Το Ημερολόγιο του City Nature Challenge 2024: Brazos Valley, TX

Αρχεία Ημερολογίου για Μάιος 2024

Μάιος 01, 2024

Day Five: Beginning of Identification

Well, the observation phase is over. You can still upload observations, so long as they have a time-stamp during the four-day observation period. Right now, we stand at 5,367 observations of 1,409 species by 218 species. To be honest, I never dreamed we'd reach these levels! Thanks to all who participated and contributed. You are all amazing!

I got an email today from Craig Hensley at TPWD. He's one of the coordinators of the friendly competition among Texas cities. He didn't have numbers, but he said that San Antonio was at that time 3rd among 700+ cities GLOBALLY!! Whether this was in number of observations or species, he didn't say.

As we enter the identification phase, there is still a place for everyone. If you have a specialty, you can help take observations in that area to research grade. If you aren't comfortable with species-level identification, you can help the "experts" by putting initial identifications on unknowns. All you need to be able to do is tell a bobwhite from a box turtle! The best way to find these is to click on "Identify" in the top menu, then type in one of the counties* in the location box. (I haven't figured out how to do all six at once.) Since they come up most recent first, the CNC ones should be first, but as the week progresses, you can use the "Filters" button to insert a date range. You can either look at everything, which will let you see the unknowns, or you can put something (birds, grasses, reptiles, etc.) in the species box (or use the "Filters" button.

I'm doing Brazos County and all species. I see an unknown that looks like a mushroom to me. I click on the observation, click on "Add ID," type in "fungi," select "Fungi and Lichens" (as I don't trust myself to go any further), and click done. Now someone who knows mushrooms, maybe not even in Texas or the US, will find it, which they wouldn't if it had been left at "unknown." A little farther down, I see one identified as "Silverleaf Nightshade, Solanum olaeagnifolium." I know that one and agree with the ID, so I can click on "Agree" without even opening the observation. Instant Research Grade! I also see a bird labelled Hudsonian Godwit, Limosa haemastica." It's a photoscoped picture and a bit blurry, but it's unmistakable, so, again, I can just click "Agree." I did open it, and, unfortunately, it was taken today, so it missed the Challenge. Oh, well. Still a great observation.

*Five of the six counties will come up in the dropdown menu when you start typing them into the box. There are many, many "Madison Counties" in the US, so Texas won't show up in the drop-down list. If you want to do that one, you have to actually type in "Madison County, Texas" to bring it up.

Bruce

Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 01, 2024 1233 ΠΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 02, 2024

Day Six: The Progress Continues

The observations continue to trickle in and the identifications continue to arrive. We added nearly 100 observations today. Laura Sare bumped me from the top spot with 440 observations. Again, I'm happy to cede top spot, particularly to such a worthy "opponent." Our species count is currently at 1,418, just a few over last night's 1,409. That number is going to vary, probably staying in that neighborhood, as IDs are refined and changed over the next few days. Yesterday's post should have read "by 218 observers," not "species" (it's late when I write these, okay?); that's also up slightly today, to 220. I haven't looked closely, but one species that got added today that almost got missed was Chuck-will's-widow, recorded by call in Robertson County. Thank you, shardintx! On the identification front, 1,875, or 34.4%, have reached research grade. There's still plenty of work to be done there.

I got an email from CNC Central today that there were more than 2.1 MILLION observations worldwide this year! They are also looking for "interesting" observations for the annual infographic. They define "interesting" as (among other things) new finds, rare species, observations with a story behind them, "really cool" photos, or amazing species interactions. Last year, I submitted the beetle on this year's banner, a species that had only been reported 3 times prior in all of iNat. As you're doing your identifications, help me by popping any "interesting" observations in the comments. They don't have to be world-worthy. Maybe we can just start a thread of our favorite observations?

Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 02, 2024 0311 ΠΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 2σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Thank You City Nature Challenge 2024: Brazos Valley Group

Hello Everyone,

I am deeply grateful for the incredible participation you all have shown during the City Nature Challenge observation days! Your contributions have provided us with a remarkable yearly snapshot of the biodiversity in our area. The numbers this year are truly astounding, and I am eagerly anticipating how they will evolve in the coming days as the ID verification process continues.

It's a good time to start identifying some species as the weather looks rainy!

Remember, to help identify, you do not have to know everything! For Example, suggesting an ID of a mushroom photo to the mushroom group from the unknown is helpful!

This data is essential to the conservation community; thank you to everyone participating and helping out!

Thank you for your time,

Laurie L Brown aka bugnerd
City Of College Station Parks and Recreation Supervisor of Lick Creek Park

Posted on Μάιος 02, 2024 0652 ΜΜ by bugnerd bugnerd | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 03, 2024

Day Seven: The Excitement Continues

Our numbers are pretty stable right now. I think we've added a couple observations and species since yesterday, but I don't expect a huge increase over the next few days. At this point, we're concentrating on increasing our proportion of research quality observations, currently at 37.2%.

