📜 EwA Week Highlights: Orchids, Blueberries, Baltimores

[Mike McGlathery]

EwA Highlights May 12, 2025 Hello everyone,  Thanks for reading the May 12th EwA highlights. 📸 New flowers are still showing up every day around here, and they’re showing up in EwA Pheno Lite on Anecdata. Thanks to everyone for some great Pheno Lite observations this spring! Kat observed this highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) in Charlton on Wednesday. EwA Pheno Lite Record (© @kathleenshea_1 · Charlton, MA · May 7, 2025)  We’re solidly in the thick of migratory bird season, and one of my favorite spring migrants to spot is the vibrant Baltimore oriole (Icterus Galbula). When I was younger, I always figured that they must have many more orioles down in Maryland than we do. You might assume that this bird is named after the city of Baltimore, which falls toward the southern end of its breeding range. In fact, the two instead share a namesake. Both are named after the English Lord Baltimore, with the bird being so named because it was thought to resemble his coat of arms, which was later adopted as the state flag of Maryland. So while the city and bird have an intertwined history, the bird wasn’t actually named after the city. EwA iNaturalist Record (© aussies2 · Woburn, MA · May 3, 2025)  I’m always happy to see this species as EwA’s most observed of the week: the pink lady slipper (Cypripedium acaule). The elegant flower of this orchid is a pleasure to see on the trail and it’s easy to spot as well. The thin slit opening of the flower allows bees to enter while assuring that they struggle to get themselves back out and become covered in pollen in the process. Bill observed this one on Thursday. EwA iNaturalist Record (© billmac · Stoneham, MA · May 8, 2025)  📊 Thanks to everyone for your great biodiversity records this week, totaling 643 observations of 367 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 233,505 observations of 12,492 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 Spring [ 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