On March 4th, 2023, at 4:17 pm, I visited Toms River, New Jersey. On this day, in NJ, the weather was 43 degrees fahrenheit with a cloudy sky. This picture was taken in the streets of Toms River and in this neighborhood, there were many houses that had Yellow Groove Bamboo around the houses. Yellow Groove Bamboo (Phyllostachys aureosulcata) is a species of bamboo that is native to China and widely cultivated in other parts of the world. It is a clumping bamboo with distinctive yellow gro...

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3/25/2023
Start: 12:15 PM
End: 2:06 PM
Location: Mills Riverside Park Jericho, VT
Temperature: 39°F
Weather: Overcast, windy, light snowfall began around 1:30 PM
Habitat: Open field with patches of dense forest, trails lead up and through heavily wooded hillside. Most trees and brush bare, fallen trees and logs littered throughout. Ground covered in snow, partially melted. River running along and small snow melt streams throughout hillside. High levels of human an...

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Although it is still early, most of the snow in the Lake and Hubbard Brook watersheds has melted, so there have been no significant flood events this winter (there have been some major rain events in December through February in recent years that have greatly impacted the wetland areas). We did, however, have a significant heavy wet snowfall in late December that broke and/or felled many trees in the park, particularly in the wetland areas around the Park. The tree species most affecte...

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We will be using iNaturalist to document what we find during our outdoor adventures. Whether you are on a guided hike with the Mebane Trail Rangers, or exploring with your family and friends, this is the place where we can share pictures of what you encounter. Actual scientists and naturalists will review the picture and identify the species of what you find, which is super cool. Can't wait to see what everyone finds!

Now that you have joined the group, comment below with your...

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Friday, 9:15-12:00 pm. 0 live newts, 145 dead newts. We had a much higher number of newts, and a high number of juveniles.
Weather: cold
Coverage: the first stop sign to Aldercroft Heights intersection. I walked with Molly.
Newts: we had 145 dead newts, with many juveniles this time, including many tiny ones. We had 45 of the newts on the hill side (5 juveniles), and 100 (39 juveniles) on the reservoir side.
Other roadkills: Santa Cruz Black Salamander, a toad, frogs, e...

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Le mois d’avril débute sous peu et la Nature donne des signes d'éveil. Cette année, le Défi Nature Urbaine 2023 aura lieu du 28 avril au 1er mai. C’est l’occasion idéale de montrer à tous à quel point la Nature est belle et généreuse à Contrecoeur! L’an dernier, nous n’étions que trois participants pour la région de Contrecoeur, alors je compte sur vous pour aller faire un tour au Parc Régional des Grèves (secteur Contrecoeur) et faire sauter le compteur du bioblitz!

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Resources for identification:

Pephricus fryi Distant, 1906
Original description:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/63772#page/303/mode/1up

Pephricus paradoxus (Sparrman, 1777)
Description by Stål:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/35344#page/37...

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We had been worried about a apparent lack of beaver activity over the winter, but there were finally some sightings of fresh bark gnawing along the Lake Trail on the western shore of Lake Runnemede during early March. One of our photographers saw a young beaver swimming in that area yesterday. In addition to whatever food they stockpile in fall, the lake beaver have access to Nymphaea rootstocks that are abundant in the substrate of that section of the lake, so there is no need for them...

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臺灣的黑翅蜻蜓最早在2007年被報導，當時認為是季節性的迷蜓，但一直以來都只有雌蟲的採集紀錄。藍黑蜻蜓則有8個亞種散佈在印度洋-太平洋海域，這些亞種大多只有翅斑的變異，沒有其他形態上的差異，而臺灣的亞種是指名亞種regia 。奇怪的是，臺灣的黑翅蜻蜓竟然被觀察到與藍黑蜻蜓雄蟲交配！這也讓本文作者起疑，懷疑臺灣的黑翅蜻蜓的真實身份。

經過與日本產真正的黑翅蜻蜓比對，臺灣的黑翅蜻蜓不管是臉部的顏色、金屬光澤、形態或是尾毛的形狀、下生殖板的形狀，甚至是腹部毛的密度、翅脈都不太一樣，反而吻合藍黑蜻蜓的特徵，因此確認臺灣產的黑翅蜻蜓只是具有特殊翅斑的藍黑蜻蜓雌蟲，除了翼端透明外，其餘部分皆為藍黑色。

值得一提的是，十多年前藍黑蜻蜓大多只分布在臺灣南部，但最近幾年已經廣泛分布全島，在北部也變得很常見。隨著氣候逐漸暖化，藍黑蜻蜓會不斷往北播遷，日本的與那國島已經在2021年首次記錄到藍黑蜻蜓。

Ref.
W.-C. Yeh. 2023. An amendment on the record of Rhyothemis fulig...

