I participated in another bioblitz organized by the Clifton Institute, this time at Sunnyside Farm & Conservancy in Rappahannock County. I visited the farm last year for a dragonfly count for the Institute. With several insect experts in the group, I was able to file 57 observations, including
- a Giant Bark Aphid (Longistigma caryae) resting on Dr. Hardtacks’ back bumper;
- a Twice-stabbed Stink Bug (Cosmopepla lintneriana), always a popular common name;
- a pair of conjoined Azure Bluets (Enallagma aspersum), a new damselfly for me;
- a passable recording of Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) against the background noise of breezes and naturalist chatter; I used my tablet and the Merlin app, rather than my dedicated audio recorder, trading off a better directional mic for on-the-fly ID suggestions;
- a non-native cress that I didn’t know, Land Cress (Barbarea verna);
- a very lucky shot of Common Baskettail (Epitheca cynosura) on the wing.
Early in the afternoon, we took a break from chasing plants to observe technicians working with an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), one of the study subjects in the Institute’s long-running research project into this species’ ecology on farmland and restored prairie.