Αρχεία Ημερολογίου για Απρίλιος 2018

Απρίλιος 20, 2018

BioBlitz at TCC South

April 18th was a great day this year. We held an Earth Day Celebration and the SOS Monarch Action group that we have at school held our first ever Campus BioBlitz. I have recently been claimed their Student Ambassador or Student Rep since I am a Texas Master Naturalist and a student in the long run they thought it was wise to have me keep my group in the loop with their activities. We had a blast that day; I made about fourteen observations. Not as good as some days but heck the adventure was great. We had a group of biology and high school students with us and I led some on a hike around the front. We were stationed out in the prairie and I was showing off some of the plants and animals that I knew that were out there. The first thing I saw we first made it past the driveway was a lone Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. There were a lot of blue bonnets, Texas Bindweed, some Crayfish Chimneys, I was able to locate and really worn Indomitable Metropolis Moth when I first started looking in the grass and the wildflowers. I saw one Indian Blanket, a couple of Dakota Mock Vervains, and a few other neat things. I love bioblitzes and can hardly wait for the CNC or City Nature Challenge. Every bit I do on hikes and other events I always get training for when big BioBlitzes come up. Each bit I find when on a normal hike helps me sharpen and hone my skills as an iNaturalist user. I am always searching for that next best observation. I am so ready for my next challenge!

Posted on Απρίλιος 20, 2018 0648 ΠΜ by galactic_bug_man galactic_bug_man | 13 παρατηρήσεις | 2σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Earth Day at River Legacy/ and CNC, and 2018 Projections

Last Saturday I went to River Legacy to help out with their Earth Day Celebration; I have been helping out with a lot of Earth Month stuff this month. April has been a busy time for me and boy has it been a fun month. On that day which was the 14th I was helping out with hikes. When I arrived there was not much to do but I did a little bit with Privet pull, and I did some other stuff but then it was time to do the hikes, my first hike I was showing the guests some of the insects that were starting to show up, I pointed out the plants I knew and stuff just to keep it interesting. The birds were chirping which made some interesting conversation. The first group I had was an good easy group. They seemed to be into my talk and hike tour. We didn't find that much that was that interesting on the first hike but it was the second hike that was really neat. I was the second in command on that hike. The leader had me kind of in the middle of the group to follow behind aways. On that hike we saw an Ornate Box Turtle. Me and the hike leader stood about arms-width apart or so and we were seeing if the kiddos could see it without us pointing it out. Some of the kids saw it automatically but others were not so sure where he was. It was down in the ground covered by leaves and things. It was a male because his eyes were blood red. He was trying to stay hidden because of the chill from the previous cold front that came in the day before. He was not going to have it with the chill. I took a few photos of it; making it my very first land turtle on my observations life list. I was so happy to have seen one; they are definitely a rarity since they are a Near Threatened species since their has been a lot going on with the accursed Pet Trade and the habitat destruction and all. To see one is hard to do but sometimes you can get lucky and spot one; you just have to know where to look when out on the trail. On the same hike I was able to find another rare one; in fact it is a first on iNaturalist for Tarrant County. We were near the finish line when my insect spotting skills found an strange creature. It was a moth that had really long antenna. They were black at the base and white on the rest. They were the craziest set of antenna I had ever seen on an insect; let a lone a moth. The thing was IDed as an Southern Longhorn Moth. I had never encountered one before but when he would fly it made me thing he was jumping rope like a school kid they were that long. Every time he would move direction they would bobble; giving him that weird skipping rope effect. It was so strange but I have seen stranger stuff in my life as an iNaturalist. I have 2438 observations on my page so far I have dozens of strange creatures. Not all are weird but some do fall under the odd category. I have to say that day was good and I was able to get a few new things to my ever growing life list.