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藍印蜻蜓 (Indothemis carnatica) 臺灣的紀錄是疫情第一年陳賜隆博士跟已故的秋寒煙先生在馬祖的數個水庫發現，那時候沒有標本，也只有很不清楚的照片，之後疫情開始，去馬祖的旅程多次受到阻礙，就一直擱置。開始看鳥後，知道每年都有一堆瘋子狂跑馬祖看鳥，逢人就跟他們說馬祖有新紀錄的蜻蜓，可不可以幫我抓拜託，但一直沒有消息，直到去年何季耕在金門看鳥看一看傳照片給我說這是不是你說的那種，結果還真的是，但他也沒帶網子，問了一下林豈弟有沒有要回金門，他說最近會回去，他也就很順利的採到了藍印蜻蜓在臺灣的第一隻標本，也感謝馬承漢也火速跑去拍了美美的照片跟採了幾隻標本，我也不知道為什麼跟我完全沒關係，最後還是我寫，但要寫就來寫
藍印蜻蜓原本的分布很零散，只在印度、斯里蘭卡、泰國一些地方有，所以IUCN還把牠列為近危，但從2011年左右牠似乎開始擴散，2011年柬埔寨；2013年馬來西亞；2015年越南；2016, 2018, 2019年在中國東南邊的幾個省份都陸續記錄到；2019年新加坡；2020年孟加拉，隨後牠就被IUCN從近危轉為無危。

金馬地區...

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前情提要：
因為Chlorogomphus屬從勾蜓科被裂解出來成Chlorogomphidae科了，現在臺灣的勾蜓科就只剩下無霸勾蜓 (Anotogaster klossi)，其他原本在勾蜓科的種類都移到Chlorogomphidae了，這個科中國那邊翻成裂唇蜓科，但臺灣這邊的蜻蜓中文科級系統都是兩個字，所以改取斑蜓科，原本的闊翼勾蜓、褐翼勾蜓、斑翼勾蜓通通都改叫斑蜓。

蘭嶼的闊翼斑蜓一直以來都只有一隻雌蟲標本，再也沒有人抓到或拍到，但偶爾會有鄉野傳說在蘭嶼看到斑蜓，不過也一直沒有證實，葉文琪學長其實好久以前就覺得蘭嶼的闊翼斑蜓是褐翼斑蜓，稿甚至都寫好了，就這樣過了十幾年，就只差文裡面的一些小細節還沒有確認，這次我協助處裡完那些小細節後終於證實了蘭嶼的闊翼斑蜓其實真的是褐翼斑蜓。

褐翼斑蜓雌蟲翅斑有好幾個型，蘭嶼產的闊翼斑蜓標本就剛好對到其中一個型，腹部第二節側面的斑塊通常是斑蜓屬的種級鑑定特徵，蘭嶼的闊翼斑蜓也與褐翼斑蜓無異，我們也就更加確定蘭嶼的闊翼斑蜓就是褐翼斑蜓，我們本來想進一步檢視褐翼斑蜓是否為闊翼斑蜓的同物異名，無奈闊...

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Just a few hours ago the Big Dipper was above my house amongst the stars, mars was clearly visible next to the waxing crescent moon shining it's light down on my street as the frogs and crickets chittered in the distance. But now I go outside and there's nothing. I can't remember the last time I could hear my ears ringing outside. The moon and all the stars vanished. All the color seemed to disappear from my surroundings. No frogs, no crickets, no birds, no people, no cars, no lights on ...

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It would appear that people do recognise Cat's Claw Creeper (CCC) and a (?) Jewel Beetle.
Do they recognise CCC as a Weed of National Significance (WONS)????
People do not seem to recognise the three CCC biological control agents viz. Tingids, Leaf-tying Moth and Jewel Beetles or the damage they inflict on CCC
What is also evident from the observations (based on Research Grade status) is that few people have a knowledge of the type of damage that Jewel Beetles, Tingids and t...

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Dog Pelts, Frog Pelts, Elizabethan Pelts and more. These large leafy lichens play an important role in nitrogen fixation and soil stabilization. In Chickakoo they can be found plastered to the almost vertical soil banks along some of the hilly trails. A key thing to remember: don't be superficial! Lift a lobe and look at the 'veins' and rhizines on the lower surface to help you identify species in this genus.

Peltigera elisabethae Lovely shiny grey lobes, often with abun...

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The fruticose species are those that live in three dimensions. No clasping of bark for these species or shrinking flat to the ground - they live large, stand tall, exposed and vulnerable. Which means that they tend to be more restricted in range or lower in abundance than their foliose friends. Fruticose lichens include shrubby, club-like, cupped, and hair-like lichens. There are a few gems to be found at Chickakoo, but you need to look harder for them. Here are a few examples. We'll s...

