Archivos de diario de julio 2019

08 de julio de 2019

Late season dragons emerging now!

Hi everyone,

The rain has not stopped us! Despite the historic flooding and rain for what felt like most of May and June, we are getting record numbers of observations. This is perhaps in part due to even more people out looking and submitting observations. Thank you again for taking time to help us understand our dragonflies and damselflies.

Thanks also to our many identifiers on iNaturalist who are confirming our records and helping the newbies with identifications. (Props to @jimlem , @sallypsandpiper , and @joshualincoln , all of whom have contributed over 10,000 identifications!)

Dragons in the News:

Save the Date!
Mark your calendars now! The 2020 Ohio Dragonfly Conference will be June 5-7 in Richland and surrounding counties. This is an easy drive along 71, and plenty of nice accommodations. The habitat of the area is pretty cool, with several Spiketails, Lilypad Forktails, and other fun beasts found in the area. It will be organized by Kyle Bailey (Current Ohio Odonata Society Vice President). If you want to give a talk or help out with conference organizing, send him an email at kbailey@richlandcountyoh.us

2019 Under-surveyed counties
As of a few days ago, Jim Lemon did an extraction from the iNaturalist data to show which counties have had the least attention this year. The following counties have had fewer than 30 observations submitted for this year: Belmont (1 observation!), Columbiana (6), Noble (7), Scioto (12), Lawrence (15), Putnam (16), Henry (19), Knox (20), Wood (20), Monroe (21), Tuscarawas (22), Erie (23), Sandusky (23), Ottawa (24), Mercer (25), Paulding (26), Vinton (26), Jefferson (30 observations).

Volunteer opportunities:
Do you want to help get more people excited about dragonflies and damselflies?

  • Another Central Ohio volunteer is wanted for the Highbanks Metropark Outdoor Adventure on July 13th. We will have a table and outreach display for the Ohio Dragonfly Survey, but we currently only have one person signed up to help at this huge event. Any extra help is appreciated. Please email MaLisa at spring.99@osu.edu to confirm.
  • If you want to give a presentation to a local group, MaLisa can provide you with prepared slides. She can also get you ODNR booklets and other survey outreach handouts. Send her an email at spring.99@osu.edu

Other upcoming events:
July 13: 8 PM -10 PM Insect Night Walk (Wooster, Ohio) Join the OSU entomology department to learn about cool bugs at this family friendly event. Make Maggot Art, pick a winner in the cockroach races, and have fun on a firefly walk. Free to the public. https://www.facebook.com/events/seacrest-arboretum/insect-night-walk/2396071537111524/
July 11, 2019 - 3:30-4:30 PM River Rarities: Stream Fun (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) Join MaLisa Spring, Knox County Park District, and ODNR’s Scenic Rivers Program in the shallow riffles of Millwood Water Access near 62. Get your feet wet (wear closed-toe shoes please!) and see some of our coolest river dragons up close! Limited numbers of nets will be provided for use during the program.

July 13: 9 AM - 4 PM Highbanks Metropark Outdoor Adventure (Lewis Center, Ohio) Celebrate healthy family living, connecting with nature and getting outside to play! Free to the public. https://www.10tv.com/article/10tv-metro-parks-outdoor-adventure
July 16 11AM Exploring Stream Life within Little Beaver Creek State Wild & Scenic River (East Liverpool, Ohio). Registration required here: https://www.onapa.org/onapa-field-trips.html
July 19-20 Coyote Run Bioblitz (Pickerington, Ohio) Join us to document as many species of all living organisms as we can in 24 hours! Make sure to register! https://www.ohwetlands.org/bioblitz-2019.html
July 20 Clean-Up at Delaware Lake (Delaware, Ohio) Use a canoe and kayak to help clean up the lake. Maybe even document some dragonflies while you are on the water? Register on their webpage. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clean-up-at-delaware-lake-tickets-61152769580
July 21 Chadwick Arboretum Open House (Columbus, Ohio) Enjoy the annual arboretum open house for a chance to see dragonflies and damselflies.
July 27, 2019 2-3 PM Surveying for Dragonflies at Mill Stream Run Reservation (Berea, Ohio) Join Naturalist Marty Calabrese for another opportunity to observe dragonflies and damselflies. Observations will be uploaded to Ohio Odonata Survey via iNaturalist. ID skills not required. Nets provided. https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/parks/programs-events/2019/rrnc/july/ohio-dragonfly-survey-1
(more events the rest of the summer listed on the webpage)

Interested in joining us in the field for a smaller dragonfly outing?
Small group outings are regularly in the works, but I tend not to post them here as they are tentative and weather reliant. I (MaLisa) am planning to try to do an overnight trip on July 22 and 23, but the target location and taxa is TBD. Other regional coordinators are likely to have their own mini-outings planned, so consider reaching out to them.
I have also listed many of the Stream Quality Monitoring (SQM) Workshops from the ODNR Scenic Rivers programs on our events list. The program is focused on all aquatic "bugs", but you are likely to see some really cool dragons out on the streams with them. See their website for more information: http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/sqm
July SQM Workshops:
July 6 - Darby River
July 13 Little Miami
July 24 Stillwater River
July 25 Mohican River
More dates and sites for SQM can be found on their webpage.

