City Nature Challenge 2018: Maui's Journal

Aloha-
We are close to wrapping up the 2018 City Nature Challenge here on Maui and still need better identifications of quite a few. If you've been tagged on this post, you are one of the "Top Identifiers" of species on Maui and we'd really love your help with the CNC observations.

There are still quite a few observations that are identified at a very generic level "flowering plants" or that need corroboration on tentative IDs. Please help us get more of the CNC observations up to 'Research Grade.'

PS - Although the observation days are behind us, there it still time (less than 24 hours!) to upload any observations you may have made during April 27-30 that are still sitting on your camera or phone!

Thank you to those of you that have already helped improve the ids on Maui observations and this year's CNC in particular!

@sea-kangaroo
@glmory
@vils_bioblitz_kalama
@anudibranchmom
@hawaiianbuffalo
@mauiphp
@pliffgrieff
@anthonywood
@dpom
@jstarmer
@peterburke
@philiptdotcom
@treichard
@tigran82
@ttatum19
@bluewavechris
@c4b
@ktatum21
@gerfderp
@davidr
@todd_jackson
@bailey_gadberry
@cullen
@lylegordon
@bridgetspencer
@rileypollom
@colinmorita
@crusty
@nanofishology
@eastwind
@cizauskas
@npdoty
@waiside13
@justinscioli

@debaraj
@learningendeavors2
@bradford7
@ tysharrow
@jnstuart
@kathawk
@seipgrows
@adamjmtz
@cydno
@sandycmaui
@slsfirefight
@ashferlito
@crayonponyfish
@annikaml
@sarahlynne
@tiyumq
@vils_bioblitz_lokelani
@ericsimons
@leslie_flint
@zooillogix
@paultavares
@stinger

The last day of the CNC here on Maui and the observation of the day is this Gold Dust Day Gecko (Phelsuma-laticauda> by @morningstaronmaui in Kihei. Native to Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, these introduced geckoes are now a common sight around Maui.
Read more about this species here: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/34050-Phelsuma-laticauda and see Morningstar's observation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11925372

@lylegordon recorded this Hawaiian Silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense) in full bloom in Haleakala National Park. A remarkable observation given that one of these plants will flower only once in its life of 20 to 90 years. Read more about it here: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/68283-Argyroxiphium-sandwicense and see Lyle's observation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11829836

We are now on day three of four and Maui just crossed 100 observations (and 80 species) yesterday. If you are reading this, you can contribute! Even if you are not on Maui, we need help with IDs - we still have several "unknowns" and lots of observations that need one more supporting ID to become "Research Grade."

If you are on Maui, yesterday's rainy weather has passed and this is a chance to get out and explore a bit today. I hope you can take even a few minutes and add an observation or ten. Remember, this is the City nature challenge. Even if you see some weeds in the parking lot, they are fair game. While a shot of a Nene at Haleakala would be cool, we are looking for any and all natural history observations (and help with IDs). Also, don't worry about duplicate observations, while new species are always nice to add to the list, we are trying to understand distributions of plants, animals, and fungi with the iNaturalist platform. So, repeat observations from different places or different days are useful too!

Adding observations to the challenge is easy if you are on Maui. Just complete your observation and you'll automatically be added to the CNC over the next two days. The cut off is April 30 at midnight, local time. I'd also encourage your adding and Maui observations to the "Maui" project. You'll need to select that project from the appropriate menu to do that.

Happy observing!

@lylegordon discovered an Anemone Stinkhorn Fungus (Aseroe rubra) in the north Maui mountains. The smelly brown slime attracts flies, which help spread the spores. Read more about it here: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/381310-Aseroe-rubra and see Lyle's observation here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11669407

The 2018 City Nature Challenge is underway and wait, what? YOU haven't hear about this? K. A little backstory. Year 1: LA vs San Francisco, Who has the most urban biodiversity? SF wins. Year 2: More cities in the continental US join in. Dallas wins. Year 3: CNC goes international and Maui joins in with the fun. Now into day 2, we aren't doing badly and some of you are getting into it!

Any observation you make on Maui or Molokini will automatically be added to the CNC Maui project. You don't have to do anything other than the usual photograph, ID and location to join in. The challenge runs until midnight local time on Monday April 30. Please join us!

\/ On the list? \/ You are one of the top iNaturalist observers on Maui! We hope you can join us for the CNC!

@sea-kangaroo
@glmory
@vils_bioblitz_kalama
@anudibranchmom
@hawaiianbuffalo
@mauiphp
@pliffgrieff
@anthonywood
@dpom
@peterburke
@philiptdotcom
@jstarmer
@treichard
@tigran82
@ttatum19
@ktatum21
@c4b
@gerfderp
@todd_jackson
@cullen
@bailey_gadberry
@rileypollom
2colinmorita
@nanofishology
@davidr
@crusty
@bridgetspencer
@eastwind
@cizauskas
@waiside13
@npdoty
@debaraj
@learningendeavors2
@lylegordon
@bradford7
@jnstuart
@bluewavechris
@seipgrows
@ashferlito
@annikaml
@kathawk
@slsfirefight
@sarahlynne
@vils_bioblitz_lokelani
@crayonponyfish
@ericsimons
@zooillogix
@paultavares
@stinger
@adamjmtz
@ben_in_sf
@tsoleau
@learningendeavors
@leslie_flint
@ferrisjabr
@eburroughs
@cydno
@sandycmaui
@vrspg1000
@andreagarcia
@damontighe
@jackattack321
@joshlikessurf
@ksaucenature
@tlawson
@phelsumas4life
@stephen92
@avsfan1321

@frank1974