Diario del proyecto Erie MetroParks

We had another exciting month on the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project. Although there were no new members to the group, we had quite a few contributors, finding lots of interesting species across many of our parks. As always, if you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
 
The Project increased from 14399 to 14756 observations (+357), 2132 to 2164 species (+32), and from 215 to 219 observers (+4).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 9110 to 9383 (+273). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 63.27% (down from 63.59%).
 
Of the 361 observations added to the Project this month, observations included 147 birds, 105 plants, 47 arachnids, 41 fungi, 38 spiders, 34 reptiles, 17 amphibians, 12 mollusks, 10 mammals, 2 cyanobacteria, and slime mold.
 
Of these, there were 199 species recorded. Common Garter Snake was observed the most (21 occasions), followed by Eastern Red-backed Salamander (9), and Brush-legged Spiders (observations).
 
The observations came from 19 observers. The top five observers were @taylorse (72), @eriemetroparks (66), @hroni (41), @martyndrabik (38), and @samantha_smith1 (37).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Common Raccoon (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213194553) by @taylorse
Golden Oyster Mushroom (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/214576988) by @hroni
Black-and-gold Flat Millipede (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215976905) by @samantha_smith1
Northern Black Racer (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212603166) by @tkauffman
Groundhog (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/217956558) by @martyndrabik

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

This month was Citizen Science Month, and we had a Citizen Science Month Challenge at Erie MetroParks, challenging our community to submit as many observations to iNaturalist as possible. The improved weather, growth of spring wildflowers, and increased activity of wildlife in general, encouraged more people to spend time outside and contribute to the project. Due to the improved weather (and the aforementioned challenge), we welcomed a few new members to the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project, so we are now up to 52 members. Welcome to @dynastycle, @leslie95978, @taylorse, and @jyn417. As always, if you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!

The Citizen Science Month Challenge ran from April 1st to April 30th. The community dived in, resulting in our most successful month ever. We had more observations, more species observed, and more observers than any previous month! @jenniferc3 submitted the most observations, winning the challenge, while three additional winners were chosen randomly. Congratulations to @crosscountrycoach, @bluebeehive, and @samantha_smith1!
 
The Project increased from 12219 to 14399 observations (+2180), 1979 to 2132 species (+153), and from 202 to 215 observers (+13).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 8292 to 9110 (+818). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 63.27% (down from 67.86%).
 
Of the 2178 observations added to the Project this month, observations included 1305 plants, 206 fungi, 205 insects, 99 birds, 66 amphibians, 52 mammals, 50 cephalopods, 50 arachnids, 23 reptiles, 4 fish, and 2 slime moles.
 
Of these, there were 503 species recorded. Eastern red-backed salamander was observed the most (44 occasions), followed by mayapple (34), Virginia springbeauty (30) and garlic mustard (29).
 
The observations came from 31 observers. The top five observers were @jenniferc3 (674), @lakeerie (478), @hroni (453), @llsparks (93), and @yinglingfam (75).
 
The top observations of the month include:
North American river otter (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/208167937) by @taylorse
Northern slimy salamander (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212263149) by @hroni
Gray ratsnake (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/211590078) by @dynastycle
Woodland ground beetle (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/205272452) by @martyndrabik
Low pricklypear (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/205927349) by @andrea3975

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

Spring is finally here, but you wouldn’t know it at times with the blisteringly cold winds and snowy conditions we have endured this month. There have been a few sunny days too, tricking us into thinking winter was over, as per usual. Either way, the improved conditions meant that more people were out in the parks, enjoying nature, and contributing to our iNaturalist Project. We also announced our second Erie MetroParks Citizen Science Month Challenge, so that may have contributed to an uptick in users. In fact, we welcomed a few new members to the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project, so we are now up to 48 members. Welcome to @gustavgolden, @melabyd, @katiemyer11, @kay_cee, and @andrea3975. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!

The Citizen Science Month Challenge runs through to April 30th. It challenges park users to submit as many iNaturalist observations as possible. The person that submits the most observations will win a naturalist bundle, which includes a backpack, a pair of binoculars, and some wildlife guides. Three additional winners will be drawn randomly from all that register.
 
The Project increased from 12105 to 12219 observations (+114), and 1972 to 1979 species (+7), but there were no new observers, remaining at 202 (+0). We are edging towards 2000 species identified in our parks!
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 8196 to 8292 (+96). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 67.86% (up from 67.71%).
 
Of the 114 observations added to the Project this month, observations included 41 birds, 28 amphibians, 20 insects, 9 plants, 5 mammals, 4 reptiles, 2 spiders, 1 mollusc, and 1 fungi.
 
Of these, there were 59 species recorded. Bald eagle was observed the most (13 occasions), followed by Eastern red-backed salamander (10 occasions). American white pelican, spotted salamander, and unisexual mole salamander were all observed on 7 occasions.
 