Am I missing other water related events? Do you want one near you? Let me know and I will try to work something out!

Best wishes,
MaLisa Spring
State Coordinator of the Ohio Dragonfly Survey

Publicado el julio 8, 2019 09:50 TARDE por malisaspring malisaspring | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

18 de julio de 2019

[OhioDragonfly] Mid-July Update!

Hi Everyone,

The heat is killer, but that doesn't seem to be stopping most of you. Thanks again for all of your help, past and present. If you are out in the field in the next couple of days, make sure to take plenty of water and recognize the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (See: https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/warning.html). All of you are important, so don't push yourselves too far for the dragonflies. If you do go out in the field in this heat, make it a game where you take an extra drink of water for every dragonfly you see doing the obelisk pose (meaning it is so hot, that it is trying to minimize the surface area and decrease heat).

We have surpassed 50,000 records on iNaturalist!

A note from Jim Lemon:
The general summary is that "We will be over 14,000 observations for 2019 by the end of the week, from over 500 different observers, representing 125 species so far".
"We have two [species] now with 2019 observations in all Ohio Counties – Blue Dasher and Common Whitetail. [Species close to being observed in all counties include]: Eastern Pondhawk (85), Fragile Forktail (84), Eastern Forktail (83), Widow Skimmer (82).
These numbers are changing every day – we are averaging over 330 submissions per day, July is on track to be our first 10,000 observation month."

Jim's expanded note and map is formatted as a blog on the webpage here: https://u.osu.edu/ohioodonatasurvey/2019/07/18/2019-revised-map-updates/

Also, a note from Bill Hull: “watch out for odes that might be moving north with the blast of wind and heat from the south. I saw a “Red” Saddlebags fly over my urban yard a little bit ago that I suspect was a real Red Saddlebags. In particular, people should watch for Red and Striped Saddlebags and Band-winged Dragonlets.”

Other updates:
A Symposium on "WETLANDS MITIGATING HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS SYMPOSIUM
IN NORTHERN OHIO" will take place on Saturday August 3 in Huron, Ohio. Registration is $30 for regular attendees or $15 for students. Registration can be found on the Ohio Wetlands Association page here: https://www.ohwetlands.org/

Little Blue Dragonlets (Blue Dasher look-alikes) have been rediscovered in Ohio! If you see any Blue Dashers with a lot more blue on their thorax and a black instead of white face, make sure to photo document it! You might have a Little Blue Dragonlet! The known sites are currently restricted access, so it would be awesome to find them in more locations. This will be most likely in Southern Ohio. We have a historical record from Vinton County in 1933, but it has been photo documented in Pike County this year by Nina Harfmann.

It is also now season for Swift Setwings! We are up to 9 counties so far. Where will we document them this year?? Check quarry lakes, but they might show up in any habitat (small ponds, big rivers).

Lilypad Forktails are also out! Check sites with White Waterlily, but don't overlook damselflies on watershield either! We spotted some at Mothapalooza last weekend, with only watershield and spatterdock plants visible.

Other upcoming events:
July 19-20 Coyote Run Bioblitz (Pickerington, Ohio) Join us to document as many species of all living organisms as we can in 24 hours! Make sure to register! https://www.ohwetlands.org/bioblitz-2019.html
July 20 Clean-Up at Delaware Lake (Delaware, Ohio) Use a canoe and kayak to help clean up the lake. Maybe even document some dragonflies while you are on the water? Register on their webpage. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clean-up-at-delaware-lake-tickets-61152769580
July 21 Chadwick Arboretum Open House (Columbus, Ohio) Enjoy the annual arboretum open house for a chance to see dragonflies and damselflies.
July 27, 2019 2-3 PM Surveying for Dragonflies at Mill Stream Run Reservation (Berea, Ohio) Join Naturalist Marty Calabrese for another opportunity to observe dragonflies and damselflies. Observations will be uploaded to Ohio Odonata Survey via iNaturalist. ID skills not required. Nets provided.
August 3, 2019 2 PM Dragonfly Exploration (Lima, Ohio) McLean Teddy Bear Park [2004 N Dixie Hwy, Lima, OH 45801] Join a naturalist for a short presentation on these incredible insects followed by fun activities! Learn why dragon and damselflies are important for wetlands, how to safely handle dragons, and much more. Try your hand at using dip nets to find nymphs or practice with your camera to document species for a statewide survey. Some nets will be provided, be prepared for the weather and to get your feet wet/muddy.
(more events the rest of the summer listed on the webpage)

Am I missing other water related events? Do you want one near you? Let me know and I will try to work something out!

Stay hydrated,
MaLisa Spring
State Coordinator of the Ohio Dragonfly Survey

Publicado el julio 18, 2019 04:48 TARDE por malisaspring malisaspring | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario