Socially Distant Bioblitz (9/6/2020)'s Boletim

It is hard to believe, but our 10th and final Socially Distant Bioblitz is this Sunday, 18 October 2020! With only one event left, we are just 7,000 observations shy of reaching our goal of 100,000 observations. To help us achieve this, we encourage everyone to recruit 2 people to participate in Sunday’s bioblitz. Extra credit if they are new to iNaturalist!

Within the 93,008 observations collected so far from 73 countries, we’ve found some beautiful plants and charismatic animals, both common and globally rare species, and even a few new species records for iNaturalist! 13,528 species in all! It may be a challenge, but can we find 472 additional species on Sunday to reach an even 14,000?

We hope to "see" you there!

Hello everyone,

Better late than never, here are the Top 3 best photos and audio, listed by category! Each winner can click on the link to their digital certificate award. A HUGE thank you to @gpasch and The Lost Tinamou nature preserve for creating the awards. The Lost Tinamou (TLT) is also giving a TLT t-shirt as a prize for the best audio (won this time by @andreacala), and they hope to have a great winner next time, too! :-)

Lastly, don't forget to sign up for the next two Socially Distant Bioblitz events on 27 September and 18 October!

Category: Audio Recordings

Best Audio: Great Horned Owl by @andreacala

Category: Fungi

First Place: Phallus haitangensis by @rachwl

Second Place: Lace Lichen by @sedgequeen

Third Place: Hoof Fungus by @tanniii66

Category: Plants

First Place: Peacock Moraea by @cecileroux

Second Place: Impatiens insignis by @karoconniff

Third Place: Talinum fructicosum by @adorantes

Category: Herpetofauna

First Place: Southern Leopard Frog by @imacuriousjuan

Second Place: Gulf Coast Toad by @puffin21

Third Place: Western Fence Lizard by @scubabruin

Category: Mammals

First Place: Big Brown Bat by @colincroft

Second Place: Eastern Gray Squirrel by @base736

Third Place: Townsend's Chipmunk by @ericarlson

Category: Birds

First Place: Yellow Warbler by @andreacala

Second Place: Eastern Turkey Vulture by @astrobirder

Third Place: Great Kiskadee by @cmtercero

Special Mention: Chestnut-tailed Minla by @karoconniff,
Killdeer by @sedgequeen,
Western Gull by @andreacala, and
Mew Gull by @hln_m_t.

Category: Insects

First Place: Pale Grass Blue by @karoconniff

Second Place: Parallelia arctotaenia by @onidiras

Third Place: Spilostethus saxatilits by @amzamz

Special Mention: Autumn Meadowhawk by @booksandcookies,
Chinese Mantis by @imacuriousjuan, and
Graphocephala gothica by @mmulqueen.

We're now at over 7,000 observations, with 2,505 species contributed by 76 observers and identified with the help of 671 of members of the iNaturalist community. Here are our most recent mileposts:

Observation #4,000: Mallard by @alexis_orion at the Gülper See, Germany

Observation #5,000: Grass Spider by @base736 in Alberta, Canada

Observation #6,000: Big Brown Bat by @colincroft, from Nebraska, USA

Observation #7,000: Spring Vetch, by @tanniii66 in Sverdlovsk, Russia

We welcome your continuing submissions with photos and audios. Every observation counts!

