Ημερολόγιο της/του silversea_starsong

I'm going to be in the Bay Area starting tomorrow (oops, I should have made this post earlier), with the following days at stake:

Monday 22nd -- arriving around 11am, meeting @robberfly.
Tuesday 23rd -- meeting with @tiwane and @catchang (formerly cicada stuff with @easmeds)
Wednesday 24th -- general catch-up around the West Bay to look for Geraniums

25th-29th -- butterfly bonanza with @robberfly

July 30th -- Returning to the Bay Area from butterfly bonanza early afternoon.
July 31st -- Morning with @merav at Warm sprongs.
August 1st -- ???
August 2nd -- early am tidepool stuff with @kestrel and others, am to pm.
August 3rd -- I have the day spare until I fly out at 7pm.

So if anyone wants to arrange a meetup or some such, let me know. I think most of my wanted plants are crispy beyond identification at this time of year, but there ought to be a lot of other stuff around.

@sea-kangaroo @dpom @gyrrlfalcon @alexis_amphibian @merav @catchang @mazer @leslie_flint @jmaughn @tiwane @kueda @damontighe @anudibranchmom @graysquirrel @dgreenberger
Feel free to add anyone else I forgot.

I'm thinking of coordinating a trip to San Luis Obispo in the near future (before the end of the month, maybe even this weekend). Anyone interested in a meetup? I'm mostly intending to focus on plants while here, both around SLO and closer to Morro Bay. I have some itineraries in mind that target specific species, but company is welcome.

Until the volunteering opportunity in Australia came up this was actually the only travel I was expecting to do...!

From Februrary through March, I will be on a birding tour in New Zealand, commencing in Christchurch. I'm thinking of spending a few extra days (or more?) in Christchurch to appreciate the non-bird fauna, as well as flora. I'm interested in about everything, particularly dragonflies, butterflies, plants, snails...but not excluding fungi, and other things. If you have a blacklight setup for moths, that's of particular interest too. My focus will be on native species.

If anyone from the area can advise on locations accessible with public transport, or if you want to schedule a meetup or two, now is your chance! This will be my first time in NZ. If you show up and say "hey, we can go on an expedition to the mountains for a week", I wouldn't say no either!

Apologies for the group tag -- if you know anyone else who might be interested/want to help, feel free to let them know...
@jon_sullivan @meurkc @joepb @grahame @reinderw @katemccombs @melissa_hutchison @suemcgaw @alice_shanks @cooperj @steveattwood @quanwei @ecoman @jennysaito @shona_t @trevor_partridge @crellow @gregs @koofen @jacobl

Just a heads up I suppose that I will be visiting Hawaii from the 12th September to 19th, following the Festival of Birds there. The first days will be on Big Island, and then the remaining days on O'ahu. I was also thinking of trying to get tours on Maui and Kaua'i, but most tour guides no longer do tours in recent years! Really though if anyone has any target groups to look for (I have already contacted several of you), let me know. For instance, I will be checking Euphorbia for Nathan Taylor, and psyllids for Chris.

I have a good deal of map points for my visit to Hawaii, but if there are any particular suggestions, let me know! I wouldn't mind some sort of snorkelling/scuba diving session somewhere, since I have virtually zero ocean observations. I have a camera suitable for the task so I might as well. I think I'm good on bird locations, but I don't have any good stakeouts for the butterflies (although I have a big grid of koa tree congregations that I can check for koa blue).

Not to mention, I was invited to a volunteer session in Australia starting September 25th. So that will keep me out of America until late October. I will be based in Tasmania.

Just when I thought the year was over!

After several months of hassle with technicalities, tax forms, and other miscellaneous nonsense, my secret resource on American ladybugs/birds/beetles is finally out on the app store. This is at this time currently the only current resource detailing the nearly 500 ladybug species in North America, besides Robert Gordon's text heavy publication from the 1900s.

It is currently on the app store for iOS devices (Apple iPhone). So far it covers only adults. But if it sells at least a few copies, and is worth my time, I will make work on adding larva and pupa to this guide too.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adalia-field-guide-to-ladybugs/id1121061924?mt=8

If you find bugs, and I don't mean ladybugs, let me know so I can hide my shame!

Journals? Oh yeah, that's a thing that exists.

Anyways, so I recently moved from Agoura Hills all the way down to Irvine in Orange County. I'll sure miss having the Santa Monicas on my doorstep but Irvine does put me much closer to other equally cool sites from the San Gabriels to the San Jacintos.

So, anyone around this area have any suggestions for cool spots to visit? There's a lot to choose from judging by the map.