July Results and the Final Challenge!

Congratulations to July's top observer, @jafu6, and top species finder, @doreneng!! .🎉 We have one more month in our challenge. Will anyone be able to catch them?

Here are the current, all-summer standings:

Congrats to the winner of Moth Week, @lisabrundage! 🎉 She made 7 observations of Lepidopterans between July 20-28.

For our final challenge, we're going to do an August Top 25 scavenger hunt. In the past Summer of Nature projects, we've tried to find the top 25 observed species on the iNat database (2020, 2023), New York State (2021), and NYC (2022). This year, let's return to a New York state of mind. Your challenge is to find all 25 of the most observed species in NYS. They do not have to be in NY when you observe them. We're just using this as the basis for our scavenger hunt list. Those species are listed alphabetically below. You can scroll down for a printable image.

Top 25 Most Observed Species in New York State
American Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus)
Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens)
Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Common Mugwor (tArtemisia vulgaris)
Common Reed (Phragmites australis)
Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Eastern Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)
Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Lesser Celandine (Ficaria verna)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota)
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia)
Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula)
Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)
Western Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima)
White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

And here's a sheet you can print out to help you keep track!

You'll have from August 1 until August 31 to find them all! Anyone who finds all 25 will win a fabulous Macaulay BioBlitz 2021 10x hand lens LOL

We'll announce the August winners, scavenger hunt winners, and the top observers and species finders of the whole summer on September 1! Happy Observing!

Posted on August 01, 2024 01:50 PM by klodonnell