I did a quick overnight to Charlottesville to visit two sites.
First up was James River State Park. This was supposed to be an easy stroll to get park #27 punched on my Trail Quest ticket. I didn’t intend to break out my camera with the long lens. But, walking along the River Trail, I found a damselfly that I didn’t recognize, so I scooted back to my car to get the camera. The damsel turned out to be male and female Smoky Rubyspots (Hetaerina titia). Pretty cool!
Then this morning I participated in a short two-hour bioblitz at the Nature Conservancy’s Fernbrook Natural Area. We worked in the parcel that was newly added to the property; it showed a long life as pasture and homestead, with a stupendous stand of bamboo! Fortunately, there were some natives to be found, and I added Paspalum laeve to the property’s iNaturalist project (as well as to my own list of species, I discovered to my slight surprise). And, alas, it looks like I am the first to document Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) at the site.