Diario de jessicaleighallen

Adam talks about Showy Orchis and Virginia Pennywort. I've observed showy orchis but am saving this here so I may identify Virginia pennywort one day.

Saving this fantastic video by Adam Haritan here...just in case I find H. croceus one day!

06/29/2020

DCNR Seeking Online Public Input on Pennsylvania’s Public and Private Forests

​Harrisburg, PA -- Today, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn invited public input in an online survey helping DCNR chart the future course for forestlands in Pennsylvania.

“As the department moves forward in developing a new strategic plan, those who appreciate, work in, or recreate in Pennsylvania’s forests have a remarkable opportunity to shape the future management and sustainability of Pennsylvania’s forest resources,” Dunn said. ”I encourage all to become a part of this state’s rich forest planning heritage by completing the survey.”

Beginning July 1 and continuing through August 31, the survey takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Stakeholders, outdoors enthusiasts, and others who visit and enjoy approximately 17 million acres of forestlands in Pennsylvania will be asked to weigh in on perceived individual forest use, and personal values placed on forests.

DCNR is in the process of writing a new strategic plan, designed to set its mission and overarching goals.

It guides how the department provides leadership in forest management and conservation on both public and private lands in urban and rural areas.

Reflected in the public survey are questions designed to shape how the department:

Considers opinions and attitudes of citizens about forests and the agency’s work

Steers its mission, goals, objectives and the methods used to achieve them

Weighs attitudes and opinions on:

Forest restoration, watershed protection, plants, wildlife, and biodiversity
Working forests and the resources that come from them such as oil, gas, and timber
Recreational activities such as hiking, biking, and motorized
Climate change
Forest education, outreach, and understanding of forest management practice and wood products
Value of trees and forest products
Details on Pennsylvania’s state forestlands and 20 state forest districts can be found at the DCNR website.

Survey opens here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BOFplan

I re-discovered iNat in June 2020...like many others, I was at-home in a COVID-19 lockdown. I began adding hundreds and eventually thousands of my nature-related observations. Soon, a whole Community of users began identifying my images -- and while I attempt to say 'thank you' as often as possible, I wanted to make an effort to show my gratitude to these individuals...Thank you!

For helping my identify fungi...

@johnplischke
@pipsissewa
@mycowalt
@jameskm

@cjpasiche ...for patiently explaining cladonias to me!

And my mosses...thank you @mossman2000 for giving many of them names!

And without @donlubin I would not have learned the names of so many beautiful ferns. Thank you to @choess too...you have helped me immensely.

@sedgequeen you are amazing...I SO appreciate your kindness in helping me learn more about grasses, sedges and rushes.

When I post a butterfly or moth (esp. a caterpillar!) I can always count on @k8thegr8!

And @dan_johnson is ever-so-patient when I have cicada questions.

Without @joshualincoln I would never positively ID any of my dragonflies or damselflies - Thank you!

Similarly...@ameeds is my go-to guy for stink bugs and @megachile is a gall go-to guy for certain...

Thank you EVERYONE. Your expertise, enthusiasm and patience exemplify the Community spirit on iNat!

Entomological Society of Pennsylvania
https://www.entsocpa.org/

Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program
http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/

Pennsylvania Amphibian & Reptile Survey
https://paherpsurvey.org/

Pennsylvania iMap Invasives
https://www.paimapinvasives.org/gallery-of-invaders

Pennsylvania Biological Survey
http://www.pabiologicalsurvey.org/

*list is continually updated

This book is apparently no longer in print...and thus, the booksellers of the internet are charging ridiculous, outlandish prices for it. Ho hum.

500 pages are available FREE on Google Books...

This month I embarked on a time-consuming, tedious project: adding nearly 2,000 observations to my iNat account. I began by reviewing all of the photographs taken after 2009 - in other words, after my battle with breast cancer. In 2009 I began taking a lot of long walks with my four-year-old son on the days I didn't feel terrible. 😞 After my 2010 recovery I fully embraced nature photography and nature study...

Admittedly, the majority of those early photographs are not fine quality nor particularly useful for identifying some taxa - ferns, fungi, lichens - but I have benefited greatly by adding them to my iNat Observations.

In most cases my photographs - even the low quality ones - have received some level of species identification (thanks to the wonderful iNat Community); quite a few attained Research Grade.

Currently I am documenting/surveying the flora, fauna and fungi observed within my own 6,686 square foot property in south-central Pennsylvania. While most of the images are uploaded as Casual observations, b/c they are cultivated plants, many of those cultivated plants are in fact, U.S./PA native species and will serve (hopefully) as useful pictorial references.

I hope to complete my historical archive project soon...and my focus will return to current observations; paying closer attention to how I photograph a subject, highlighting details that aid in identification. 😊

The Love Bugs (Trailer)

The Love Bugs (Trailer) from Jackson House Films on Vimeo.

Screening info: www.thelovebugsfilm.com

Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf (Trailer)

Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf documentary trailer from Thomas Piper on Vimeo.

Adding this link here...to reference when I'm trying to identify fuzzy oak galls on North American Oaks.

https://www.inaturalist.org/guides/11769

A guide created by @megachile on Fuzzy Galls on North American Oaks (not including CA).

I began reviewing my images from mid-summer 2009 through September 2011. Most images were made in south-central Pennsylvania with a couple along the Atlantic seashore.

This post will serve as a summary of my observations, organized by location:

--Two Gates--

Pennsylvania grass spider
brown marmorated stink bug (nymph)
hibiscus sawfly larvae on Rose of Sharon
asian ladybird (eggs, beetle, copulation)
Pennsylvania leatherwing (copulation)
cicada (emerging)
eastern tiger swallowtail (male)
Cooper's hawk (juvenile)
leopard slug (eggs)
mourning dove
varied carpet beetle (on yarrow)
ground elder/goutweed/bishop's weed
red admiral caterpillar on stonecrop 'John Creech'
water striders (introduced)
12-spotted skimmer
monarch
ground cherry
digger wasp
cottontail rabbit (young)
wood louse hunter
land snail
ants (with eggs)
ladybird beetle eggs
orchard spider
fragile forktail damselfly
dragonfly naiad
grapeleaf skeletonizer moth
milkweed beetle
common slider
bird's nest fungi

--Mom's House--

hackberry emperor butterfly nectaring on butterfly bush
robin's nest (four eggs)
gilled mushroom
hummingbird moth
robber fly
common buckeye

--Lebanon County--

common snapping turtle

--Wildwood Lake--

porcelain gray (moth)
chrysalis (unidentified)
aphids on Joe-Pye
long-jawed spider
aquatic snails
bullfrogs
praying mantid
dame's rocket (invasive)
great blue heron

--Bellaire Woods--

orange mycena
gilled mushrooms
russula

--Quittapahilla Creek--

northern water snake
fleabane
box elder (bud burst)
maple bladder gall mite
garter snake
miscellaneous fungi
jumping spider

--Hummel Nature Trail--

crayfish

--Ricketts Glen State Park (Northern PA)--

caterpillar
mallard (female)
fungi
british soldier lichen
yellow fly agaric
puffballs

--Middle Creek--

snow geese
tundra swans

--Stone Harbor (NJ)--

hermit crab
dunlins

--Virginia Seashore--

lady crab

--The Cabin (Northern PA)--

meadow fritillary
red eft
moss ball

--Choptank River--

sea nettles

--Maryland Seashore--

Asian shore crab