Hi,

So I know we are all quarantined, but that doesn’t mean you cant take photos of birds hanging out in your yard or at your feeder. We are at 4k observations and 223 birds, which is amazing for the first 3 months of the year. I would be happy to see us get 20k observations by the end of the year and 350 species.

The LaBelle Plaza Publix in Clearwater, Florida, used to be a hotspot for all things katydid. And an undeveloped and unsprayed lot with large oak trees and open swaths of grass created a habitat uncommon in this part of Pinellas . The bright white lights under the portico attracted conehead, anglewing-type and giant katydids. But that was about to change

In January, the owners of the lot began clearing to make way for a condominium development Old live oaks and grass fell under land-clearing machines. . Shortly after the clearing and during an early morning store run, I noticed a Giant Katydid way up on the ceiling of the portico. I think they make great pets so I wanted him. But he was 20 feet above my head.

I asked for a manager inside the store so see if they could help me get him. I figured they'd probably tell me no. But Jeff was a great sport and decided to help me. He got a long pole used for fetching lost balloons then taped a feather duster to the end. Jeff lifted the pole and gently perched the insect on the feather duster. When he brought it down, I was able to guide the katydid into a container.

The katydid's emerald green wing covers were badly damaged, presumably from his escape. He seemed fine other than that.

He started eating meals of romaine lettuce. And in spite of his wing injuries, I hear occasional the occasional song--an explosive ZEEEEET! His name is General Grievous, after the Star Wars character.

A halfway update on the prelude competition. we have just clicked over 100 iNaturalist users contributing at least one observation. We would hope to sign up a further 200 people by Earth day and hopefully all will be involved in the City Nature Challenge occurring over the ANZAC long weekend.

The Surf Coast remains the leading area in terms of observation and Bellarine has the most observers. Details at https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/cnc-geelong-regions

That could all change as people start recording more species in their backyard.
When out, please ensure social distancing and continue to maintain good hygiene practices.
https://citynaturechallenge.org/covid19/
https://www.inaturalist.org/blog/31664-exploring-nature-when-you-re-stuck-at-home

Regards Rod

A halfway update on the prelude competition. we have just clicked over 100 iNaturalist users contributing at least one observation. We would hope to sign up a further 200 people by Earth day and hopefully all will be involved in the City Nature Challenge occurring over the ANZAC long weekend.

The Surf Coast remains the leading area in terms of observation and Bellarine has the most observers. Details at https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/cnc-geelong-regions

That could all change as people start recording more species in their backyard.
When out, please ensure social distancing and continue to maintain good hygiene practices.
https://citynaturechallenge.org/covid19/
https://www.inaturalist.org/blog/31664-exploring-nature-when-you-re-stuck-at-home

Regards Rod

A halfway update on the prelude competition. we have just clicked over 100 iNaturalist users contributing at least one observation. We would hope to sign up a further 200 people by Earth day and hopefully all will be involved in the City Nature Challenge occurring over the ANZAC long weekend.

The Surf Coast remains the leading area in terms of observation and Bellarine has the most observers. Details at https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/cnc-geelong-regions

That could all change as people start recording more species in their backyard.
When out, please ensure social distancing and continue to maintain good hygiene practices.
https://citynaturechallenge.org/covid19/
https://www.inaturalist.org/blog/31664-exploring-nature-when-you-re-stuck-at-home

Regards Rod

What a heck of a month its been! Being an essential worker in retail has been a heck of a time. It's been an emotional whirlwind.
Taking a little break at the moment, trying to get over an illness.
I stepped outside yesterday, and realized it was warm! Somewhere between here and February, Spring finally came along! So I turned on my black light last night, and managed to get a few visitors! I'm so excited to start a new mothing season!
I'm also going to try to go on a short walk within the next week to photograph wildflowers. It's that time of year again, and I can't get behind on my Claytonia observations!
I hope everyone is safe and well, and getting through this crazy time!
-Ash

28.03.2020, г.Киров, наблюдатели @anisimov-43 и @timik_0896

Сегодня участница проекта "Птицы Кировской области" @vyatka перешагнула порог 50 наблюдений за все время (на сегодня добавлено 79 видов). Благодаря загруженным архивам в проекте прибавилось 4 вида птиц - ушастая сова, обыкновенная горлица, воронок и белощекая крачка.

От всей души поздравляем @vyatka с этим событием и ждем в клубе-100

Сегодня замечательный день - в проекте "Птицы Кировской области" появился двадцатый участник. Также у нас десятый наблюдатель за птицами на территории региона с начала года. Но самое приятное - мы перешагнули порог в 2000 наблюдений птиц на территории области за все время. Поздравляю всех участников с этим историческим событием. Праздничная статистика: На 28.03.2020 2058 - НАБЛЮДЕНИЙ, 171 - ВИД, 306 - ЭКСПЕРТОВ, 20 - НАБЛЮДАТЕЛЕЙ. Топ наблюдателей:

Место	Наблюдатель	Наблюдений	Видов
1	@elena-votinceva	411	129
2	@anisimov-43	1252	125
3	@woodmen19	234	88
4	@vyatka	88	79

Топ видов:

Позиция	Вид	Количество наблюдений
1	Большая Синица (Parus major)	114
2	Серая Ворона (Corvus cornix)	91
3	Снегирь (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)	87
4	Обыкновенный Клёст (Loxia curvirostra)	79
5	Кряква (Anas platyrhynchos)	72
6	Полевой Воробей (Passer montanus)	66
7	Европейская Сорока (Pica pica)	63
8	Дрозд-Рябинник (Turdus pilaris)	61
9	Большой Пёстрый Дятел (Dendrocopos major)	58
10	Обыкновенная Зеленушка (Chloris chloris)	53
11	Чечётка Обыкновенная (Acanthis flammea)	52

Наш регион в проекте "Птицы регионов России" (82 региона) По количеству наблюдений - 13 место (-1) По количеству видов - 20 место (-2) По количеству наблюдателей - 40 место (+5) Благодарю @kildor за замечательный конвертер - https://kildor.name/react/inat-converter/

This is a great time of year to document any amphibian species along the Maple Highlands Trail. Watch out for them especially on warm, rainy days since they may be crossing the trail. Please photo-document any that you see in your travels. Happy spring, everyone!

Son una docena de especie Centris la registradas para este género en Chile:
Centris buchholzi Herbst, 1918
Centris chilensis (Spinola, 1851)
Centris cineraria Smith, 1854
Centris escomeli Cockerell, 1926
Centris mixta Friese, 1904
Centris moldenkei Toro y Chiappa, 1989
Centris nigerrima (Spinola, 1851)
Centris orellanai Ruiz, 1940
Centris rhodophthalma Pérez, 1911
Centris tamarugalis Toro y Chiappa, 1989
Centris toroi Zanella, 2002
Centris unifasciata (Schrottky, 1913)
De las cuales,a través de la Ciencia Ciudana de Inat, aporto las siguientes especies:
- Centris chilensis :https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37209609
- Centris orellanai : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35678918
- Centris nigerrima : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35678185
- Centris cinearia : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/35679993

Aquí, el catálogo: http://www.insectachile.cl/rchen/pdfs/2010v35/Montalva_Ruz_2010.pdf

I went out on March 21st, it was a bitterly cold day out ranging just below freezing. There wasn't any precipitation but it was windy and cloudy out. I walked to Centennial woods from east ave down there was actually a high amount of bird activity for it being a cold and blistery day.