The observations came from 8 observers. The top five observers were @martyndrabik (63), @eriemetroparks (23), @hroni (10), @samantha_smith1 (7), and @ryanli (6).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Scarlet cup (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202082091)
Eastern skunk cabbage (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201258672)
Spring fishfly (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/204218955)
Vivid metallic ground beetle (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/204269017)
American white pelican (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201278034)

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

February was another cold month (for the most part). We had blistering winds and a few inches of snow at times, but then we even had a few days of 50+ weather! The number of contributions to the Project was low, but that is to be expected with the weather conditions!

We did not add any new members to the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project, meaning we still have 43 members. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
 
The Project increased from 12054 to 12105 observations (+51), and 1967 to 1972 species (+5), but there were no new observers from 202 (+0).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 8124 to 8196 (+72). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 67.71% (up from 67.40%).
 
In total, there were 49 observations added to the Project this month. The observations include 18 birds, 12 mammals, 5 plants, 4 insects, 3 fish, and 2 fungi.
 
Of these, there were 33 species recorded. Bald eagle was observed the most (6 occasions), followed by white-tailed deer (4 occasions) and common raccoon (3 observations).
 
The observations came from just 7 observers. They top four observers were @martyndrabik (25), @briarrose777 (15), @jenniferc3 (4), and @dfcharles (2).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Nosy pill woodlouse (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200844157)
Common snowdrop (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200461388)
Bald eagle (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200462254)
American red squirrel (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199214851)
Winter aconite (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200463286)

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

Project Update - January 2024

We kick off 2024 with another predictably slow month. It has been cold, with freezing, foggy, windy conditions, so fewer people were out checking for wildlife in the parks.

We did not add any new members to the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project, meaning we still have 43 members. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
 
The Project increased from 12017 to 12054 observations (+37), 1961 to 1967 species (+5), and the number of observers from 201 to 202 (+1).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 7963 to 8124 (+161). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 67.40% (up from 66.26%).
 
In total, there were 38 observations added to the Project this month. The observations include 15 fungi, 8 birds, 6 mammals, 4 insects, 2 spiders, 1 reptile, 1 fish, and 1 mollusk.
 
Of these, there were 27 species recorded. Downy woodpecker was observed the most (3 occasions), followed by white-tailed deer, splitgill mushroom, and scurfy twiglet (2 occasions each).
 
The observations came from just 5 observers. They were @martyndrabik (19), @samantha_smith1 (9), @mikehensley75 (8), @hroni (1), and @jack1648 (1).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Common garter snake (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/197469133)
Velvet foot (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/195599224)
Eastern parson spider (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/196280791)
Eastern screech-owl (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/197168596)
Brown satyr moth (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/197728795)

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

The end of the year was predictably slow for the project, as fewer people were out and about in the parks. In addition, many of the observations added to the project actually came from months prior. We're all busy in December, so that's understandable!

We did not add any new members to the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project, meaning we still have 43 members. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
 
The Project increased from 11947 to 12017 observations (+70), 1959 to 1961 species (+2), and the number of observers from 200 to 201 (+1).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 7836 to 7963 (+127). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 66.26% (up from 65.59%).
 
In total, there were 71 observations added to the Project this month. The observations include 41 birds, 8 insects, 7 mammals, 7 fungi, 4 plants, 1 reptile, 1 mollusc, 1 spider.
 
Of these, there were 55 species recorded. Bald eagle, Canada goose, common raccoon, and Northern shoveler were all observed the joint most (3 times), while several other species were observed on 2 occasions.
 
The observations came from just 4 observers. They were @martyndrabik (31), @mikehensley (31), @samantha_smith1 (6), and @lakeerie (3).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Velvet Foot (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194505301)
North American Deer Mouse (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/193877670)
Midland Painted Turtle (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/193513844)
Funeral Bell (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194526967)
Brown Satyr Moth (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/193833248)

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

Fall is slowly moving towards winter, and we are definitely seeing that around Erie County. The days are shorter, it is colder, and we’ve even had a few occasions of snow, albeit very light snow. This is certainly reflected in the lower number of observations this month!

We did not add any new members to the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project, meaning we still have 43 members. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
 
The Project increased from 11839 to 11947 observations (+108), 1954 to 1959 species (+5), while the number of observers remained unchanged (200).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 7737 to 7836 (+99). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 65.59% (up from 65.35%).
 
In total, there were 108 observations added to the Project this month. The observations include 49 insects, 24 reptiles, 17 birds, 10 plants, 6 fungi, and 2 mammals.
 
Of these, there were 76 species recorded. Common garter snake was the species observed the most (21), followed by several species with 2 observations (house wren, Isabella tiger moth, large yellow underwing, Amur honeysuckle, green pug, double-striped scoria moth, Florida tetanolite moth, Guenée’s pearl).
 
