Diario de jjhepker

This morning, June 23rd, 2020 at 8:30 am our team of 4 met at the Wapello Land and Water Reserve in Hanover, IL to conduct a Rusty Patched Bumble Bee presence/absence survey. We received our Recovery Permit to conduct surveys of this endangered species from the FWS on May 30, 2020. The survey team is lead by @pmjohnson.

Throughout the survey, I assumed the role of documenting all flowering plants that serve as an available food source for Bumblebees and other pollinators. The observations in this journal entry serve as the full list of all flowering plants that we encountered during this survey.

Foxglove Beardtongue is mind-blowing right now. It is by far the most abundant flowering plant at Wapello at this time. We speculated that this is due to the fall burns and the spring rains. Perfect recipe for a stunning performance of foxglove beardtongue and spiderwort. A sea of flowers. You have to see it.

At a prairie in northern Illinois we gathered to discuss plans to conduct a presence/absence survey for the endangered Rusty Patched Bumblebee (B. affinis). We came prepared with field guides, ID charts from BeeSpotter, and one excellent photographer.

This prairie and the surrounding area have been designated by the USFWS as a "High Potential Zone" for presence of the B. affinis. Due to this designation, I understand that I will need to obtain a Recovery Permit from the FWS in order to conduct any surveys that could involve handling of a B. affinis. I understand this also includes butterfly surveys and monarch tagging, because there is a chance of capturing one while netting for other insects. So until we can secure a Recovery Permit from USFWS, we will be taking pictures for our survey and looking to the iNat and BeeSpotter community for help confirming our IDs.

We discovered that taking pictures of Bumblebees is very difficult without handling them. These are some of our observations from our practice session. We will see how this photo-only survey turns out next year.

Meanwhile, we are working on obtaining a Recovery Permit.

The Kota-Bengena was more abundant near the bottom of the hill in the sandier areas of the landscape whereas the Lantana was more common in the forested areas along the hillside.

The caterpillar (giant silk moth?) was also found in the forested area along the hillside. This trail was located right next to the Ganges River in the Himalayan Mountains. It was a short 45 min trek.

The main purpose of this journal entry is to familiarize myself with the iNat journaling options. I hope to log observations that are significant to the different landscapes that I experience. Soil type, species abundance, evidence of disturbance, and anything else that might seem important to log.