My birds were all grouped up and while, not chatting they were chirping back and forth. There are many audio clues that were audible including danger calls and warnings to, me the potential predator. I saw a Black-capped Chickadee as well as a Northern Cardinal, they each have an advantage in different ways. The chickadee can blend into the environment and is better at surviving predators, while the cardinal's color helps it to attract mates and show dominance.

While walking to the woods I encountered multiple American Robins all of whom looked like they were angry they came up this early to find Vermont still very cold. They did not appreciate the pishing. One thing that I noticed was their warning calls were social, each bird responded and when I got closer it got louder and a faster speed. Also it felt like the male robins were flying out in front of me attempting to distract me or something along those lines, they flew right in front of me just out of my reach multiple times. I am curious if they were attempting to protect any females or were they just playing a game with each other to see who could get closest to me.

While pishing I did feel rather foolish, and I am not very good at getting wildlife, especially birds, to do what I want alas it seemed to startle most of the chickadees I got near. However some of them where able to overcome the beard and forbearing posture and they came to see what in the world I was doing. The first times I tried to do it they flew away in fear but the time it worked they were curious about what I was doing. While pishing I tried to dig into the shhh sound and almost whistled it to sound more bird like.

Discovered that the Mediterranean katydid katydids (Phaneroptera nana) that I found in the summer and fall of 2019 in my Lakeland patch might be a new subspecies or perhaps even a new species, Woo's katydids (Phaneroptera nr. nana). Brandon Woo, who is studying these insects) even included a few of my INat observations in the Singing Insects of North America (SINA). My thumb, visible as I held one of them for a picture, is now famous. SINA lists Woo's katydids separately from Mediterranean katydids.

I collected three nymphs from the site in December. They've since morphed into adults--two females and a male. The male sings at night when the lights are off. He makes a faint chip that I initially thought was the Giant Katydids feet clicking against the screen. I need to send my videos with the songs to Brandon.

I collected two green and one brown nymph. All three are now green.

Including a photograph (or audio recording) with your iNaturalist observation is key. Without it, the observation will not become "research grade" and eligible for use in many scientific studies!

Here are some quick tips to help improve your photographs so that you and other iNaturalist users can better identify the organisms you find:

1. Get closer. The more of your subject that fills the frame, the better detail your picture will have. Use macro lenses or shooting modes (often signified by a small flower icon on digital cameras) for small subjects, get close to a plant or fungi, or zoom in on wildlife. Make sure to use common sense when deciding whether or not to approach an animal. If you have any doubts, don’t approach it.

2. Take multiple photos. Take more than one photo to capture different views and parts of your subject. Sometimes small details necessary for making an identification are not visible from a single angle. Try taking pictures of leaves, bark, stems, flowers, and other plant parts, or photograph an animal or fungi from multiple angles, such as above, to the side, and underneath.

3. Take photos that are in focus. While blurry photos can be a fun challenge for making an identification, it is far easier to identify an organism when the photos are in focus and show the organism in crisp detail.

4. Add something for scale. In many cases, providing a size reference will help confirm an identification. Size references are especially useful for tracks, since many tracks can look similar in photos and it can be challenging to judge size based on the track alone. A size reference uses any object that most people know the approximate size of, such as a coin, glove, ruler, or hiking pole. You can also describe size in the comments section if necessary.

Thanks to the staff at Vermont Center for Ecostudies for putting together this more detailed article on improving photographs, accessible here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/vermont-atlas-of-life/journal/30529-tech-tip-tuesday-improving-photographs

You can also check out this short video on how to take better photographs for iNaturalist: https://vimeo.com/167341998

Most of us are stuck at home as we do our part to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Because of the seriousness of the pandemic, many City Nature Challenge events have been canceled. Yet, you can still participate! With a few modifications, you can safely connect with nature and each other during these difficult times. This is a opportune moment for exploring and documenting nature in and around your home (be sure to obscure your location in the Geoprivacy settings), and for increasing the quality of nature observations by verifying or suggesting taxonomic identifications. These two activities combined will allow us to make a strong showing as first-year City Nature Challenge participants. Now more than ever, it's important to foster a sense of community, and the City Nature Challenge allows us to do just that. :)

Tips for Exploring Around Your Home: https://drive.google.com/open?id=14X-10q6qzG48ny40_1VIt8gx6FO8IhHz

COVID-19 FAQs: https://citynaturechallenge.org/covid19/

Inland Empire CNC Contact: cncinlandempire@gmail.com, @breeput

@dvanoverbeke , @aaron_echols, @ianbernstein, @ehyatt, @cvalenzuela, @michaelmax, @seanrichards, @emilyyrae, @jmdc, @ashleyloth, @zacktippie, @chemartin, @sarahv3, @thatbean, @slothasarousrex, @jj1417, @jmdc2, @gabynunez, @andrewgoodman, @zachsmith2, @thomasabenson

Дорогие друзья! Наступили самые неожиданные выходные столетия. Правда, настигли они всех нас при драматических и непредсказуемых обстоятельствах. В европейской части России стоит тёплая погода. Например, 28 марта этого года стал рекордно тёплым днём за всю историю метеонаблюдений в Москве. Как и в прошлый раз, каждый день в нашем проекте появляется почти тысяча новых наблюдений. Каждый день мы видим новых участников и новые виды. Каждый день добавляются новые подписчики. Итак, на счётчике очередная круглая цифра: 265 000 наблюдений в проекте "Флора России". Для очередной пятитысячной отметки нашему сообществу потребовалось 5 суток и 6 часов - ровно столько же, сколько и в прошлый раз. За эти дни число наблюдателей флоры России подскочило сразу на 52 человека (10 новичков в сутки!), а число выявленных и подтверждённых видов увеличилось на 44 таксона. Уже 160 человек за последние пять с половиной дней вышли на улицу, сделали наблюдения в природе и успели загрузить их на iNaturalist. В этот раз доля свежих полевых наблюдений составила 34% против 66%, поступивших из ранних архивов пользователей. Другая традиционная статистика. С 1.01.2020 по 26.03.2020 в поле сделано 10 616 наблюдений. В эти же дни, но годом ранее (1.01.2019 по 26.03.2019) было сделано в природе только 776 наблюдений. Невероятно, но факт: нам с вами, дорогие друзья, удаётся уже два месяца удерживать показатели 14-кратного (точнее, в 13,68 раз!) роста данных в 2020 году против прошлого года! В какой-то момент (пару дней назад) статистика чуть просела до 13-кратных значений, но сегодня всё встало на свои места. Это вновь демонстрирует, что борьба в зачёте регионов обостряется! Как уже стало привычным, давайте снова зафиксируем статистику для истории. 265 000 наблюдений наш проект достиг 28 марта 2020 г. около 17:00 MSK. The project reached 265,000 observations in 28 Mar 2020 about 17:00 MSK. Статистика проекта / Project stats: 265,148 observations - 6,280 species - 2,141 identifiers - 4,150 observers Статистика антипроекта / Anti-project stats: 28,388 observations - 2,921 species - 694 identifiers - 2,169 observers С прошлого замера проект вырос на 5,1 тыс. наблюдений, а антипроект подрос на 0,7 тыс. наблюдений. Из вновь загруженных за пять с половиной дней наблюдений больше всего звёздочек одобрения в результате голосования пользователей получила захватывающая фотография новосибирского энтузиаста iNaturalist Алексея Зырянова (@alzov). На сей раз это наблюдение из Горного Алтая двухлетней давности. Это Pinus sylvestris (сосна обыкновенная) - самый часто снимаемый вид флоры России! Не стесняйтесь ставить лайки другим интересным наблюдениям и самым удачным фотографиям. Это развивает чувство взаимного интереса и товарищеской конкуренции, что очень важно в наступающем сезоне всеобщей самоизоляции. В качестве небольшого приза я хочу прорекламировать проект, который Алексей самостоятельно придумал и воплощает. Это биоблиц "1000 детских шагов". Два майских дня школьники будут документировать биоразнообразие в радиусе 500 метров от своих школ. К проекту уже присоединилось 29 школ и клубов из России и Белоруссии. Алексей делает ставку на подрастающее поколение, на деле возрождая движение юных натуралистов в цифровую эпоху. Подумайте, может и вам удастся кого-то привлечь к этому?