The observations came from 9 observers. The top 5 observers were @ryanli (42), @eriemetroparks (26), @martyndrabik (18), @mikehensley (9), and @lakeerie (7).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Pearly wood-nymph (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/192519434)
Posterior brown lacewing (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/189884345)
Eastern redcedar (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/190014561)
Common snapping turtle (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/190404677)
Sassafras (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/191507545)

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

Fall is here. Our trees have either changed color, or have dropped their leaves already, migrating birds continue to move through, and we are seeing fewer and fewer insects. Several community members have been exploring the parks and photographing some interesting things. Once again, you will see more evidence from our AHDriFT system study that we have on loan from the Ohio Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (OHPARC). You can learn more about the Erie MetroParks AHDriFT Project here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/erie-metroparks-ahdrift-project

We had three new members join the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project this month; @grimes134, @stephanie662, and @emilybeal. Welcome! If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
 
The Project increased from 11423 to 11839 observations (+416), 1943 to 1954 species (+11), while the number of observers increased from 199 to 200 (+1).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 7357 to 7737 (+380). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 65.35% (up from 64.11%).
 
In total, there were 423 observations added to the Project this month. The observations include 174 mammals, 98 reptiles, 45 insects, 29 birds, 27 plants, 15 spiders, 11 amphibians, 8 molluscs, and 8 fungi.
 
Of these, there were 111 species recorded. Common garter snake was the species observed the most (82), followed by northern short-tailed shrew (63), North American deer mice (40), and eastern red-backed salamander (10).
 
The observations came from 8 observers. The top 5 observers were @eriemetroparks (248), @martyndrabik (115), @jenniferc3 (23), @mikehensley (23), and @thebestfish13 (6).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Isabella tiger moth - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/188544457
New England aster - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/186114390
White-lined sphinx - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/186287956
Black-legged meadow katydid - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/187385473
Common blue wood aster - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/189184199

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

Summer has come to a close, and we are starting to see different types of wildlife as we move into fall. Lots of people are getting out into the parks and photographing some interesting things. Once again, you will see more evidence from our AHDriFT system study that we have on loan from the Ohio Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (OHPARC). You can learn more about the Erie MetroParks AHDriFT Project here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/erie-metroparks-ahdrift-project

There were no new members to the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
 
The Project increased from 10981 to 11423 observations (+442), 1926 to 1943 species (+17), while the number of observers increased from 197 to 199 (+2).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 6915 to 7357 (+442). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 64.11% (up from 62.97%).
 
In total, there were 442 observations added to the Project this month. The observations include 219 mammals, 88 insects, 52 reptiles, 33 plants, 22 fungi, 13 arachnids, 6 birds, 5 molluscs, 1 amphibian.
 
Of these, there were 122 species recorded. Northern short-tailed shrew was the species observed the most (91), followed by North American deer mouse (42), common garter snake (35), and eastern chipmunk (26).
 
The observations came from 14 observers. The top 5 observers were @eriemetroparks (265), @martyndrabik (97), @mikehensley75 (38), @samantha_smith1 (19), and @lakeerie (6).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Hickory tussock moth - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/184603712
Scaly ink cap - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/185157353
Large tolype moth - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/183658036
Large milkweed bug - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/185552867
Common jewelweed - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/181217339

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn

August was another hot month, but we also had lots of damaging storms, which probably affected the amount of people out and about in our parks. There were lots of birds, insects, plants, and fungi observed by several iNaturalist users. Once again, you will see more evidence from our AHDriFT system study that we have on loan from the Ohio Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (OHPARC). You can learn more about the Erie MetroParks AHDriFT Project here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/erie-metroparks-ahdrift-project

One new person joined the account. Welcome to @leiconservancy joined the page. @eriemetroparks also rejoined the page following some testing of the Project. We are now up to 40 members to our Project. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
 
The Project increased from 10333 to 10981 observations (+648), 1880 to 1926 species (+46), while the number of observers increased from 187 to 197 (+10).
 
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 6321 to 6915 (+594). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 62.97% (up from 61.17%).
 
In total, there were 656 observations added to the Project this month. The observations include 241 mammals, 221 insects, 87 plants, 43 reptiles, 25 arachnids, 19 fungi, 12 birds, 3 amphibians, and 2 molluscs.
 
Of these, there were 247 species recorded. Northern short-tailed shrew was the species observed the most (73), followed by common garter snake (37), meadow vole (28), and harvestman (18).
 
The observations came from 24 observers. The top 5 observers were @eriemetroparks (302), @martyndrabik (119), @mikehensley75 (118), @camelcreek (24), and @jenniferc3 (20).
 
The top observations of the month include:
Milkweed tussock moth - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/179609644
Butternut woollyworm sawfly - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/179584816
Four-spotted fungus beetle - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/181152287
Eastern amberwing - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/177979893
Hickory tussock moth - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/180545369

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
 
~ Martyn