📜 EwA Week Highlights: Asters and Chameleons

[Mike McGlathery]

EwA Highlights September 23, 2025 Hello everyone,  Happy fall, and thanks for reading the September 23rd EwA Highlights. 📸 One of my favorite late-season New England plants has started to bloom: the New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). Next to the late-blooming goldenrods, this species is one of the bigger food sources for nectivores in late September and early October. Their vivid purple flowers are instantly recognizable once they start to bloom. EwA iNaturalist Record (© gsarajg · Cambridge, MA · Sep. 15, 2025)  A shout out to one of EwA’s past interns, Amanda, who is working on a project in Madagascar right now and taking some very cool observations. This one documents a Parson’s chameleon (Calumma parsonii), the largest chameleon in the world by weight. As this species is listed as near-threatended, Amanda has prudently obscured the exact location of this photo. EwA iNaturalist Record (© Amanda Mackie · Madagascar · September 2025)  The locust borer (Megacyllene robiniae) was our third-most observed species this week (behind the typical bees), so let’s give it another moment in the sun. This week we have a pair of locust borers doing their best to make sure we see plenty more of them next fall. EwA iNaturalist Record (© jtague · Boston, MA · Sep. 20, 2025)  📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this week, totaling 1,139 observations of 559 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 262,980 observations of 13,156 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