Socially Distant Bioblitz (5/24/2020)'s Journal

Socially Distant Bioblitz #3 is now getting underway in eastern Australia, where @nicklambert just found a beautiful Glyphodes cosmarcha moth (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/46970004) to kick off our event. We are in for a great day!

This event has attracted fewer project members than the previous Socially Distant Biolblitzes, so please encourage other to contribute their observations - it is as easy as clicking "Join" on the project page (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/socially-distant-bioblitz-5-24-2020) after singing into an iNaturalist account.

As our bioblitz progresses, we've recently passed the 200 species mark with observations submitted from Fiji, Australia, Germany and the United States so far.

Check out this neat crocodile needlefish (Tylosurus crocodilus) found by @birdexplorers in Fiji:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47082626

And this detailed look at a triangulate combfoot spider (Steatoda triangulosa) by @alexis_orion in Germany:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47079655

Observations from around the world are coming in every minute, and it will not be long before we reach 500 species! Undoubtedly, we have already reached this mark and the observations are waiting patiently to be uploaded from cameras, phones, and audio recorders.

Since the last event update, Spain, France, South Africa, Thailand, Nepal, Taiwain, South Korea, and Japan have joined! Check out some butterflies and moths from a few of these countries:

Sooty Blue (Zizeeria knysna) in South Africa by @cecileroux : https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47102570

Powdery Green Sapphire (Heliophorus tamu) in Nepal by @karoconniff :
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47094373

Tribe Hemitheini (needs ID) in South Korea by @onidiras :
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47092351

Almost to 1,000 species, keep up the great work!

Plants make up nearly 50% of all species found so far during today's bioblitz. If you are looking to quickly boost your species list for today, try 1) searching roadsides (safely!) for invasive or non-native species, 2) finding an area with different soil, or 3) exploring wetlands and water bodies if you can! Remember, even if you do not know what you are looking at, somebody on iNaturalist will help.

Here is a map of our bioblitz plant observations: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&project_id=72927&taxon_id=47126&verifiable=any

Who wants to persuade some iNat users in Africa to find some plants for the bioblitz??

March 24th has come to a close over half the planet, and we have achieved some big numbers so far: 3,900+ observations and 1,800+ species. While these totals fall short of where we were at this point in previous events, the average number of unique species per observer (17 at time of writing) is our highest of the three bioblitzes! This means everyone is doing a great job at finding species unique to their geographic area.

What is one of your favorite observations from the bioblitz? Comment on this post with a link to your observation. There will be another opportunity to share bioblitz stories after the event ends, so save your exciting adventure tales for later!

One of my favorite observations from my morning outing was this huge patch of Azure Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/47112848
While this species is common in the eastern United States, I have never come across a patch this large - I estimate it was about 2 square meters, and most patches I find are well under 1 square meter!

The global observation period for our third Socially Distant BioBlitz has ended! If you have not submitted any observations from 24 May yet, please try to submit them by 29 May so your observations can be included int the event summary. Any observations submitted after Friday will still be included in the project and SDB series (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/socially-distant-bioblitz-series), so please do not stress about uploading all of you observations this week if you do not have time.

Have all your observations submitted? Great! We invite you to assist with identifying other's observations so these data can become research quality. Here's how: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

In between uploading and identifying observations from the bioblitz, everyone is invited to share a summary or story of their bioblitz day by posting in the comments section below. Some questions you might respond to are: Where were you bioblitzing? What was the weather? Did you find any species you haven't found before? If you set any personal goals for the day, did you achieve them?

If you need inspiration about what to write, read these stories from the 5 April Socially Distant Bioblitz: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/socially-distant-bioblitz-4-5-2020/journal/32839-share-your-bioblitz-stories

Thank you, everyone, for taking part in the third Socially Distant BioBlitz (SDB) on 24 May! While this event had fewer participants (148) than our two previous bioblitzes, we rallied together to make >10,000 observations and document >3,300 species. This brings our SDB series totals to nearly 50,000 observations and almost 9,000 species. Well done, team! If you still have observations to submit, please do so! Although this summary has been posted, your observations will still be included in the event totals.

The United States lead the way with most observations (7,033), yet Australia took the prize for most observations per observer (219). The friendly competition for SDB species champion between @nicklambert of Australia and @alexis_orion of Germany continues to propel our tallies ever higher. Congratulations to @nick2524 and @seileonne for topping the 24 May SDB observations and identifications leaderboards, respectively!

Our collective “day” started at right at 12:00 AM local time near Coffs Harbour, Australia, where @nicklambert documented this moth in the genus Opogona. It was still well before sunrise in Japan when @utchee recorded this singing Chinese Hwamei. A few hours later, back in Australia, @cobaltducks found this dangerous looking Kangaroo Thorn . German naturalist @amzamz was the first to post from Europe, documenting this Flame Shoulder Moth, a common nocturnal insect found across Europe. More observations soon followed in Belgium, Nepal, and Laos as @gillessanmartin, @karoconniff, and @edelaquis began their respective days. Nocturnal insects were a highlight of this SDB thanks to the recent new moon, and @bonnieeamick took full advantage of this lunar timing by submitting >120 Insecta observations before sunrise in the eastern United Sates. Many other bioblitz-ers made a concentrated effort to find moths, spiders, pill bugs, and more at nearby lights, which helped arthropods make up 33% of our species total (up from 28% in our previous bioblitz). The bioblitz wrapped up after 38 hours and 59 minutes when @jciv recorded a bee fly in southern Texas at 11:59 PM local time.

We hope you can join us for the next bioblitz on 14 June, and please encourage others to participate as well.

Warm regards,

Steven Lamonde (@slamonde ), Sara Lobdell (@slob973 ) & Michael Nerrie (@mnerrie )

List of participating countries (29): Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czechia, Fiji, France, Germany, Guatemala, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Laos, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and Uruguay.