First Wild Times Project Discussion Post: What is your favorite observation? (Leave a comment!!)
What's up brosteners,
I haven't come on to make a journal post in awhile, so I wanted to start a new monthly tradition! I'll be making a journal entry every month in which I pose a discussion topic that we can discuss in the comments of each post! This will give everyone an opportunity to engage with the community in this project, chat wildlife, think critically about some important topics in the field of biology, learn from one-another, and much more. Let's give it a try and see how it goes! All I ask is that everyone remain respectful of each other's opinions and perspectives if we get into more controversial topics: we are here to appreciate wildlife and learn from each other and this community is no place for negative interactions. Check out this month's discussion topic below:
TOPIC: What is your favorite observation?
Let's start with a simple one: let us know your favorite observation! You may have a favorite because you love a particular species, you may have a cool story attached to a particular observation, etc. I'd love to hear about some of y'all's favorite species observed, and feel free to drop links!
I'll go first:
My favorite observation as of now is probably my observation of a pair of spotted eagle rays in the Florida Keys (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/106128848). These rays are incredibly beautiful, and I got to see them multiple times cruising through the canal behind the house we were staying in while on a SCUBA diving trip. Spotted eagle rays are also an endangered species, and this made them even more special to interact with in my opinion. And interact with them I did: at one point I was swimming in the canal with some friends and a startled ray jumped out of the water out of nowhere and slapped me right in the face! That quickly made for a good story, but I'm just glad I was nowhere near its barb...
I'm looking forward to hearing from some of y'all and getting to know some new brosteners. Can't wait to see what y'all have to share!
Always Wild,
Drew
Comments
I have many favorite observations; however, I would say my all time favorite is this Caecidotea nodula. I took the first known photograph of Caecidotea nodula, which is an endemic subterranean species which was first reported from Anne Arundel, Calvert, and St. Mary’s in southern Maryland. C. nodula has also been reported twice from Virginia, and once from the District of Columbia, making my observation the fourth record outside of Maryland. It is believed that C. nodula occurs throughout the Maryland and Virginia portion of the Atlantic Coastal Plain on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay and along the Patuxent River valley. C. nodula were speculated to be associated with groundwater, I can confirm this speculation. I have observed C. nodula from a wide range of habitats including, ponds, creeks, swamps, rivers, and ditches; however, these water bodies were all associated with springs, water bodies with no spring association did not support populations of C. nodula.
For me my favourite is either the Little Grebe family or Great Crested Grebe family as it’s so nice to see these species getting their numbers up in my local area, love it!
It's tough to pick a favorite, but overall mine has gotta be the family of Swainson's Hawks that nested by my work this year, it's been such a special experience to go from "thats not a red tail, what is that?" To "holy shit I think thats a nest" to recognizing the male and female of the pair and seeing their different personalities, and of course that first glimpse of the chick in the nest and watching the little one grow by the week and start branching then finally flying! Definitely a summer I'll remember forever and it made the brutal work days so much brighter.
I'd never seen a Swainson's Hawk outside of photos before this year, and I'd seen raptor nests but not active ones in person, having a front row seat to their whole breeding season and a few chick feedings was such a treat!
They've left the nest now, and have spread out to a wider hunting area around the shop so I hardly see them anymore, and they could be leaving for South America any time now, but I'll definitely be crossing my fingers that they come back next year!
A favorite of mine would have to be the Sperm Whale I saw while on a fishing trip with some of the boys. We weren't expecting that at all but we definitely romanticized the idea of seeing a whale or dolphins when we were heading out in the morning. it was crazy when the Sperm whale first surfaced because it happened about 50 meters off our boat and it was my mate Kurt who first saw it off the port side of the boat and yelled out to the rest of us. we just stopped what we were doing and watched it for what had to be 5 or so minutes before it dove back down and the thought that it was catching some air before going into the depths to hunt the colossal squid was just so crazy, especially at the moment. I definitely would love to get back out there because I know there are also humpback, beaked and blue whales that often journey into the trench.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105423213
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