I wonder what my next adventure will have in-store for me. I do have that CNC coming up and I am going to try and beat last years record of 266 observations. I am going to try and get 300+. For the whole year my goal is to try and get about 3000+ observations. I don't want to say 4000 because I can only do so much in a year and it took me a long time to get to 2000 but I have a good pace this year that by the end of the year I could have as much as 3300 or more but that is just a rough estimate and may not hold true by the winter. I have to keep strong and shoot for those big numbers that I like to get. 20s are okay but one a real good day I can get well into the 30s. I need to shoot for the 90s range but that is on a day when I go out to multiple places and get all the goods that day has to offer which is something I have only achieved once and it was a staggering 97 in total made on the first day of last year's CNC. I have to try and beat every record from that week. I am hoping there will be no rain so that way I can get the best numbers as i can. Last year during the CNC we had a day of rain in the DFW Metroplex and it brought me down to finding only 15 observations which was not what I wanted to make. Better than none but still not in the amounts I was getting. I was still on the top of my game afterwards but still that day of rain hurt my scores badly. I did manage a small rebound but this year I am going to work harder than ever to bring the heat and to try and help as much as I can bring the DFW area to victory. I need to find some new first timers those seem to always shake things up. I found a few firsts for iNaturalist last year but this year I need to try and find as many unusual animals that don't really come around here or just haven't been seen in the area. I am so ready to meet this challenge head on. I am looking forward to winning this again if we don't win first place for the globe we have a chance of winning solid for the US since the DFW is in a good mixed zone where we can get all kinds of interesting creatures and good cross sections. I am ready to take my stand and to get all of the best observations that I can. Hope my camera can take the heat. It is showin signs that it won't be long to get a new one. I am hoping that it will last this bioblitz and then maybe I can squeak out some more money to have it repaired or by a new one. I will have to think about it but hopefully my trusty Nikon Coolpix can take the heat from one more BioBlitz. That camera and I have been through thick and thin together. We have made countless observations and have seen some incredible creatures and have been on countless adventures since the year of 2015. I love that camera but it is beginning to show its age. The problem I am mainly having it the top telewide button is becoming sticky and will sometimes lock up on me. I have a second one of the outer side of the camera lens so and it still pretty much works but I still am worried that it will be harder to get stuff if I keep having button issues but I should be fine for the most part. Well I got to get some rest I didn't realize it was so late. This is Zachary Chapman AKA Galactic_Bug_Man signing off at 2:23 AM.

Posted on Απρίλιος 20, 2018 0723 ΠΜ by galactic_bug_man galactic_bug_man | 2 παρατηρήσεις | 2σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Απρίλιος 21, 2018

City Nature Challenge: Plan of Action

I have not talked about my battle plans much as I have last year during the City Nature Challenge; I have been so busy with the move and all but I do have some ideas of what I want to do to get more observations. I am going to switch things up. For Moth night I am going to Dogwood Canyon since there is possibly a greater chance of getting a Luna Moth if at all possible. I have been trying to nail that one for years and I am hoping to see one and some of the forest moths. That will be on Friday Night but for the rest of that day before I go to the night event I am going to try and go to Stovall Park, Sonora Park, and then I will go to Elmer W. Oliver or River Legacy. I may even go to Lake Arlington and Thora Hart park just to pick up stuff there just to boost the numbers. That is for Friday.

Saturday's out look looks like I will be going to the BioBlitz at Southwest Nature Preserve. This year that event is a little later in the day around 4-10PM so that is going to be great I will be able to get more that day since that is such a long time to be out there. I will go to OS Gray that morning just to make a repeat of last years Saturday trek. I went to those places last year and I am planning on going back to those places. I will go there in early morning and then I will try and rush over to Veterans Park to check out the pollinator gardens and to try and look for other things. I am looking forward to the SWNP BioBlitz. I will be looking forward to that.

@kimberlietx Sunday I am open if you wanted to go to Crystal Canyon or something. I was thinking about going to a few bigger areas to look for stuff. I was just curious if you wanted to do something with me since we have been talking about it for a while now. I really don't have a schedule I guess I will use this day as a whatever goes day. I mean I will go and get observations but I will just go to random places. I may go to Mary and Jimmie Hooper Park or something later on that day.