I've been scrolling through the observations today, looking for "interesting" ones. Shardintx found Agrobacterium (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212366403), which has to be our first observation of any bacterium. Ian Meloni found a Slowinski's Cornsnake (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212677457). Obviously, I need to update my snake taxonomy! swilk-2 found an American Bittern at Old Country Club Lake (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212013430) that's apparently still there. Blakeelzi contributed a bunch of fishes, which we always have trouble getting. We have a great representation of minor insect orders. I didn't have a chance to look for a silverfish in the house (I'll find one very soon, I'm sure), but Newt Knorpp came through (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/210907664).

There are still a lot of plants that are questionably wild. If your observations are of cultivated plants, please mark "Organism is wild" "no." Thanks.

Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 03, 2024 0303 ΠΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 04, 2024

Day Eight: Still a Lot of Identifications to Be Done

We've pretty much plateaued at the number of observations (5,485) and species (1,428), both of which are amazing! I've spent the day doing identifications. We're at 43.3% research grade, up from 37.2% yesterday. I'd like to hit at least 50% by Sunday night. There are still of "Unknowns" to be sorted out, so any help you can give is still welcome.

Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 04, 2024 0425 ΠΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 05, 2024

Day Nine: The Home Stretch

Happy Star Wars Day, All!

We have one day and a little more to finish uploading and identifying for the 2024 Brazos Valley City Nature Challenge! Technically, the Home Office isn't going to harvest our results until 9:00 AM our local time on Monday the 6th, but they said it could be "a little earlier," so don't wait until the very last minute. If you wait too long, it won't give the rest of us time to confirm the identification, either. The Home Office says they should have preliminary numbers for us by some time on the 7th, but it will take awhile before we have final numbers, particularly for all of the Texas cities.

I've been concentrating on the observations, species, and observers, but for this last phase, I should mention the top observer. We've had 377 observers contribute, not all from our area. Michelle Abney is top of the list. She just hit an unassailable 1,000 identifications! I went through all the observations over the past several days, but didn't check all the research-grade ones, and didn't have a clue about a lot of the plants.

As always, thanks to everyone who made any sort of contribution to the cause. No matter how great or small, every contribution has been valuable and has helped to make this another record-smashing year!

Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 05, 2024 0131 ΠΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 06, 2024

Day Ten: The Fun Is Over for Another Year

Well, there's less than twelve hours left in this year's City Nature Challenge. I want to thank EVERYONE who contributed anything to the cause! We had another record-breaking year. Our stats over the years have been:

2021 2022 2023 2024 2024 Leader
Observations 1,178 2,808 3,246 5,422 Laura Sare (487)
Species 518 816 1,147 1,438 Dwight Bohlmeyer (286)
Observers 96 139 134 226

Identifications 383 Michelle Abney (1,383)

As of this evening, we have 67.2% research grade. Two-thirds is a good percentage for iNat, particularly in the first week.

The most-observed species was Salt Marsh Moth, with 59 observations, nearly all caterpillars. I doubt any of us missed seeing this one, even if we didn't "observe" it. Numbers for large groups are:

Insects 562 (39.6%)
Plants 536 (37.7%)
Birds 134 (9.4%)
Fungi & Lichens 69 (4.9%)

I'm not going to be posting daily, but I will be posting for at least a week or two, as results come in from CNC Central and the Texas cities. Subscribe to the project to get notification of updates.;

See you next year!
Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 06, 2024 0317 ΠΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 09, 2024

The Results Are In!

I got a spreadsheet from the CNC Central Office with all the results. Worldwide,

2,436,844 observations of 65,582 species were tallied by 83,528 observers.

Overall, the top 3 worldwide for

Most Observations:
La Paz, Bolivia - 165, 839
Monterrey, México - 81,727
San Antonio, TX, USA - 64,728

Most Species:
La Paz, Bolivia - 5,352
Hong Kong, China - 4,775
Graz, Austria - 4,448

Most Participants:
La Paz, Bolivia - 3,593
Monterrey, México - 2,576
San Francisco, CA, USA - 2,552
The Texas project results are:

City CNC Total Observations Total Species Total Observers
Abilene Texas Big Country 2552 747 135
Amarillo Amarillo Metro 2448 552 52
Austin Greater Austin 23005 2937 1534
College Station Brazos Valley 5423 (6th) 1452 (6th) 227 (6th)
Dallas/Fort Worth Dallas/Fort Worth 45992 3414 1416
El Paso El Paso 1966 464 125
Houston Houston- Galveston 43890 4113 1551
Huntsville Walker & Trinity Cos. 561 290 59
Lower Rio Grande Lower Rio Grande Valley 9873 2083 220
Lubbock Lubbuck and Area Cos. 2670 552 89
Mustang Island Mustang Island 1000 410 57
Nolanville Nolanville 1257 643 62
San Antonio San Antonio Metro 64728 3993 1320
Tyler Tyler/East Texas 3751 1123 157
Waco Heart of Texas 7032 1750 242
Wichita Falls Wichita Falls 4175 953 125

We came in second to Waco in cities under 1,000,000 metro in Texas in all three categories. Well done, Brazos Valley!