1. Самые активные участники (число наблюдений) | Top-observers (number of observations)

Место | Rank	Пользователь | User	Наблюдений | Observations	Видов | Species
1	@apseregin	17386	1583
2	@velibortravoved	10236	669
3	@panasenkonn	9891	1012
4	@taimyr	5731	779
5	@vladimir_teplouhov	4944	426
6	@convallaria1128	4901	1349
7	@melodi_96	4842	770
8	@dni_catipo	4669	698
9	@eduard_garin	4644	766
10	@julia_shner	4285	582
11	@npz	4130	505
12	@dryomys	3883	665
13	@pavel_golyakov	3807	787
14	@ledum	3623	993
15	@sokolkov2002	3162	650
16	@phlomis_2019	3148	1088
17	@olga2019kuryakova	3126	489
18	@max_carabus	2837	442
19	@vvolkotrub	2802	1263
20	@katerina_kashirina	2641	747
21	@svetlanakutueva	2611	459
22	@borisbolshakov	2553	517
23	@alzov	2422	608
24	@olegdavydov	2415	346
25	@prokhozhyj	2288	476
26	@ramazan_murtazaliev	2202	1432
27	@hapugin88	2192	512
28	@mallaliev	2134	919
29	@vadim_prokhorov	2104	792
30	@aleksandrebel	2024	762
31	@naturalist16000	1912	585
32	@evgenyboginsky	1899	356
33	@denis_tishin	1806	404
34	@divitre	1762	368
35	@birdchuvashia	1704	563
36	@alexeiebel	1696	531
37	@smsergey	1691	432
38	@beerolha	1619	487
39	@kildor	1590	538
40	@sesquicentennial	1577	505

2. Самые активные участники (число видов) | Top-observers (number of species)

Место | Rank	Пользователь | User	Наблюдений | Observations	Видов | Species
1	@apseregin	17386	1583
2	@ramazan_murtazaliev	2202	1432
3	@convallaria1128	4901	1349
4	@vvolkotrub	2802	1263
5	@phlomis_2019	3148	1088
6	@panasenkonn	9891	1012
7	@ledum	3623	993
8	@mallaliev	2134	919
9	@svdudov	1442	869
10	@vadim_prokhorov	2104	792
11	@pavel_golyakov	3807	787
12	@taimyr	5731	779
13	@melodi_96	4842	770
14	@eduard_garin	4644	766
15	@aleksandrebel	2024	762
16	@katerina_kashirina	2641	747
17	@lenatara	1532	732
18	@dni_catipo	4669	698
19	@ggularijants	1186	674
20	@velibortravoved	10236	669
21	@dryomys	3883	665
22	@sokolkov2002	3162	650
23	@alzov	2422	608
24	@naturalist16000	1912	585
25	@julia_shner	4285	582
26	@birdchuvashia	1704	563
27	@gen_ok	1221	552
28	@kildor	1590	538
29	@alexeiebel	1696	531
30	@borisbolshakov	2553	517
31	@hapugin88	2192	512
32	@npz	4130	505
33	@sesquicentennial	1577	505
34	@olga2019kuryakova	3126	489
35	@beerolha	1619	487
36	@tomegatherion	1355	487
37	@antennaria	966	477
38	@prokhozhyj	2288	476
39	@dinanesterkova	1081	472
40	@dakileno	1139	469

3. Статистика региональных проектов (наблюдения) | Regional projects' stats (observations)