Monday I am just going to have go to the places I am used to since my brother has school. It looks like Friday and Saturday and Sunday will be my busy days but I am not so sure about Monday. I will have to run by TCC Southeast Campus or the South Campus and see what I can find at the pond and Recreational areas. I am also thinking about going to the Botanical Gardens and look for stuff but I will have to see about that and try to work it into my schedule but don't worry because I have a few other tricks up my sleeves. I look for stuff in my backyard too but not as much because I need Volunteer Hours so I can keep up with my certification with the Master Naturalist group. Well I have to get going I still have a bit to move from the other house. This is Zachary Chapman signing off.

Posted on Απρίλιος 21, 2018 0536 ΜΜ by galactic_bug_man galactic_bug_man | 2σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Απρίλιος 27, 2018

City Nature Challenge Pre-adventure statement.

As this day comes to a close we all know we have a challenge on our plates. Tomorrow is the City Nature Challenge 2018 and we all are all eager and waiting for the crack of dawn to get our observations and to get on the trail. I just wanted to say good luck to all the cities that are involved this year. Last year DFW took the top spot as the most observations in the CNC 2017 contest. Last year was the first time Texas was invited to join in the CNC. I was able to get 266 observations that year. I am hoping to double that number but let us not forget that no matter who comes out on top in the end we are all winners. We are all on a mission to help bring awareness to the policy makers and the community. It is a contest yes but we all have the same goal to find as many things in our world as we can so we can share and appreciate them. It is fun to be competitive and I love a good challenge and contest; I am just saying in the long run there are no real losers in this challenge for we all get our chance to shine and get our chance to find all sorts of cool creatures and we all have the opportunity to get stuff we have never even seen before on our life lists. I for one am excited to be doing this a second time. I have my stuff all ready for tomorrow and I am ready to hit the trails. I just want to say good luck to you all and may you all get great observations. I may run into a couple of you on the trails. You just never know who you will might meet. Make new discoveries and make a new friend or two I will see you on the trails. Have fun tomorrow you guys and stay safe. Have a great night and get plenty of rest because tomorrow and the next four days it is going to be exhausting. Be sure to eat right and drink plenty of water. You all have a nice night and tomorrow come out and give it your all! LETS DO IT AGAIN PEOPLE! Zachary Chapman out.

Posted on Απρίλιος 27, 2018 0139 ΠΜ by galactic_bug_man galactic_bug_man | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Friday- April-27-2018 CNC Outlook

Well today seems to be a nice day to go out. So far I have made one observation. I got up at 3:20 or so because I was too darn excited to get this weekend underway. Today I am going out to Stovall Park and Oliver Nature Park. I know I said I will switch it up but I found a whole lot of things last year. I made 97 observations last year during the Friday Start date so I am going to try and get over one hundred photos today. I have to go to my aunt's school later to help with a project so that will slow me up as bit but around the school there are things to be found so it won't slow me up too bad. I will just have to see what is out there if I get the chance. I also have the Mothing event at Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center. I may make a brief stop at Thora Hart park and see what is out there. I have been trying to track down more Tiger Beetles and such. I hope it warms up today so my insect pals can come out and play. I am certain that today will be one of the best days for iNaturalist data collection I have ever had. I need to keep a track of all my hours at public parks because they do count toward my Texas Master Naturalist Volunteer Hours for data collection so I can get closer to my re-certification this year. I am hoping to find some good stuff today. I always do but I need to add new lifers to the list so I need to look high and low for all the things I can find in a single day. Round one is just beginning. I will try and post more about the post adventure later on today but I have to go to bed and get up early tomorrow because I am going to try and make it to Flower Mound and go to the "The Flower Mound" and look for stuff there. Day one of the CNC is upon us once more and we need to get all we can. Lets do it again DFW lets win this again we need a consecutive win this year. Help protect our title as CNC Champs. @kimberlietx @sambiology the rest of you on my page I am looking at y'all. Come out and join in the biggest game of hide and seek. Zachary Chapman out.

Posted on Απρίλιος 27, 2018 1222 ΜΜ by galactic_bug_man galactic_bug_man | 1 παρατήρηση | 2σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο