pictures uploaded where taken with the backup body + telephoto lens combination.

Overall it was pretty relaxing, saw some Ischnura senegalensis matting, and some perchers laying eggs, which was all good fun. Saw a couple of nice wild fig trees which are bearing fruit, this spot may prove to be very good to document bats.

The Odanatans I'm still to document in Oe-Cusse remain: 1-Agriocnemis femina 2- Austroallagma sagittiferum 3-Brachythemis contaminate 4- Diplacodes haematodes 5-Orthetrum caledonicum 6- Orthetrum glaucum 7- Orthetrum pruinosum 8- Trithemis festiva 9- Trithemis aurora 10- Trithemis lilacina 11- Indolestes lafaeci

Nơi chia sẻ những thông tin bổ ích về sản phẩm túi vải không dệt cho các doanh nghiệp. Xem thêm thông tin tại đây: http://sco.lt/7zOJ85

Justamente hace 5 años se creó este proyecto.
Al principio no entendía, cómo y en qué consistía esta plataforma...
este proyecto se había creado con el objetivo principal de conocer qué especies de plantas eran las preferidas por los lepidópteros; pero con el tiempo, fue mas común observar a los adultos alimentarse de las flores que ver a las orugas que a veces pasan desapercibidos entre la misma vegetación; o incluso saber el ID de las plantas....

Hasta ahora son 2575 observaciones, 612 especies (200 especies plantas y 412 lepidópteros), con la participación de 523 personas entre los cuales: @bodofzt , @belemqueuedelapin, @juancarlosgarciamorales1 , @francisco3, @ignacio_a_rodriguez y @franko están en el top 5 de los naturalistas con mayor numero de observaciones y especies.

De las 200 especies de plantas, las 5 especies mas observadas son Asclepias curassavica, A. linaria, Lantana camara, Tropaeolum majus y Bidens odorata.
Mientras que de los 412 lepidópteros, las especies mas observadas son Danaus plexippus, D. gilippus, Leptophobia aripa, Papilio polyxenes y Phoebis agarithe.

Es gratificante ver el interés que han mostrado los naturalistas, al agregar o dejar las observaciones en el proyecto. Esperemos que este proyecto siga creciendo y aportando en esta área, ya que estas observaciones son evidencias de la evolución conjunta que hay entre insectos y plantas...ya que de no existir uno, no sobreviría el otro...

y hablando de esto les dejo un link donde pueden consultar un articulo que espero sea de su interés...
"Herbívoros y plantas ¿Cómo interactúan? " de Ken Oyama y Francisco Espinoza.
http://www.revistaciencias.unam.mx/pt/152-revistas/revista-ciencias-9/1299-herbívoros-y-plantas-¿cómo-interactúan.html

entered all observations of June 22 2018