Место | Rank	Проект | Project	Наблюдений | Observations
1	Флора Москвы | Flora of Moscow	26966
2	Флора Подмосковья | Moscow Oblast Flora	19549
3	Флора Брянской области | Bryansk Oblast Flora	13658
4	Флора Алтайского края | Altai Krai Flora	13354
5	Флора Чувашии | Chuvash Republic Flora	11926
6	Флора Нижегородской области | Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Flora	10747
7	Флора Ярославской области | Yaroslavl Oblast Flora	9566
8	Флора Омской области | Omsk Oblast Flora	8989
9	Флора Камчатки | Kamchatka Flora	7694
10	Флора Курской области | Kursk Oblast Flora	6894
11	Флора Татарстана | Tatarstan Flora	6424
12	Флора Красноярского края | Krasnoyarsk Krai Flora	5942
13	Флора Крыма | Flora of the Crimea	5742
14	Флора Костромской области | Kostroma Oblast Flora	5577
15	Флора Новосибирской области | Novosibirsk Oblast Flora	5570
16	Флора Воронежской области | Voronezh Oblast Flora	5466
17	Флора Приморского края | Primorsky Krai Flora	5449
18	Флора Калининградской области | Kaliningrad Oblast Flora	5181
19	Флора Дагестана | Dagestan Flora	4525
20	Флора Владимирской области | Vladimir Oblast Flora	4163
21	Флора Севастополя | Sevastopol Flora	4070
22	Флора Краснодарского края | Krasnodar Krai Flora	3835
23	Флора Иркутской области | Irkutsk Oblast Flora	3221
24	Флора Башкирии | Bashkortostan Flora	3216
25	Флора Самарской области | Samara Oblast Flora	3165
26	Флора Калужской области | Kaluga Oblast Flora	2952
27	Флора Свердловской области | Sverdlovsk Oblast Flora	2823
28	Флора Тверской области | Tver Oblast Flora	2808
29	Флора Санкт-Петербурга | St Petersburg Flora	2800
30	Флора Сахалинской области | Sakhalin Oblast Flora	2613
31	Флора Мордовии | Flora of Mordovia	2518
32	Флора Ростовской области | Rostov Oblast Flora	2331
33	Флора Томской области | Tomsk Oblast Flora	2281
34	Флора Тульской области | Tula Oblast Flora	2247
35	Флора Республики Алтай | Altai Republic Flora	2124
36	Флора Волгоградской области | Volgograd Oblast Flora	2036
37	Флора Ленинградской области | Leningrad Oblast Flora	2015
38	Флора Белгородской области | Belgorod Oblast Flora	2002
39	Флора Кировской области | Kirov Oblast Flora	1956
40	Флора Карачаево-Черкесии | Flora of Karachay-Cherkessia	1876
41	Флора Архангельской области | Arkhangelsk Oblast Flora	1809
42	Флора Тюменской области | Tyumen Oblast Flora	1721
43	Флора Кемеровской области | Kemerovo Oblast Flora	1513
44	Флора Мурманской области | Murmansk Oblast Flora	1448
45	Флора Саратовской области | Saratov Oblast Flora	1385
46	Флора Липецкой области | Lipetsk Oblast Flora	1340
47	Флора Амурской области | Amur Oblast Flora	1246
48	Флора Ульяновской области | Ulyanovsk Oblast Flora	1196
49	Флора Удмуртии | Udmurt Republic Flora	1184
50	Флора Югры | Flora of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug	1147
51	Флора Бурятии | Buryat Republic Flora	1076
52	Флора Челябинской области | Chelyabinsk Oblast Flora	1056
53	Флора Ямало-Ненецкого АО | Flora of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug	999
54	Флора Карелии | Flora of Karelia	984
55	Флора Чукотки | Flora of Chukotka	788
56	Флора Хакасии | Flora of Khakassia	779
57	Флора Псковской области | Pskov Oblast Flora	778
58	Флора Рязанской области | Ryazan Oblast Flora	767
59	Флора Новгородской области | Novgorod Oblast Flora	726
60	Флора Пермского края | Perm Krai Flora	687
61	Флора Тамбовской области | Tambov Oblast Flora	644
62	Флора Адыгеи | Flora of Adygea	577
63	Флора Ставрополья | Stavropol Krai Flora	556
64	Флора Пензенской области | Penza Oblast Flora	472
65	Флора Вологодской области | Vologda Oblast Flora	456
66	Флора Коми | Komi Republic Flora	383
67	Флора Забайкальского края | Zabaykalsky Krai Flora	377
68	Флора Курганской области | Kurgan Oblast Flora	363
69	Флора Кабардино-Балкарии | Flora of Kabardino-Balkaria	345
70	Флора Ивановской области | Ivanovo Oblast Flora	330
71	Флора Оренбургской области | Orenburg Oblast Flora	328
72	Флора Смоленской области | Smolensk Oblast Flora	312
73	Флора Якутии | Flora of Yakutia	272
74	Флора Астраханской области | Astrakhan Oblast Flora	155
75	Флора Марий Эл | Mari El Flora	151
76	Флора Тувы | Tyva Republic Flora	141
77	Флора Чечни | Chechen Republic Flora	102
78	Флора Магаданской области | Magadan Oblast Flora	85
79	Флора Орловской области | Oryol Oblast Flora	79
80	Флора Хабаровского края | Khabarovsk Krai Flora	58
81	Флора Ненецкого АО | Flora of Nenets Autonomous Okrug	56
82	Флора Северной Осетии | Flora of North Ossetia	55
83	Флора Ингушетии | Flora of Ingushetia	28
84	Флора Калмыкии | Flora of Kalmykia	28
85	Флора Еврейской АО | Flora of Jewish Autonomous Oblast	1

4. Статистика региональных проектов (виды) | Regional projects' stats (species)

Место | Rank	Проект | Project	Видов | Species
1	Флора Дагестана | Dagestan Flora	1589
2	Флора Приморского края | Primorsky Krai Flora	1342
3	Флора Крыма | Flora of the Crimea	1168
4	Флора Алтайского края | Altai Krai Flora	1074
5	Флора Брянской области | Bryansk Oblast Flora	1056
6	Флора Подмосковья | Moscow Oblast Flora	1016
7	Флора Краснодарского края | Krasnodar Krai Flora	1009
8	Флора Москвы | Flora of Moscow	1009
9	Флора Воронежской области | Voronezh Oblast Flora	963
10	Флора Татарстана | Tatarstan Flora	916
11	Флора Красноярского края | Krasnoyarsk Krai Flora	914
12	Флора Нижегородской области | Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Flora	912
13	Флора Курской области | Kursk Oblast Flora	906
14	Флора Камчатки | Kamchatka Flora	811
15	Флора Ярославской области | Yaroslavl Oblast Flora	793
16	Флора Костромской области | Kostroma Oblast Flora	769
17	Флора Севастополя | Sevastopol Flora	767
18	Флора Свердловской области | Sverdlovsk Oblast Flora	766
19	Флора Владимирской области | Vladimir Oblast Flora	762
20	Флора Чувашии | Chuvash Republic Flora	753
21	Флора Ростовской области | Rostov Oblast Flora	726
22	Флора Новосибирской области | Novosibirsk Oblast Flora	715
23	Флора Иркутской области | Irkutsk Oblast Flora	704
24	Флора Сахалинской области | Sakhalin Oblast Flora	691
25	Флора Карачаево-Черкесии | Flora of Karachay-Cherkessia	654
26	Флора Омской области | Omsk Oblast Flora	651
27	Флора Калининградской области | Kaliningrad Oblast Flora	616
28	Флора Волгоградской области | Volgograd Oblast Flora	614
29	Флора Тверской области | Tver Oblast Flora	614
30	Флора Башкирии | Bashkortostan Flora	613
31	Флора Республики Алтай | Altai Republic Flora	611
32	Флора Томской области | Tomsk Oblast Flora	603
33	Флора Архангельской области | Arkhangelsk Oblast Flora	587
34	Флора Белгородской области | Belgorod Oblast Flora	577
35	Флора Мордовии | Flora of Mordovia	567
36	Флора Кемеровской области | Kemerovo Oblast Flora	566
37	Флора Калужской области | Kaluga Oblast Flora	563
38	Флора Тульской области | Tula Oblast Flora	556
39	Флора Бурятии | Buryat Republic Flora	522
40	Флора Ленинградской области | Leningrad Oblast Flora	515
41	Флора Самарской области | Samara Oblast Flora	507
42	Флора Санкт-Петербурга | St Petersburg Flora	484
43	Флора Кировской области | Kirov Oblast Flora	473
44	Флора Амурской области | Amur Oblast Flora	457
45	Флора Тюменской области | Tyumen Oblast Flora	447
46	Флора Липецкой области | Lipetsk Oblast Flora	438
47	Флора Югры | Flora of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug	403
48	Флора Удмуртии | Udmurt Republic Flora	397
49	Флора Саратовской области | Saratov Oblast Flora	379
50	Флора Ульяновской области | Ulyanovsk Oblast Flora	379
51	Флора Псковской области | Pskov Oblast Flora	368
52	Флора Челябинской области | Chelyabinsk Oblast Flora	362
53	Флора Хакасии | Flora of Khakassia	341
54	Флора Адыгеи | Flora of Adygea	337
55	Флора Новгородской области | Novgorod Oblast Flora	322
56	Флора Пермского края | Perm Krai Flora	320
57	Флора Мурманской области | Murmansk Oblast Flora	317
58	Флора Рязанской области | Ryazan Oblast Flora	309
59	Флора Ставрополья | Stavropol Krai Flora	305
60	Флора Карелии | Flora of Karelia	299
61	Флора Тамбовской области | Tambov Oblast Flora	264
62	Флора Забайкальского края | Zabaykalsky Krai Flora	262
63	Флора Чукотки | Flora of Chukotka	262
64	Флора Ямало-Ненецкого АО | Flora of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug	255
65	Флора Пензенской области | Penza Oblast Flora	254
66	Флора Вологодской области | Vologda Oblast Flora	244
67	Флора Ивановской области | Ivanovo Oblast Flora	220
68	Флора Курганской области | Kurgan Oblast Flora	209
69	Флора Кабардино-Балкарии | Flora of Kabardino-Balkaria	208
70	Флора Смоленской области | Smolensk Oblast Flora	208
71	Флора Якутии | Flora of Yakutia	197
72	Флора Оренбургской области | Orenburg Oblast Flora	186
73	Флора Коми | Komi Republic Flora	179
74	Флора Тувы | Tyva Republic Flora	123
75	Флора Марий Эл | Mari El Flora	115
76	Флора Астраханской области | Astrakhan Oblast Flora	105
77	Флора Чечни | Chechen Republic Flora	88
78	Флора Орловской области | Oryol Oblast Flora	65
79	Флора Магаданской области | Magadan Oblast Flora	57
80	Флора Северной Осетии | Flora of North Ossetia	53
81	Флора Хабаровского края | Khabarovsk Krai Flora	53
82	Флора Ненецкого АО | Flora of Nenets Autonomous Okrug	38
83	Флора Ингушетии | Flora of Ingushetia	27
84	Флора Калмыкии | Flora of Kalmykia	16
85	Флора Еврейской АО | Flora of Jewish Autonomous Oblast	1

