Hello everyone!
Thanks for reading the November 25 edition of the EwA highlights. I hope these highlights find you in the middle of a long, restful weekend.
📸 Add another entertaining fungus name to the list: the crystal brain fungus (Myxarium nucleatum), photographed on Wednesday by Bill. This fungus is normally associated with dead wood, which you can see in the photo. The beautiful color you see here isn’t typical of the fungus though—it’s more often transparent-looking and almost colorless.
EwA iNaturalist Record (© Bill MacIndewar · Medford, MA · Nov. 22, 2023)
Jessica saw this horned lark (Eremophila alpestris) in Salisbury on Friday. This bird is a rare visitor to Massachusetts and has only been observed 10 times in the state by EwA naturalists. Interestingly enough, while there are 100 total lark (family Alaudidae) species worldwide, the horned lark is North America’s only native lark. When they do visit Massachusetts, they most often come during the winter months.
EwA iNaturalist Record (© jessicayuan6 · Salisbury, MA · Nov. 24, 2023)
For two weeks in a row, EwA’s most-observed taxon has been a slime mold; this week, it was the wasp’s nest slime mold (Metatrichia vesparia). This slime mold is known for its striking appearance at multiple different stages of the fruiting body’s development. As it is a relatively common sight around our forests under the right conditions, it has appeared in these highlights before. This one was observed last Saturday by Deana.
EwA iNaturalist Record (© Deana Tempest Thomas · Winchester, MA · Nov. 18, 2023)
📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this past week, totaling 472 observations of 216 distinct species. If you’re curious about the records from this week that have been validated by the iNat community so far, you can find them » here.
🏆 Running tally: To date, we have recorded 169,618 observations of 10,351 distinct species! Check out our EwA umbrella project, see the details per site/observer, and more » here.
📅 EwA Upcoming Public Events
Ewa Field Events » Check the EwA Fall [ Event details and registration » ] Don’t miss some great opportunities to follow the rhythm of the season in our local habitats and in the local wildlife! Space is limited for all our field events. Wildlife ethics is important to us and we seek to avoid putting the pressure on natural habitats which large gatherings unavoidably do. We are asking our audience to register-and-commit (or cancel when you know you can’t come) to avoid no-shows.
EwA Fieldwork (and Resources)
It’s a great time to join our monitoring programs. Check EwA’s Volunteer Program Calendar 📅 to know when things happen. And if a session is of interest to you, don’t hesitate to reach out to get the rendezvous location.
📅 EwA Sites Map | 🌱 Site Protocols and Guides · Field Rosters · Field Notes » All here! | ℹ️ More about EwA’s Citizen Science Program » Here
❓ Do you have any questions? Don’t be shy. Just email me or reply to this thread.
That’s all for this week—hope you have a good one!
-Mike
