Hello everyone!
Thanks for reading the February 18 EwA highlights. We’ve got an exciting one to share this week!
📸 At EwA’s forest exploration last Saturday, a new attendee, Ankush, captured this photo of a couple springtime faerie shrimp (Eubranchipus vernalis) and what he thought was a tadpole underneath the shrimp in the middle of the frame. On further inspection, though, this was not a tadpole but a salamander larva, and even then, it was not the more common spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum).
Claire consulted with one of EwA’s expert herpetologist collaborators, Matt Gage, who excitedly told her it was in fact a marbled salamander (Ambystoma opacum), a species that has long been absent from the Fells! In the past decade, a program through Zoo New England has released adult marbled salamanders into the fells in the hopes of establishing a permanent population, and this is the first iNat observation to show the effort is starting to succeed. Since Ankush didn’t have iNat yet, Claire uploaded the observation.
EwA iNaturalist Record (Massachusetts, US · February 2023)
EwA had a four-way tie for most-observed organism this week, and one of them was the spotted wintergreen (Chimafila maculata), a welcome sight on the winter forest floor. As the name denotes, these little plants stay green throughout the winter, and they can be spotted blooming much later in the year at the height of summer.
EwA iNaturalist Record (© Joe MacIndewar · Medford, MA · Feb.11, 2023)
📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this past week, totaling 306 observations of 205 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 135,478 observations of 9,134 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)
Peak schedule: Winter is still 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
