City Nature Challenge 2018-- Day 1

My goal for Day 1 was simple: hit some park in the Greater Houston area that wasn't likely to be heavily trafficked, get as many observations as I could, ID as many as I could, with an emphasis on flowering plants because they're easy to photograph and ID, and they're plentiful. Oh, boy, were they plentiful! Of course, I'm not going to shun any species that puts itself in my path, but the Plant Kingdom rules when it comes to staying put for a photograph! I observed a lot of birds and bugs which did not stay still for a photo (and I'm loathe to log an observation without a photo, so they were not officially observed). Also, I saw a fair number of tiny colorful and shiny flies which my phone camera would not focus on. I had a specific number goal, which I thought might be hard to hit since it was a small park. Last weekend I did over 3 dozen observations at the Houston Arboretum in a sort of personal "practice bioblitz". I wanted to beat that number this morning. On a practical note: Given that I took multiple photos of most observations, and uploading them, etc. I realized that I should keep an eye on my phone's battery. So, 37 observations or when the battery gets to 20%, that's when I pack it in and go home, I decided. I got 40 observations!! (And the battery didn't hit 20%) Since it was around lunchtime when I did the tally, I decided that was a good stopping place for today. I was really astonished at the number of species in such a small place! And if I could've gotten pics of more insects as well as the birds I saw, the number would've been significantly higher. The park was just teeming with tiny life. I observed more than a dozen species just within about a square yard. I walked quite a bit, but a lot of the time it was just a matter of staying still and seeing everything around me. It was a wonderful way to spend the morning. I've attached today's observations, which have been added to the Houston City Nature Challenge Project.

Posted on April 27, 2018 06:54 PM by gulfcoasttoad