📜 EwA Week Highlights: Beautiful Sea Ducks and ... Kiwi Bubbles?

[Mike McGlathery]

EwA Highlights February 1, 2025 Hello everyone,  Welcome to February, and thanks for reading the February 1st EwA highlights. Our observers were back to observing lots of waterfowl this week, with some interesting lichen and fungi mixed in as well. 📸 Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out how iNaturalist has arrived at the common name it has listed for a particular species. One funny example of this is the fungus iNat calls “kiwi bubbles” (Diatrype virescens). Looking at this observation from Bill, the resemblance of this small fungus to the cross section of a kiwi fruit (especially when the fruiting body is younger and greener before fading to brown/black) is decently clear. Because of the resemblance, I don’t doubt that this common name has been circulating colloquially for a while, but I didn’t come across any sources for it online other than an iNat project that was started late in 2024 (as well as a few subsequent blog posts that reference the project). I wonder if this is a case of iNaturalist helping to solidify a common name for this relatively obscure species. That’s an incidental effect of iNaturalist that I hadn’t considered before! EwA iNaturalist Record (© Bill MacIndewar · Medford, MA · Jan. 30, 2025) One of the most striking sea ducks you can observe on the coastal waters of Massachusetts throughout the winter is the surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata). The combination white head and neck patches, along with the large, orange bill, make this species easy to recognize. They feed mainly on invertebrates that live on the seafloor, and this one observed by Heather looks to have caught itself a crab. EwA iNaturalist Record (© aussies2 · Boston, MA · Jan. 26, 2025) EwA’s most-observed species this week was another striking sea duck, the common eider (Somateria mollissima). This is one of many ducks that exhibits social behavior throughout the winter, and that sociality continues into the breeding season as well. Female ducks usually return to the same island breeding ground where they were born. This results in related ducks often nesting near each other, and they have even been known to lay eggs in each others’ nests. Eiders also take care of young in creches, collections of many chicks that multiple female ducks look after.  EwA iNaturalist Record (© Joe MacIndewar · Revere, MA · Jan. 26, 2024) 📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this week, totaling 269 observations of 125 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 223,609 observations of 12,168 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 Winter [ 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