5. Топ-наблюдатели за 5,5 дней (наблюдения в поле) | 5,5-days top-observers (field observations)

Место | Rank	Пользователь | User	Наблюдений | Observations	Видов | Species
1	@apseregin	256	137
2	@dryomys	193	36
3	@max_carabus	130	28
4	@dni_catipo	106	45
5	@taimyr	69	40
6	@vladimir_teplouhov	69	26
7	@velibortravoved	60	34
8	@aleks-khimin	57	24
9	@melodi_96	41	28
10	@npz	34	26
11	@panasenkonn	31	28
12	@ikskyrskobl	30	13
13	@julia_shner	27	21
14	@sesquicentennial	21	11
15	@valeria_reshetnikova	21	13
16	@yuriydanilevsky	19	18
17	@dinanesterkova	17	15
18	@krasnova18	15	14
19	@naturalist26231	15	9
20	@mrsalento	14	11
21	@naturalist16000	14	12
22	@sergeystakanov	14	11
23	@cambala	13	13
24	@eduard_garin	12	11
25	@pavel116	12	11
26	@viktoriaf	12	11
27	@irinakharlamova	11	11
28	@ledum	11	6
29	@emelyanov_dmitriy	9	9
30	@konstantinseliverstov	9	9
31	@nastiy	9	9
32	@alebedev	8	8
33	@vist	8	8
34	@zibzap	8	5
35	@a-lapin	7	5
36	@denis_tishin	7	7
37	@eriksultan_svg	7	4
38	@ivanovdg19	7	7
39	@lianarebrova2011	7	6
40	@ilya_murashev	6	3

6. Топ-поставщики наблюдений за 5,5 дней (поле + архив) | 5,5-days top-uploaders (field & archives)

Место | Rank	Пользователь | User	Наблюдений | Observations	Видов | Species
1	@dni_catipo	733	353
2	@taimyr	304	69
3	@gen_ok	272	206
4	@apseregin	256	137
5	@ledum	184	120
6	@maxim_ismaylov	132	73
7	@pyakai	116	112
8	@sapsan	100	81
9	@anna_efimova	96	86
10	@vladimirov	87	54
11	@rovzap	85	57
12	@vladimir_teplouhov	69	26
13	@sergejseleznev	67	54
14	@korobkov	63	21
15	@dryomys	52	24
16	@stsenator	50	48
17	@ocanire	47	42
18	@zefirka	45	34
19	@gennadiy	43	42
20	@melodi_96	42	29
21	@mihail13	42	41
22	@prokhozhyj	42	34
23	@max_carabus	40	21
24	@npz	38	28
25	@aleks-khimin	37	19
26	@velibortravoved	37	25
27	@vist	37	16
28	@aleksandrebel	35	33
29	@alzov	35	22
30	@julia_shner	33	23
31	@sokolkov2002	32	23
32	@andrewins	31	25
33	@panasenkonn	31	28
34	@ikskyrskobl	26	19
35	@valeria_reshetnikova	24	14
36	@lupus_imperium	19	19
37	@tanja45	19	18
38	@yuriydanilevsky	19	18
39	@chibi	18	14
40	@pavel116	18	15

7. Самые активные эксперты для наблюдений загруженных за 5,5 дней (поле + архив) | Top-experts for the last 5,5 days uploads (field & archives)

Место | Rank	Пользователь | User	Определений | IDs
1	@phlomis_2019	2370
2	@madmanserg	661
3	@julia_shner	451
4	@aleks-khimin	431
5	@lenatara	417
6	@convallaria1128	411
7	@melodi_96	326
8	@taimyr	293
9	@borisbolshakov	260
10	@svg52	156
11	@sesquicentennial	148
12	@kastani	114
13	@aleksandrebel	107
14	@mitchella_1	106
15	@gennadiy	102
16	@dinanesterkova	88
17	@prokhozhyj	78
18	@daba	69
19	@apseregin	63
20	@katerina_kashirina	50

Для написания данного поста использован конвертер текстовых и табличных данных, который осуществляет разметку текста. Конвертер разработал Константин Романов (@kildor). Если у вас есть свои проекты, то вам эта ссылка, уверен, пригодится!

