Diario de lynnharper

It looks both Sunday the 2nd and Monday the 3rd will be mostly rainy and beset by thunderstorms, so I am cancelling the iNaturalist gathering on Mt. Watatic. Darn it! Stay tuned for another gathering later this summer, but I haven't decided when or where yet.

We're hoping you'll join us for three days of traipsing through fields and bogs, staying up way too late, and generally having a fantastic time during this year's Massachusetts Invertebrate Interlude Days with Great Expectations, aka MIIDGE. All iNaturalist observations of invertebrates in Massachusetts on July 21, 22, and 23 are automatically included in this project; all you have to do is make and upload the observations. Please join the project by clicking the Join button in the upper right-hand corner here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/miidge-2023-massachusetts-invertebrate-interlude-days-with-great-expectations

MIIDGE 2023 coincides with National Moth Week, so get out your sheets and black lights and do an anti-rain dance or two. The Athol Bird and Nature Club is holding its annual Moth Ball the evening of July 22nd in Athol; See the listing of events here for more details: https://atholbirdclub.org/events/. If you know of any other invertebrate events or field trips during MIIDGE, let us know and we'll put them in a journal post.

In 2022, we all made just under 6,000 observations of more than 1,500 species: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/miidge-2022-massachusetts-invertebrate-interlude-days-with-great-expectations. This year, let's aim for MORE than 6,000 observations and MORE than 1,600 species!

Here, we're going to invite iNaturalists we think might be especially interested in MIIDGE, but absolutely everyone is welcome, from beginners to world experts.
@adamkohl, @agave6_tomwalker, @akilee, @barbaragiguere, @beesearcher, @berkshirenaturalist, @billmac, @birders130, @blocky, @bmvig, @brburke, @btk, @caterpillarscount, @cbuelow45, @chosetec, @dalien, @dancastriotta, @danivaill, @davidhsmall, @dixiedog251, @dlnarango, @erikschiff, @feralbeetle, @heather232, @hholbrook, @iandavies, @isopoddemigod, @jacksonfrost, @jakemccumber, @jef, @jeremycoleman, @joemac, @john_baur, @kevinbarnes, @krosenthal, @laurengriffith, @lma82, @mamiles, @maractwin, @mikeakresh, @mpelikan, @naturequ33r, @nlblock, @no6km, @nomolosx, @nsharp, @ntepper, @polypody, @pshubin, @radbackedsalamander, @ramonamolnar, @raneedunc, @rayray, @robertgessing, @rosymaplemoths4, @rubyheron, @sarahshearer, @snakebird15, @sohzendeh, @srullman, @stevetobin, @teamontagna, @temminicki, @thomashulsey, @thomasirvine, @urbanpollinatorproject, @vburdette, @vernal3, @wefwef, @wsweet321

--Lynn Harper and Tom Murray

Well, we hope you survived yesterday's storms with dry basements and no local road wash-outs! The forecast for the rest of the weekend looks good, though if you plan on driving somewhere, you might need to plan on a detour or two.

Right now - 7:30 on Saturday morning - we're at 1,241 observations and 564 species, with 241 observers contributing so far. A nice start, but let's hope we can find much more today and tomorrow. Get out there and enjoy the good weather!

--Lynn Harper and Tom Murray

We are nearing the end of a lovely weekend of invertebrate obsession and I, for one, am SO glad it hasn't rained for two days!

At around 7 PM on Sunday, we are at 4,756 observations of 1,239 species, and several people (I'm looking at you, @tmurray74) haven't had a moment to post their observations, so I think when everything is wrapped up, MIIDGE 2023 will be very successful! We'll be back Wednesday with the final numbers, so try to get everything posted by then.

And we'd like to know your favorite observations over the past three days. For me, I really enjoyed what I think was a Bridgham's Brocade Moth, the first one I've ever seen (feel free to correct my ID!). A beautiful moth! What was your favorite?

Thanks, everyone!

--Lynn Harper

On Wednesday, July 26th, at around 5 PM, the counts stood at 6,815 observations of 1,591 species, observed by 712 people and identified by 373 identifiers.

Great job! The number of observations FAR surpassed our goal of 6,000. The number of species is really close to our goal of 1,600, and once some more identifiers weigh in over the next few months, we will probably meet that goal, too.

With four years of MIIDGE data, we thought it would be interesting to compare 2023 with past years.

2020: 4,613 observations, 1,383 species, 491 observers, 561 identifiers

2021: 4,354 observations, 1,453 species, 500 observers, 506 identifiers

2022: 5,968 observations, 1,571 species, 638 observers, 517 identifiers

2023: 6,815 observations, 1,591 species, 712 observers, 373 identifiers

The numbers of species and observers have gone up each year. Aside from 2021 (did it rain that year?), the number of observations has also gone up each year. Interestingly, the number of identifiers has remained somewhat steady (assuming more identifiers will show up in the next few months).

Thank, everyone, and we'll see you next year!

--Lynn Harper and Tom Murray