Coming soon, some stats on the species found here in the Brazos Valley.
Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 09, 2024 1228 ΠΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 10, 2024

May 10, 2024: Some Local Results

Our final numbers, as harvested on Monday:

5,423 observations
3,866 (71.66%) research grade
1,452 species
383 identifiers
9,895 identifications
227 observers

Observations Species Identifiers
467 Laura Sare 293 Laura Sare 1,553 Michelle Abney
382 Bruce Neville 287 Dwight Bohlmeyer 695 Bruce Neville
346 scopic 283 scopic 563 Rhett Raibley
290 shardintx 258 Bruce Neville 448 Laura Sare
290 Dwight Bohlmeyer 219 Connor Ties 276 Linda Jo Conn
251 Brandon Woo 193 shardintx 217 Dwight Bohlmeyer
225 Megan Kossa 183 Brandon Woo 194 Roberto R. Calderón
223 Connor Ties 141 Megan Kossa 103 naturebugs
213 Laurie Brown 140 Laurie Brown 98 andrewquercus
178 Earl Agpawa 136 gallafin 83 Lauren Stranahan

Top 10 species
60 Salt Marsh Moth (1.1%)
34 Black-eyed Susan
33 Pinkladies
29 Meadow Pink
28 Yaupon Holly
26 Winecup Mallow
25 Northern Cardinal
25 Common Hedge Parsley
25 Texas Paintbrush

Brazos Valley History

Year Observations Species Observers Identifiers
2021 1,180 516 96 266
2022 2,811 815 140 415
2023 3,252 1,142 137 431
2024 5,423 1,452 227 383

Tomorrow, some taxon totals. As always, thank you to all who participated!
Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 10, 2024 1155 ΜΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 0σχόλια | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

Μάιος 12, 2024

May 11: How many species?

How many of each taxon did we see? I have the stats for you:

Group Species Most Observed Species Observations
Animals 835 Salt Marsh Moth 60
Vertebrates 208 Northern Cardinal 25
Mammals 13 Fox Squirrel 14
Birds 134 Northern Cardinal 25
Reptiles 29 Common Box Turtle 13
Amphibians 7 Gulf Coast Toad 9
Fishes 25 Western Mosquitofish 5
Insects 566 Salt Marsh Moth 60
Silverfishes 1 Typical Silverfishes 1
Mayflies 3 Common Square-Gills 2
Odonates 27 Eastern Pondhawk 12
Earwigs 1 genus Euborellia 1
Orthopterans 28 Field Crickets 8
Webspinners 1 Black Webspinner 3
Stick Insects 3 Giant Walkingstick and 3
Nor. Two-striped Walkingstick 3
Mantids 1 genus Stagmomantis 2
Cockroaches and Termites 8 American Cockroach and 3
Pale-bordered Field Cockroach 3
Eas. Subterranean Termite and 1
Formosan Subterranean Termite 1
Thrips 1 subfamily Thripinae 1
True Bugs, Cicadas, Aphids, etc. 87 Wild Onion Mirid 9
Lice: Bark, Book, and Parasitic 2 genus Lepinotus 1
tribe Ptyctini 1
Dobsonflies and allies 1 Spring Fishfly 1
Lacewings and allies 7 Four-spotted Green Lacewing 3
Coleoptera 137 Emerald Flower Scarab 23
Sawflies, Ants, Bees, Wasps 58 Western Honey Bee 18
Caddisflies 1 Nectopsyche candida 1
Butterflies and Moths 155 Salt Marsh Moth 60
Fleas 1 Flea 1
True Flies 43 Hornworm Tachinid Fly 7
Arachnids 36 Striped Bark Scorpion 15
Springtails 1 subfamily Entomobryinae 1
Crustaceans 4 Common Pill Woodlouse 19
Millipedes 2 Eastern Crystal Millipedes 3
Centipedes 1 Brown Centipede 1
Mollusks 15 Globular Drop Snail 4
Annelids 2 Smooth Turtle Leech and 1
Earthworm 1
Plants 539 Black-eyed Susan 34
Mosses 8 Lesser Smoothcap 2
Liverworts 1 Corsinnia coriandrina 1
Ferns 6 Resurrection Fern 6
Gymnosperms 4 Eastern Red Cedar 29
Monocots 106 Saw Greenbrier 21
Grasses 48 Johnson Grass 12
Orchids 1 Spring Ladies’ Tresses 2
Dicots 414 Black-eyed Susan 34
Legumes 47 Honey Mesquite 13
Composites 80 Black-eyed Susan 34
Fungi and Lichens 75 Slender Orange-Bush 8
Fungi 56 Hairy Hexagonia 4
Lichens 19 Slender Orange-Bush 8
Protozoa 2 Wolf’s Milk and 1
Chocolate Tube Slimes 1
Bacteria 1 Agrobacteria 1

Insect orders missing:
Microcoryphia
Zoraptera
Plecoptera
Raphidioptera
Strepsiptera
Mecoptera

Bruce

Posted on Μάιος 12, 2024 0141 ΠΜ by bruceneville bruceneville | 1 σχόλιο | Αφήστε ένα σχόλιο

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