Washington County Explorers's Journal

Journal archives for April 2020

April 6, 2020

Species so far

More of these types of posts that are more in depth will be coming out in the weeks to come. But inspiration struck me, so I wanted to lay out the information this project has collected so far.

Birds -
3,449 observations
194 species

Mammals -
542 observations
38 species

Reptiles -
199 observations
11 species

Amphibians -
331 observations
13 species

Fish -
32 observations
14 species

Insects -
1835 observations
368 species

Plants -
9,364 observations
942 species

Posted on April 6, 2020 03:28 PM by chrisleearm chrisleearm | 3 comments | Leave a comment

April 7, 2020

Missing Mammals of Washington County

There are 41 species of mammal that exist in Washington County but have yet to be observed. Some, I suspect may never get here, but I would like to cross some of these of the list one day. Tracks or scat can be just as helpful as actual observations.

Carnivores
Mountain lion
Red Fox
Gray Fox
American Marten
Long-tailed Weasel “wildlatitudes”
Short-tailed Weasel “insectology”
Western Spotted Skunk

Deer
White tailed Deer

Rats
Black Rat

Pocket Gophers
Camas Pocket Gopher “susankirkbride/gutfeeling”
Western Pocket Gopher

Moles
Coast Mole
Townsends Mole “insectology”

Squirrels
Northern Flying Squirrel

Rodents
Mountain Beaver

Rabbits
Snowshoe Hare
Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Voles/shrews
White-footed Vole
Red-tree Vole
Townsend’s Vole
Long-tailed Vole
Creeping Vole
Water Vole
Dusky/Montane Vole
Vagrant Shrew
Bairds Shrew
Marsh Shrew
Trowbridge's Shrew

Bats
Fringed Myotis
Millers Myotis
California Myotis
Little Brown Bat
Yuma Bat
Long-legged Bat
Western Red Bat
Hoary Bat
Silver-haired Bat
Big Brown Bat
Townsend’s Big Eared Bat “eedrin”

Posted on April 7, 2020 04:46 AM by chrisleearm chrisleearm | 7 comments | Leave a comment

April 16, 2020

1st ten days of project

Ten days ago, I sent out the first report of how this project, Washington County Explorers was doing. Since then it has a fun adventure of working to ID things, watching others adventures, and learning about the life that calls Washington County home. So I just wanted to put out some data to show how things have been going.

New observations
543

New species
39

Currently the numbers are

Observations
19711

Species
2106

Happy exploring

Posted on April 16, 2020 04:40 PM by chrisleearm chrisleearm | 4 comments | Leave a comment

April 21, 2020

Socially Distant Bioblitz

On May 3rd, join Antioch University's ES Department for the second Socially Distant Bioblitz in our new tri-weekly series of self-paced days of natural exploration that adhere to the World Health Organization's guidelines for social distancing. Observations can be submitted from home or wherever you find yourself on May 3rd, and can be uploaded via phone or computer. To participate, simply click the "JOIN" button in the top-right of the project page. On the day of the bioblitz, any observation you take from 12:00am - 11:59 pm will be automatically added to the project.

What is a "bioblitz"? A bioblitz is a way of documenting the biodiversity of a property, town, or region by recording all of the species of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms within a designated time period and location. It could be a meal moth in your pantry, the amphibians calling from afar, the spiders in your house, the plants in the pavement, the doves flying by your apartment porch...any living organism you see or hear! Feel free to submit observations of plants inside your house or in your garden - just make sure to mark anything that was planted as "Cultivated."

The April Socially Distant Bioblitz was a huge success! We had an amazing turnout; nearly 350 participants submitted over 12,500 observations of over 3,000 species, representing 6 continents and 27 countries across the world. Please join us for our next worldwide event May 3rd and invite all your friends, family, and community members! We look forward to bioblitz-ing with you soon!"

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/socially-distant-bioblitz-5-3-2020

Link to series:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/socially-distant-bioblitz-series

Posted on April 21, 2020 11:20 PM by chrisleearm chrisleearm | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 29, 2020

Missing birds

There are 118 “96 as of 5/17/20” species of birds that are missing from iNaturalist in Washington County that have been observed through ebird. I know some may never be seen, but we can still whittle this list down.

