It has begun!

Despite thunderstorms, drizzle and tornado warnings, DC area iNaturalists have been in the field today and are off to a great start. The count at midnight, 24 hours in, is 4068 observations, 278 observers and 811 species. The top ten species are Virginia creeper, mayapple, Virginia spring beauty, jack-in-the-pulpit, Christmas fern, garlic mustard, poison ivy, common blue violet, tuliptree and American jumpseed.

Our phenology this year is ahead of last year’s. Redbuds have more leaves this year and flowers are dropping off, while most trees were only in flower last year. Flowering dogwood is already looking faded on the first day of the 2019 challenge, whereas it was fresh through the 2018 challenge. Bluebells and toothwort have already gone to seed now but were in their prime for last year’s challenge. This could mean good things for our species count, since more insects may be out and more grasses and sedges may be showing their all-important flowers and fruits.

Top observers at this hour are @jmgconsult, with 483 observations/189 species; @capitalnaturalist with 152/123; @karyn-nrd with 141/81; @belby with 122 observations and @scottgraham with 74 species.

Raising our eyes to the global landscape, new cities have burst on the scene with some very impressive performances. Tena, Ecuador, La Paz, Bolivia and Cape Town, South Africa are all ahead of traditional heavies San Francisco, San Diego and LA Counties in number of observations. Cape Town was first in number of species until a few minutes ago, now second to San Diego County; and Tena is first in number of observers. Well done, newcomers!

Tomorrow’s forecast is windy but dry. Enjoy your nature day tomorrow! And when you get home, don't forget to pitch in with ID's and welcome new observers.

Publicado el abril 27, 2019 04:21 MAÑANA por dbarber