Abby and I had an awesome time communing with the critters this week. Major kudos to Jeremy at the Voltage Gate for putting together the First Annual Blogger Bioblitz-- we're already looking forward to the next one!

I've combined the two days we were blitzing into this final list, and organized it by subject (ie, birds together, plants together, etc...) rather than by stage in the identification process (which I had done in my previous posts). So:

Birds:

• 2 mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)
• 1 white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
• 5 Canada Geese (Branta canadensis)
• 2 American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
• 2 osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
• 2 common grackles (Quiscalus quiiscula)
• 2 American robins (Turdus migratorius)
• 3+ Black-capped chickadees (Parus atricapillus)
• 1 ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis)
• Swallow (Family Hirundinidae)

Reptiles:

• 1+ Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)
• 3 ribbon snakes (Thamnophis sauritus)
• 1 brown snake (Storeria dekayi)

Amphibians:

• 2-3+ northern leopard frogs (Rana pipiens)

Mammals:

• 1 eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
• 1 deer mouse or white-footed mouse (genus Peromyscus)

Fish:

• Unidentified small fish (Superclass Osteichthyes)

Invertebrates:

• Midges (Chironomidae family)
• Water striders (Family Gerridae)
• Hard-bodied ticks (Ixodes genus)
• Little black beetle (Order Coleoptera)
• Tiny comb-footed spider found on walkway (family Theridiidae)
• Immature orb weaver spider in web on tree (genus Larinioides, family Araneidae)

Fungi:

• Aged rot fungus (Merulius Tremellosus)

Plants:

• Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
• Red clover (Trifolium repens)
• Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota)
• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
• Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
• Goosegrass (Eleusine indica)
• Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens)
• 4 pitch pines (Pinus rigida)
• 1 eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana)
• Oldfield cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)
• Common cattail (Typha latifolia)
• Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
• Goldenrod (Solidago species)

Finally, a picture of how I spent a good half hour of bioblitz day two-- squatting down, alternating between squinting at the turf and perusing the identification keys in Weeds of the Northeast by Uva, Neal and DiTomaso, as I chased down identification for that most wily of adversaries: grass seedlings (it turned out to be goosegrass, Eleusine indica). I now know a lot more about auricles, ligules, and other things I had never heard of before that are critical to identifying grasses. Note the turkey vulture tee shirt, which Abby and I won at a geocaching event at that very same nature center.

( Ohh, Look-- Grass! )

Tags: bioblitz, bioblitz2007, biology, birds, critters, local, nature, photoblog
Current Mood: pleased
Voices in my Head: "John, Jim and Me" by Gravity +

The reptiles at the pond where we bioblitzed were more camera-shy than the amphibians (who mugged for shots here and here), but Abby did manage to get a few turtle pictures, including this one:

( Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) )

Tags: bioblitz, bioblitz2007, biology, critters, photoblog
Current Mood: cheerful

Another day, another frog pokes his head out of the pond:

( Northern Leopard Frog II )

Tags: bioblitz, bioblitz2007, critters, photoblog
Current Mood: cheerful

Abby and I returned to the pond at the Nature Center yesterday for the second part of our Bioblitz. The weather wasn't quite as nice as Sunday's was; it was a bit overcast, and not as warm. Still, we had a lot of fun, recorded some new wildlife, and took some more pictures. I'll post a final list once I have all the species sorted and identified. Here's the list from day two (of course, I left out those plants that were already listed on day one; for example, the pitch pines were still there but I didn't list them again):

Identified:

• 2 mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)
• 1 white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
• 1-2 northern leopard frog(s) (Rana pipiens)¹
• Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
• 1 Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)²
• 2 American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
• Red clover (Trifolium repens)
• 1+ Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)
• Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota)
• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
• Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
• 1 eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
• Goosegrass (Eleusine indica)
• Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens)

Partially Identified:

• Midges (Chironomidae family)
• 1 deer mouse or white-footed mouse (genus Peromyscus)

---

¹This was a different frog from day one (rather smaller), but I'm unsure whether I spotted two different frogs on day two or the same frog twice.
²May or may not be the same goose who was swimming around on day one, still swimming around.

Tags: bioblitz, bioblitz2007, biology, birds, critters, local, nature
Current Mood: chipper