bouteloua's Journal

iNaturalist created a new type of project ("collection project") that jives with our Illinois Botanists Big Year competition rules, so here we go. I made everyone who was following this project already an admin*, so feel free to use this "news"/"journal" post system to share information.

If you're not already, you can follow this project page by going to the project homepage and clicking follow in the top right corner:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/illinois-botanists-big-year-2018

Other pages:
website: https://ill-inps.org/illinois-botanists-big-year
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/illinoisbotanistsbigyear

*for people who joined the app from the phone, there's a bug that won't let me add you as an admin... I informed the iNat developers and am waiting for them to fix this.

Hi! It's been such a pleasure getting to meet so many of you in person. I had a great time at Harms Woods yesterday and it looks like quite a few people were able to make it to the Columbus Park Bioblitz. Wherever you were, it has been inspiring to see the number of people out observing our local flora and fauna.

Today's the last day to record observations for the City Nature Challenge, which ends tonight at midnight. We'll have all this week to upload any remaining photos and identify what we found. Results will be announced on Friday.

Sneaky tip: if you have observations that feature more than one species, you can click the little downward facing arrow next to Edit in the top right corner, then Duplicate, and then identify the other species in the photo. It's no problem using the same photo for multiple species. It's a great way to show plant community assemblages.

Here is the link to help identify:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=city-nature-challenge-2018-chicago-wilderness-region
You can then filter it further by the taxa you're familiar with, such as birds, fungi, or plants.

The stats tab on our project has a nice display of the top favorited and commented on observations. Be sure to give your faves a fave--click the little star below the map on the observation.

A reminder that there will be an Identification Night hosted by Lauren Hendricks in the Pilsen area of Chicago tomorrow night (5/1) at 7PM. Gather with other iNatters to verify the gargantuan number of iNaturalist observations that are coming in. Bring a computer, any keys/references you may need, and a snack if you please. All are welcome regardless of skill level. RSVP by emailing renhen2@gmail.com for the exact address.

Hi! cassi here. You can view all of our observations from our morning at Harms Woods here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/bioblitz-harms-woods-april-29th-2018

I know some folks are still uploading observations, but as of this post, we had 485 observations of 175 different species. Some of my favorites were:

• Abundant syrphid flies, such as this black-shouldered drone fly (Eristalis dimidiata) photographed by @thebals https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11797278
• A tuft-legged orbweaver (Mangora placida) staged on a woodland puccoon (Lithospermum latifolium) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11793084
• That sneaky winter wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) photographed here by @timidlittleturtle https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11780263
• Weirdo mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) emerging by @rgraveolens https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11834984
• Red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) making use of the nicely opened woodland habitat by @elfaulkner https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11824699
• Swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor) leaves neatly displayed by @elfaulkner https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11823552
• Sleepy green Augochlora sweat bees (Augochlora pura) inside a rotting log https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11797145
• Deep pink-purple leaves of emerging mullein foxglove (Dasistoma macrophylla), pointed out by @paulroots https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11797139

How about yours?