First off, sorry about everyone thinking I was leaving. Right now I am not, and I will see by the next SDB.
As of 6:21 AM EDT, which is 10:21 PM GMT, these are the stat updates for the bioblitz so far.
So far, a total of 6,333 observations have been submitted with 2,337 species included. 568 people have identified and 74 people have uploaded photos. The top three in each category right now is
Identifications:
1st: @astrobirder
2nd: @liztrain
3rd: @sadawolk
Feel free to join the project if you have not already.
Observations:
1st: @bonnieeamick
2nd: @alexis_orion
3rd: @nick2524
Species:
1st: @bonnieeamick
2nd: @alexis_orion
3rd: @sedgequeen
Congratulations to all, and everyone else so far!
For the most observed species it is
1st: Eastern White Pine-69 obs
2nd: Common Yarrow- 24 obs
3rd: Common Mugwort-23obs
Tie 4th: Stinging Nettle and Wild Carrot- 22 obs
Tie 6th: White Clover, Greater Plantain, and Purple Wood Aster- 20 obs
Tie 9th: Common Toadflax, Creeping Thistle, and White Campion-18 obs
For distribution of species:
1189 species of Plants
648 species of Insects
186 species of Birds
125 species of Fungi
68 species of Arachnids
35 species of Other Animals
30 species of Mollusks
21 species of Mammals
11 species of Amphibians
10 species of Reptiles
7 species of Chromists
4 species of Ray-finned Fishes
3 species of Protozoans
For identifications:
3928 Leading
2689 Improving
2408 Supporting
4 Mavericks
And the most favorited observation today is this awesome photo of a Phallus haitangensis by @rachwl in Trinidad and Tobago!!! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58718615
Thanks,
Robby
I am excluded out of Leaderboards which moves everyone up a place.
Next one is tomorrow.

Hello Bioblitzers,
I will be staying as an administrator for the SDB. If things worsen, I will have to leave, but right now they look like they are getting better. I will make a final decision in about two weeks.
Robby

Hello Bioblitzers,
I will not be posting anything because of family and personal matters. If this continues, I may have to step down from my position as an administrator for the SDB's. I could not post as my phone had died when I was going places. There has been some issues going on for a long time, they just have gotten worse recently. I do not know if I can help anymore as an admin. Please understand that I am sorry, and I will not give details.
Thanks,
Robby

Observation #3,000, with two photos of Common Motherwort, was uploaded from New York by @astrobirder.

And because we like the number 3, special mention and saludos for @adorantes in Mérida, México who uploaded Observation #3,333: a Central American Frog (Genus Incilius).

Also, here's great news! Today we're welcoming the very first SDB observations from two Central American Countries!

From Costa Rica, @leo_alvalc shared a a photo of Beach Bean (Canavalia Rosea).

And from Nicaragua, @cmtercero sends us this brilliant Woodsorrel.

Bienvenidos and we hope that soon Belize and Panamá will join us, too. See you in all future SD Bioblitzes!

Fresh observations from around the world bring us a sample of colorful caterpillars... soon to metamorphose and take flight!

Check these out:

From Trinidad & Tobago, we have a Tetrio Sphinx (Pseudosphinx tetrio) observed by @rachwl and a Gulf Fritillary (Araulis vanillae) photographed by @magichin

From South Korea, a bright Tropical Fritillary by @onidiras

From Guatemala, a furry "Choconoy" (as it's known in this country, Genus Arachnis), photographed by @josuedeleonlux.

From Peru, a soon to be Tiger Milkweed Butterfly (Genus Danaus) observed by @awsalas

And in the USA:

From New Jersey: this well camouflaged Tobacco Budworm Moth (Chloridea virescens) by @sadawolk

From North Carolina, a strangely handsome Pandorus Sphinx (Eumorpha pandorus) by @bonnieeamick

And from Syracuse (NY), one truly bizarre Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) by @astrobirder

Wonderful observations all!

We have hit 2500 observations! Great job everyone! Right now in Nassau County the weather is 28/82 degrees and sunny! Very nice temperature. The 2500th observation? Tansy by @melodi_96 https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58772953
Robby

Mammals are the class we are in. However, they are underobserved and very secretive. Out of 14 mammal observations, I decided to feature one. @andreacala awesome photo on your California Ground Squirrel! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58764136. Good luck to all bioblitzers! Keep the good work up! Has anyone hit 500 species yet? Or 1500 observations this blitz?
Thanks,
Robby
A stat update will be made around 8PM tonight, and the 2500 observation mark is near