📜 EwA Week Highlights: Toads on the Move, Aphids (and Of Course More Bumblebees)

[Mike McGlathery]

EwA Highlights July 14, 2025 Hello everyone,  Thanks for reading the July 14th EwA highlights. 📸 The dizzying variety of natural events you might observe on any given day in the field is one of the dearest pleasures of being a naturalist. One such event you might see this time of year is the mass movement of subadult American toads (Anaxyrus americanus) from the wetlands in which they hatched to the wooded habitats where they will spend their adult lives. If you’re in the right place at the right time, you can see scores or even hundreds of young toads making this journey. Simon observed this subadult in the Middlesex Fells this week.  EwA iNaturalist Record (© Simon Gurvets · Winchester, MA · July 9, 2025)  Kristian observed these oleander aphids (Aphis nerii) on a milkweed plant (genus Asclepia) this week. These aphids, which are native to Europe, reproduce asexually. Just like so many other aphids, they give birth to live young. No males of this species have ever been observed in the wild.  EwA iNaturalist Record (© kdemary · Arlington, MA · July 6, 2025)  Unsurprisingly, the brown belted bumblebee (Bombus griseocollis) was EwA’s most-observed species again this week. There’s lots to say about this species, but in the interest of giving other ones the spotlight, I won’t be discussing this one at length too often the rest of the summer even though it will probably remain our most-observed species. They are frequent visitors to some of our most well-known and charismatic native wildflowers, such as the aforementioned milkweeds and the goldenrods (genus Solidago).   EwA iNaturalist Record (© kdemary · Arlington, MA · July 5, 2025)  📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this week, totaling 1,315 observations of 684 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 244,507 observations of 12,813 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 Summer [ 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