Can't wait to get going on the City Nature Challenge in Lexington next weekend. I gave some one-on-one training to one interested person in Willard's Woods today. Among the plants we saw were a lot of lovely natives: Canadian mayflower, high and low bush blueberries, partridge berry, striped winterberry, Pennsylvania sedge, club mosses, and laurels. Also a gorgeous marsh marigold in bloom.
Day 1--309 observations , 136 species, 20 observers--not bad! The first day was a weekday, and I believe this nice turnout bodes well for the rest of the event. Although the lion's share were from the plant kingdom, people also saw birds, fungi, a garter snake, and signs of beaver. For insect lovers, there is a patch of lowbush blueberries in bloom near the top of Juniper Hill that are getting visited by a riot of pollinators including a brilliantly blue moth I could only identify as from the genus of Holartic Azures. We expect a mostly sunny day with a lot less wind today so I expect a good haul of new observations and species. A highlight for me yesterday was one of our small group in Whipple Hill spotted a very large group of marsh marigolds in bloom.