Ebird link

https://ebird.org/region/US-OR-067?yr=all

Waterfowl
Mute Swan “Phil kahler”
Ruddy Shelduck
Garganey
Tufted Duck “Susankirkbride”
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter “Susankirkbride”
White winged scoter “Susankirkbride”
Black scoter
Red-breasted Merganser “Susankirkbride”

Landfowl
Indian Peafowl Domestic
Ring-necked Pheasant “insectology”
Wild Turkey

Grebes
Red-necked Grebe “Susankirkbride”

Nightjars
Common Nighthawk

Swifts
Black Swift

Hummingbirds
Costas Hummingbird
Calliope Hummingbird

Cranes
Sandhill Crane “Phil kahler”

Shorebirds
Black-necked Stilt “Susankirkbride”
American Avocet “Susankirkbride”
Black-bellied Plover “Susankirkbride”
American Golden-plover
Pacific Golden-plover
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Hudsonian Godwit
Marbled Godwit
Black Turnstone
Ruff
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper “Phil kahler”
Sanderling
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper “Phil kahler”
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Wilson’s Phalarope “Phil kahler”
Red-necked Phalarope “Phil kahler”
Red Phalarope “susankirkbride”
Willet

Gulls, Terns, Skimmers
Sabine’s Gull “Phil kahler”
Franklin’s Gull
Heermann’s Gull
California Gull “Susankirkbride”
Herring Gull
Iceland Gull
Glaucous Gull “Phil kahler”
Least Tern
Black Tern
Common Tern “Phil kahler”
Forster’s Tern
Marbled Murrelet “Insectology/Susankirkbride”

Loons
Red-Throated Loon
Pacific Loon “Phil kahler”
Common Loon “Susankirkbride”

Storm-Petrels
Leach’s Storm-Petrel

Pelicans
Brown Pelican

Herons, Ibis, Allies
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
White-faced Ibis

Vultures, Hawks, Allies
White-tailed Kite
Golden Eagle
Northern Goshawk “susankirkbride”
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk “Susankirkbride”

Owls
Snowy Owl
Spotted Owl
Long-Eared Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl

Woodpeckers
Lewis’s Woodpecker

Falcons
Gyrfalcon
Prairie Falcon

Parrots
Monk Parakeet

Tyrant Flycatchers
Least Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Western Kingbird “Susankirkbride”
Eastern Kingbird

Vireos
Cassin’s Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo

Shrikes
Loggerhead Shrike

Corvids
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Clark’s Nutcracker

Chickadees
Mountain Chickadee

Larks
Horned Lark “Susankirkbride”

Swallows
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow “Phil kahler”

Nuthatch
Pygmy Nuthatch

Gnatcatchers
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Wrens
Rock Wren

Waxwings
Bohemian Waxwing

Pipits
American Pipit “Susankirkbride”

Finches
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Common Redpoll
Red Crossbill “Susankirkbride”

Longspurs and Snow Bunting
Lapland Longspur
Snow Bunting

New World Sparrows
Grasshopper Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow “Susankirkbride”
Clay-colored Sparrow
Brewer’s Sparrow “Susankirkbride”
American Tree Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow

Blackbirds
Yellow-headed Blackbird “Susankirkbride”
Hooded Oriole
Tricolored Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle

Warblers
American Redstart
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler “Phil kahler”
Palm Warbler
Yellow throated warbler “Phil kahler”

Grosbeaks
Summer tanager
Rose breasted grosbeak “hallela”
Blue grosbeak “Phil kahler”
Lazuli bunting “Phil kahler”

Posted on April 29, 2020 12:58 AM by chrisleearm chrisleearm | 12 comments | Leave a comment

April 30, 2020

April Review

I started this project because I felt that Washington County was underrepresented in the biology community and especially here on iNaturalist. There are so many projects in California, but so few here in beautiful Oregon. I wanted to change that. This project was inspired by a similar project conducted in parts of California. I did not know what to expect, but I am delighted the results of this first Month. This project started with 19186 observations and 2067 species. It is now at 20628 observations and 2173 species. In just 24 days, 106 species were discovered in the county. With 1442 new observations, that means 1 in every 13 observations was a new species. I don’t expect this to keep going at this rate, but it shows there are a lot of species missing from this project. I have no proof, but I feel this could one day have 3,000 species, or more. Below are the new species by category, with specific species in a few categories that I enjoy.

New species

Plants 61

Insects 21

Mollusks 3

Fungi 2

Arachnids 2

Reptiles 1
Western Skink

Amphibians 0

Mammals 1
Camas Pocket Gopher

Birds 11
Blue Grosbeak
Yellow Warbler
Common Tern
Red-necked Phalarope
Cliff Swallow
Sabine’s Gull
Pacific Loon
Mute Swan
Wilson’s Phalarope
Glaucous Gull
Sandhill Crane

Fishes 1
Redside Shiner

Other 7
Western Brook Lamprey

Thank you to everyone for going out and exploring. There is so much this county has to offer.

See you in May,

Happy Exploring

Posted on April 30, 2020 10:37 PM by chrisleearm chrisleearm | 0 comments | Leave a comment