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How could we wait until the third post to highlight the lichens that brighten up Chickakoo! Maybe because we need to take better local images. From the size of a dinner plate to lobes less than a millimeter across, these sunny species are a pleasure to learn.

Flavopunctelia flaventior Yellow-green, white dotted lobes with coarse soredia. Sometimes difficult to discriminate from the co-occurring F. soredica. Many large, lovely thalli to be found.

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Alberta is home to a lovely diversity of brown foliose lichens in the genera Melanohalea, Melanelixia, Melanelia, Phaeophyscia, Physconia, and Tuckermannopsis. Without fail however, new students of lichenology find the 'smelly Melies' challenging. Cryptic, often camouflaging with their substrate, and requiring examination of tiny features such as skin-tag-like isidia cause consternation. But stick with it - to know them is to love them. Or at least tolerate - or maybe appre...

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Abaigeal Carroll
Date: March 25, 2023
Start time: 11:30pm
End time: 1:00pm
Location: Park in North Grafton, Massachusetts
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 43 degrees F
Wind: 5 mph, NE
Precipitation: no precip
Habitats: Older Oak and pine forest

This has been the most successful birding excursion yet! I think it was because I was in Massachusetts where it is a little warmer than Vermont. I definitely noticed that it was much easier to identify...

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Chickakoo is one of my favorite hiking places close to Edmonton. The aspen dominated mixedwoods blend with birch stands, and the little lakes and rolling topography are welcome after the tablelands of my Edmonton 'hood. Both are open and humid enough to host a fun diversity of epiphytic (=tree-dwelling) lichens.

The flora is typical of the Parkland and dry Boreal Natural Regions, but the protected nature of Chickakoo means that some lichen colonies have grown impressively large. ...

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Дорогие друзья!

Традиционно в начале каждого года Игорь Поспелов (@taimyr) готовил серию постов о перераспределении усилий по документации флоры топ-регионов проекта "Флора России". С красочными картами мы рассказывали о региональных диспропорциях данных в проекте "Флора России", делая это накануне каждого нового полевого сезона. Задача была простой: показать, куда следует отправиться, чтобы п...

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#32 A surprise visitor this morning below the feeders.

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03/24/2023, 3:44 pm- 5:00 pm, Causeway Park, sunny and high 30's, water and wooded area

I went birding with my friend Mari, a fellow bird enthusiast. We began our trip walking around the wooded path to get to the start of the causeway. We first did not hear any birds but after a few moments heard a loud chorus of birds. I recognized the sound of the European Starling and also heard some other bird calls. As we continued walking, we realized that the sound was coming from a large...

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A few observations turned up from Pringle Bay that are purple instead of white (thomae), green (tenax) or purple with white tips (porteri).
So what are they? None of this is helped by Ted Oliver sinking them all into Erica thomae and not recognizing any subspecies or varieties under the species, despite the historical taxonomists regarding them as good species.

So what do we have on iNaturalist?

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This was taken at CSI, it was indoors.

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Second dive at this spot, first report here https://blog.shaunlee.co.nz/tubeworms/

25 March 2023
1hr before High Tide
Some current
Vis 1.5m
Depth 29.4m

Shane Kelly and I descended closer to the mussel farm this time, near an anchor block. We then headed in the direction of the previous dive at this location. Vis was great on the surface but dropped fast to around 1-1.5 m. Conditi...

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Please post anything interesting here.

Note this is a subproject of https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ericas-of-southern-africa - please join this too.

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Tuesday, March, 21st.
The weather was +6 degrees Celcius.
It was not windy (6 MPH from W).
The location is Conference House Park, Staten Island, NY.
The time was 10:55 am.
While walking in a park that I liked after visiting it for the first time on Friday while working on our group project, I saw a pine tree. The genus Pinus is one of my favorite types of plants, so I was excited to take a picture of a beautiful small tree by the beach.

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Halo. This is the start of the wildlife of the united kingdom project. In this group we find and add plants, fungi insects, arachnids, birds, mammals and Micro. We can also learn tips posted by other people. Enjoy.

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Riqueza biológica:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/biodiversidad-pnu-la-fila-san-luis-baruta-ccs-miranda-venezuela?tab=species

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El 'Parque Natural Urbano La Fila' es un área natural urbana conservada. Cedida por la urbanizadora y constructora del asentamiento urbano en sus inicios (principios década de lo...

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This species pair seems to cause quite a lot of confusion, and in many observations it is not resolved.

On the Peninsula they key as follows:

1. Petals lanceolate, oblanceolate, ovate or lanceolate-ovate, or consisting of an ellipitic or linear blade and basal claw, never hood-shaped in the upper part. Calyx tube with hairs within: P. pubescens
   1' Petals with upper part hood-shaped; bracts leaf-like, twice as long as the flowers: P. plumosa

S...

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