2019 Review of nature at Southwest Nature Preserve

Using iNaturalist’s “Year on iNAT 2019” post as inspiration, we’ve taken a look at what happened at SWNP during 2019, as seen through iNaturalist Observations.

Totals:   Observations - 2128;     Species - 619;     Identifiers - 348;     Observers - 38

First observation of 2019: made by Lynn Healy (common buckeye (Junonia coenia)) on January 5.

Last observation of 2019: made by Jim Frisinger (Hygroscopic Earthstar (Astraeus hygrometricus)) on December 29.

Top Observers:
Rank	iNaturalist ID	Name	# Observations	# Species
1	Brentano	Brent Franklin	591	229
2	Bob777	Bob O’Kennon	251	161
3	Joshmols	Jim Frisinger	204	160
4	Charley	Charley Amos	137	92
5	Pynklynx		133	59
6	Postoak	Jan Miller	131	76

The largest number of observations by far were made in April with 688, many of these recorded during the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge. December has the smallest number at 24.

More counts: Animals- 1042    Fungi- 106     Plants- 980

Most common bird (Aves)	Great blue heron (Ardea herodias) 8 Observations
Most common mammal (Mammalia)	Common Raccoon (Procyon iotor) 5 Observations
Most common animal was insects (Insecta), with 818 Observations. The top 8 were Dragonflies and Damselflies (order Odonata)	Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) 34 Observations
Most common spider (Arachnida)	Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia), with 6 observations.
Many fungi observations are not identified to the Species level	The most common ID was Peeling Puffball (Lycoperdon marginatum) with 5 observations.
Most common plant (Plantae)	Trailing Fuzzy-bean (Strophostyles helvola) led plants with 17 observations.

Over 90 Species were first Observed at SWNP during 2019. Some of them are rarely seen, but others simply reflect an increased use of iNaturalist. The Observations made during 2019 represent over 30% of the total iNaturalist Observations at SWNP.

Click here for more numbers and photos