It is indeed still winter, this Tuesday the 3rd of March was a blistery day with clear gray skies. At around 12:30 pm I went out to our beloved centennial woods. I went all the way to the commuter lot and was going into the farthest entrance to be among the conifers. While I was on my way there, still in sight of the Doubletree, I heard the soft cawing of an American crow, it was rather far away flying through the air heading northeast.
I wanted to head this way because it was an area with a lot of conifers and it also has a large opening for the telephone/electricity poles that run through it. The conifers because during the winter they are used to host the birds, sheltering them from the snow and rain. It also allows the birds to retain more body heat while hunting for seeds and winter berries. American Crow's might not have the same affiliation to conifers as the smaller birds do. The Black-capped Chickadee I saw later in the walk relies on them more.
As I walked through this part of the woods there are many many snags, the first one not 60 feet from the trail. It was an older snag the tree missing all the bark and there were many cavities, on just one side it had 16 cavities. All of the cavities were small and round looking like the same animal or same species made them. After this snag there were 11 more I saw along my walk, each showed signs of cavities made by a similar animal.
Snags are extremely important in terms of wildlife, as well as general forest health. They provide habitat to many insect species and help provide food for larger organisms, such as birds. The snags also eventually fall turning into downed woody debris which is important for similar reasons. As well as helping the forest retain nutrients, carbon, and can even be a nursery log for species such as yellow birch. Woodpeckers are a great example of birds that can use snags to feed and nest. Other animals use these cavities to nest as well as bats.

海岸闊葉灌叢群系_地被植物
水龍骨科>擬茀蕨屬>海岸擬茀蕨（Phymatosorus scolopendrium）
特徵：根莖直徑0.5cm，羽片不超過8對，對生或近對生，寬2~2.5cm，脈不顯著，網眼内具游離小脈，羽片末端短尖至漸尖，羽軸連翅寬1.5~3cm。
分佈：西、南太平洋至法屬波利尼西亞，生長在沿海石礫地，或近山區的礁、山溝等地，除了海邊礁石外，濱海的石礫地或山溝附近也常出現。
iNat分佈： Singapore,Indonesia,Thailand,Taiwan,Australia,Mariana Islands,Mananara....etc
機制：根莖發達，分歧性高，表層具黑色鱗片。分泌離層素使葉子脫落，減少蒸散作用。

參考：
1.台灣先生天然植群圖鑒，pg124
2.http://kplant.biodiv.tw/%E6%B5%B7%E5%B2%B8%E6%93%AC%E8%8C%80%E8%95%A8/%E6%B5%B7%E5%B2%B8%E6%93%AC%E8%8C%80%E8%95%A8.htm
3.http://subject.forest.gov.tw/species/vascular/1/index-1.htm
4.https://blog.xuite.net/e2202778/boaboa/21792284-%E6%B5%B7%E5%B2%B8%E6%93%AC%E8%8C%80%E8%95%A8

In the natural world, there are regular animal behaviors that occur, for example a small bird harassing a larger bird. In this journal entry I will attempt to outline those behaviors that likely occur in Florida, that I am aware of, that interest me, and also encourage myself to seek out those I am not familiar with. This journal entry will allow me to take an inventory of what I have photographed and have already uploaded as an observation, along with those I aspire to capture. Parentheses around the Class of animal indicates I have at least one posted observation of this behavior.

Amphibian.....Frog catching prey with its tongue

(Bird)…………...Anting
(Bird)…...……...Bird chasing down another to steal its prey
Bird.........……...Loggerhead Shrike impaling Prey on a spike
Bird...…………...Nighthawk doing a steep dive
Bird...….........….Osprey catching a Fish from the water
Bird...……………Peregrine Falcons migration stop in the Keys
(Bird)...…...…...Short Tailed Hawk diving for Prey
Bird...…....……..small Bird harassing a larger one

Fish...…………….Mullet Run
(Fish)...……..….Shark temporarily beaching its pursuing prey

(Insect)....…….Butterfly Puddling
Insect...….…….Monarchs migrating

(Mammal)…..Dolphin jumping from the water

Reptile...………Alligator doing a Water Dance
Reptile...……...Alligator thrusting itself from the water to capture a Bird on a branch
Reptile......……Lizard catching Prey with its tongue
(Reptile)...…...Lizard changing from one color to another
(Reptile)...…...Rattlesnake shaking its rattle
Reptile...……...Sea Turtle laying eggs on the beach

During the covid-19 pandemic, Erin and I took a day off and went out to the desert to check out the wildflowers. It hasn't been an extraordinary year for wildflowers, and we're probably past peak, but we found what I thought was a good diversity of flowers. Desert marigold was the showiest and perhaps the most abundant flower, along with the smaller pincushions in the genus Chaenactis. It was an overcast day: good flat lighting for documentary photos but not for prize-winning images. We hiked the Sendero Esperanza trail from the parking to the ridge where it meets up with the Hugh Norris Trail. Not many butterlies out and about.

After driving back to VT from MD I wanted to spend some time outside and not in the car. It was a beautiful afternoon, around 51 degrees and sunny with an 11 mph wind. With Covid- 19 causing closings I wasn't sure if Oakledge Park was still going to be open but it was packed! Oakledge has a nice main walking path with sparse trees that leads to a small beach area. While there are a few other paths, I stayed in the sunlit beach path.

No birds were wading in Lake Champlain while I walked along the beach. The wind was causing the water to have white caps which could have led to there being no geese or ducks. In the trees lining the path, there weren't any birds I could see. The people of Burlington were keeping Oakledge park lively this Friday afternoon which might have kept some birds away.

Walking back towards the car was when I saw the first bird. There was a gull soaring solo above the main park walkway. I couldn't hear it making a call so it wasn't making any vocal communications with other gulls. I did notice the black wings tips on the Gull which can help cool the bird's wings. The heat is concentrated on the feather surface and then taken away by the wind.

By the car, there was a small clearing close to the edge of a wooded area. In the clearing, I could hear a lot of bird calls from various species. I couldn't see any of them and the recording I took was very poor. The birds were most likely calling because of the heavy traffic of pedestrians walking through the woods. Calls are normally used to alert birds of possible threats.

The second and last bird I saw looked like an American Crow but was too far away from me to accurately ID without binoculars. I'm terrible at ID-ing birds during walks but I guess the more walks I go on the better I'll get! The Blackbird was perched on a branch but wasn't resting. It kept messing with its wings so I can assume that it was grooming itself.

After, watching the blackbird for a little bit I left Oakleadge park around 6:30 pm. I only saw 2 birds on my walk: the Gull and the Blackbird.

Over time, it was interesting (and surprising) to watch other feathered friends arrive - House Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, California Towhee, California Scrub-Jay and even the American Crow.

However, over the rainy season, I discovered and learnt more about the "poop-shrooms" - Phycomyces. The shoe-birdfeeders turned pretty soggy and dirty very quickly, to a point I had to get rid of them. Still, the experiment was great while it lasted.

Time- 3:00-4:30 PM Date- 3/27/2020 Location- around my neighborhood in Wantagh, NY Weather- 70 Fahrenheit, sunny and clear, no wind Habitat- open fields and suburban trees Wow, this trip around my block was an unexpected surprise. Upon reading the prompt i thought I would struggle with this assignment because I am typically bad at the deep observation required to notice social interactions. However, I did not need to deeply observe at all, it presented its self. Immediately after walking out of my house I spotted a group of about 5 House Sparrows all chasing a leader, nosily singing the whole time. Though I cannot say for sure, I expect the 5 followers to be vying for a mate (the leader). Although March may be a little early to begin nesting, I suspect the unseasonably warm temperatures may drive some individuals to mate earlier. This assumption was later solidified when I spotted a pair of House Sparrows hanging out near a partially completed nest. This pair provided additional insights as well; while the 2 nesting pair were perched peacefully and quietly, the sparrows in the neighboring tree were all calling, presumably trying to attract a mate. I observed similar behavior in a group of European Starlings where 3 were perched and a 4th came over singing. The 2 of the birds went out to intercept the intruder and began singing back until the intruder chased them off. He then perched next to the only remaining starling. I suspect the two that were chased off were fighting over a mate when the 4th starling chased them off to claim her as his own. Additionally, I spotted a lone Northern Mockingbird perched on a house singing his heart out. The fact that he was alone and singing in such a visually obvious place leads me to believe he was trying to find a mate. As for non-mating related communication, the cacophony of songs got much louder when the Red-tailed Hawk soared over heard. This was most likely the birds warning each other of a predators presence. Blue Jays are bright blue and white and considerably larger then the brown and black House Sparrow. The Blue Jay's call also significantly stands out more, being one deep tone as opposed to a series of high pitches notes strung together. Examining their life history reveals why this might be. Blue Jays are much bigger birds and therefore better able to defend themselves from predators. It is not a big deal if a hawk spots a blue jay because the hawk will most likely go for smaller prey, like a House Sparrow. Being small, dark colored and having a song that makes you difficult to locate allows House Sparrows to remain out of the claws of a predator. As for the pishing activity, I pished my heart out but got no reaction, most likely because of my location. My neighborhood is directly next to one of the most major highways on Long Island so the birds are used to constant noise. However, I do have a hypothesis as to why pishing sometimes draws attention. I believe the pishing sounds imitate that of the flapping wings in a predatory bird. The birds hear a pish, which they believe is a predator so they investigate it.

I'm celebrating our 100th tree band species today. Maybe that shouldn't be a celebration, now that I think of it. For the record, this included North Carolina firsts for 16 species (7 beetles, 1 syrphid, 1 sawfly, 2 spiders, 1 psyllid, 1 moth, 1 ichneumonid, 1 collembolan, and 1 leafhopper). The collembolan, Prorastriopes wexfordensis, was a world iNat 1st (and 1st record for BugGuide) as was the zopherid beetle a world iNat 1st (Hyporhagus punctulatus). Needless to say, if you put Tanglefoot traps over a couple hundred trees or so you're going to trap (and unfortunately kill) a lot of bugs.

Sometimes I sample haphazardly, sometimes I make a count. Adding up days when I counted the trees I looked at during an outing this season, I've seen just 8 Fall Cankerworms on 102 banded trees.

-Ken

Our Observation of the Week is the first Silene integripetala plant posted to iNaturalist, by @katerinakalogerini in Greece!

Katerina Kalogerini resides in a small seaside town in southeastern Peloponnese, a region of Greece, where she teaches history and the Greek language, and tells me “I have been in love with animals and nature for all my life.

As a little girl I used to enjoy walks with my father in nature. He would stop from time to time to show me a bird on a tree (he used to love birds!), a turtle, a plant or a flower and every time it was a pure joy for me to discover a piece of the beauty of nature with his help. We both used to love the sea also, so during summer we were looking for fish, crabs, etc. while snorkeling together. He wanted to show me as many species as possible. Maybe the most beautiful memories of my childhood…

She came across her first Silene integripetala three years ago, and says “I found it so beautiful that l was determined to find out its name. After hours of searching on the internet l discovered it on www.greekflora.gr. The joy was even greater when l read that the flower is endemic of southern Peloponnese, where I live.” The plant you see photographed throughout this post was observed a few weeks ago while Katerina looked for orchids, and she says “It was the first integripetala of the year for me! When I found out there were no observations of the flower on iNaturalist, I decided to make this the first one.”

Plants in the genus Silene are known commonly as catchflies and campions in English, and according to Intermountain Flora (vol. 2A, p. 447. 2012)

Internodal bands on some Silene stems exude a sticky sap that may trap small insects, thus the common name “catchfly.” The plant cannot utilize nutrients from these trapped insects and is therefore not carnivorous. The function may be to prevent crawling insects from reaching the flowers.

Catchflies are cosmopolitan, but are more abundant in the northern hemisphere, and the genus contains around 700 species. 

Perhaps hearkening back to her childhood, Kateria (above, on Cyprus) still calls snorkeling and walking through nature among her favorite experiences, and says “I am fascinated every time l find a new species to me!” She uses iNaturalist to get identification help, and has some ambitions for it:

I want to post as many species of my area as possible. My town, Neapoli Lakonias, is located at the southeastern end of continental Europe and there are quite a few endemic species here, mostly plants, some of which I hope to find and post on iNaturalist one day.

By Tony Iwane. Some quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and flow. Thanks to @jdmore for the quote from Intermountain Flora.

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- There are nearly 40,000 Silene observations on iNaturalist, so why not take a look at them?

- Silene is part of the Caryophyllaceae (pinks/carnations) family, and iNat data from Caryophyllaceae was used in this study of anther-smut records.

- And really, who can forget Marty Robbins’ classic song of heartbreak involving a pink carnation?

Hi community scientists,

I hope that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. Things are changing rapidly in our state, and we decided earlier this month to postpone all remaining classroom and field trainings related to the Mapping Recovery project. Though the Garden is closed to visitors, we’re continuing to perform our critical conservation work as much as possible but are making some changes to improve our safety and reduce our risk of spreading disease. In light of these changes and the Governor’s stay-at-home order, we wanted to share with you some updates about the Mapping Recovery project and ways that you can continue to be a community scientist while maintaining your safety and comfort.

As volunteers for this project, we want you to know that the US Forest Service has decided to limit access to its offices, and that all campgrounds and facilities are currently closed (see attached press release). However, trails remain open, and most health experts agree that exercise outdoors is safe for low-risk groups. If you choose to continue surveying your trail, we ask that you abide by the following:
- Do not leave home if you are feeling ill or show any symptoms of COVID-19 or any other contagious diseases
- Maintain a minimum of a 6-foot distance between yourself and other trail users. Please move to the side in a safe place to allow other users to pass you, or politely ask them to make space for you to pass.
- A reminder before you head out: facilities (including restrooms) are closed on all US Forest Service trails. Please avoid touching surfaces (drinking fountains, benches, signage) whenever possible.
- Don’t invite others to hike with you. Under normal circumstances, I would love for you to share your survey efforts with others, but at this time, it’s best to hike only with those you live with and interact with on a daily basis.
- If possible, visit the trail during off hours – trails have been particularly impacted over weekends as many of us enjoying stretching our legs after being cooped up for a week. However, large congregations on trails are unsafe for both disease transmission, and because it can contribute to trail damage.
- In a similar vein, if you cannot find parking at the trailhead, reconsider your hike. Trails in other places have been closed due to large numbers of visitors, and we’d like to avoid this happening in here.

I also want to add that if you need to drop out of this project for any reason, I fully support your decision to do so, and appreciate it if you could let me know. This is a difficult time for all of us for a variety of reasons, and I don’t want anyone to feel pressured to hike and survey for this project if they are not comfortable to or able to do so.

And now, for some good news: our project is taking off, and we’ve been getting some much-needed rain! We have an incredible 466 plant observations on iNaturalist and 537 erosion, trail damage, weedy area, and landscape monitoring photo observations in AnecData. Keep ‘em coming – and remember to add close up photos of plant parts (flowers, leaves, etc.) whenever possible to improve the chances that I (or someone else) can ID your photo at home.

Also exciting: the project materials are now available online! If you’ve misplaced your ID guide or protocol booklet, they’re on the following webpage (https://www.sbbg.org/conservation-research/fire-recovery-community-science/community-scientist-resources).

As spring creeps further, here are some weeds to keep an eye out for: the fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and castor bean (Ricinus communis) are getting quite large, the sticky snakeroot (Ageratina adenophora), and tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca) are both in flower (and easier to spot!) in many places. This is also the time to catch Onionweed (Asphodelus fistulosus). And remember to keep your eyes peeled for areas of potential erosion, like this gnarly eroded gully spotted by user teacups.

There are also plenty of other species getting spotted on local trails – for example, check out this awesome native Scarlet Monkeyflower (Erythranthe cardinalis) spotted by user ezeemonee, and this lovely rare Ojai Fritillary (Fritillaria ojaiensis) spotted by user georgewilliams1!

That’s all from me for now, and I hope to update you again in the next few weeks. Stay safe and healthy, and I look forward to seeing more observations come in through iNaturalist and AnecData! For those of you waiting on the rare species list – keep your eyes peeled, as that will arrive in your inboxes later today. All the best until the next update!

Josie

Around 2 pm. Clear, blue sky day, about 60 degrees. Area has a few spaced out trees, mostly open with prairie grass. There were a few of these birds flying low to the ground in the prairie grass. I think it is a song sparrow but I'm not positive.

I heard black-capped chickadee calls with different number of "dee"s at the end. The calls were sort of coming from different areas so there were multiple but I could only see one (the picture I got was too bright to see the bird in it). When I walked below the tree the chickadee was in I noticed that the "dee"s increased by one or so, and then it would fly to a farther branch or different tree all together. The, I believe song sparrows, in the the prairie grass would sort of fly/jump through the grass low to the ground. when one would go by the one in the picture would crane its head around a bit. They would also call back and forth.

The plumage of the birds I saw very much resembled the coloring of what they would rest in. The bird pictured was hard to pick out among the grass until I saw it fly and then land. Even when I was taking videos/pictures I struggled to spot the bird through my camera lens. I saw a few birds with dark slate color on the back of the bird. When it was flying I could see the birds white underbelly and dark back relatively clearly. However when it rested on a tree branch the color on the back of the bird was very close to the color of the tree bark and the bird almost melted away from sight. This makes sense as these birds are very small and probably rely on cammoflage for protection from predators.

The bird with the darker color on its back was primarily higher up in the trees. In this setting the bird was incredibly hard to see as it blended in with the bark color nicely. If the bird that was primarily in the prairie grass was in the trees it would stick out against the even dark color. However in the prairie grass, the varied brown colors let it melt away into the prairie grass habitat. For context the grass was adjacent to the cluster of trees. Geographically the two habitats were very close together.

I also observed a kildeer fly through the spaced out trees. It sort of weaved in and out of the of the trees almost like a figure eight on a tilt.

Birds have a high metabolism, so they generate a substantial amount of heat. They also have a lot of down feathers that provide insulation in the winter. In addition to the insulation that their down provides, the uropygial gland that secrets an oil that birds coat their feathers with for water protection. On their legs they have scales that minimize heat loss.

Behaviorally, they have a few adaptations to keep warm. Birds will do something called fluffing where birds fluff up their feathers to create air pockets for extra insulation. Birds will also tuck their bill into their shoulder to breathe in warm air. They will also stand on one leg or crouch over both legs to keep them warm. Birds will also sun on a sunny day. They will turn their backs to the sun and angle their feathers to soak up the warmth from the sun. Like humans, birds will also shiver if they need to generate heat in extreme conditions. Small birds will often gather at night to sleep together to share body heat, called roosting. Birds will also enter torpor during winter nights, lowering their body temperature by as much as 50 degrees to conserve energy.

While I was walking I was mostly in an open area with few trees so I did not see too many snags, but I may have seen one with a few holes in it.

If you can safety (observing Social Distancing) make observations on local rivers, we'd love to have you on our new Rivers Team. Those interested should contact Bruce Bodson of the Lower Brazos River Watch at bruce.bodson@lowerbrazosriverwatch.org. For general questions about the Houston-Galveston City Nature Challenge Team please contact Jaime González at jaime.gonzalez@tnc.org.

Purple Owl’s-Clover (Castilleja exserta subsp. exserta) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/40729470 by jrebman
Parish’s or Graceful Owl’s-Clover (Castilleja densiflora subsp. gracilis) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39212245 by jrebman

In San Diego County, we have two kinds of Owl’s-Clover that are annuals with mostly pinkish-purple inflorescences: Purple Owl’s-Clover (Castilleja exserta subsp. exserta) and Parish’s or Graceful Owl’s-Clover (Castilleja densiflora subsp. gracilis). Both plants are widespread in our county, but Castilleja exserta subsp. exserta is more common and ranges farther inland than Castilleja densiflora subsp. gracilis. When you examine either of these plants, it can be difficult to figure out the parts of the flowers. Forget easily recognized structures like petals and sepals. Instead, you need to become conversant with lips and beaks.

The 5 petals of each of these two taxa are fused, forming corolla lips. One of the more obvious features of the plants are the shorter, pouch-like, 3-lobed lower corolla lips that are usually pinkish below and white with yellow and darker purplish markings at the top. In Castilleja exserta subsp. exserta this lip is rather subdued, but in Castilleja densiflora subsp. gracilis the lower corolla lip is widened and appears to bulge out. (Occasionally, you may find “albino” plants with the pinkish parts replaced with white, but usually those plants are mixed in with more typically colored ones.)

(L) Castilleja exserta subsp. exserta (R) Castilleja densiflora subsp. gracilis © Jon Rebman

The beak is the fusion of the 2 upper petals and in both of these species is pinkish and projects above the lower corolla lip. In Castilleja exserta subsp. exserta the beak is “shaggy hairy” and is hooked at the end and the stigma appears to be perched below the hook. In Castilleja densiflora subsp. gracilis the beak is much less hairy, straight, and the stigma appears to be perched at the tip.

When you post an observation of one of these plants, be sure to include a close-up, side view photo of the beak and corolla lip as the first photo in the observation for ease of identification.