When I first became a contributor to inaturalist, I saw it simply as good repository for my wildlife pictures and a decent way to keep a list of all of the plants and animals I’ve photographed. What I wasn’t expecting was the wonderful and helpful community of naturalists I’ve had the pleasure to encounter on this site, if not in person. Since joining I’ve been able to help others with their identifications and have been helped many times in return. I’ve also become inspired to learn more about groups that I gave scant attention to before, such as plants, algae, moths, lichens, and many more. This was in no small part due to the enthusiasm of others on this site. So, inspired by the small but dedicated legion of hardcore county birders, I have begun a challenge I’m calling the 58-250 project. California is a huge state whose length and complex geomorphology have led to an incredible diversity of habitats, including three different desert regions, one of the tallest mountain ranges in North America, chaparral covered hills, hundreds of miles of coastline and offshore waters, Redwood forests on the north coast, oak woodlands surrounding the massive Central Valley, and some of the largest urban centers in the country. It also has a complex political history which has led to it being divided into 58 counties which vary tremendously in size, population, ecology, and, for lack of a better word, “personality”.

What I am attempting to do, with absolutely no time commitment other than my own desires and resources, is to photographically document, identify, and submit 250 species from each county in California for a minimum total of 14,500 observations! As I make new sightings, I will add them to existing county lists or, if need be, start a new one. These can be plants, animals, fungi, or whatever else I am capable of finding and identifying, but by doing so, I hope to give each list, a “feel” for the biology of that county. I will include both established, introduced species as well as native ones and try for a broad diversity of organisms. I have already begun going through my current sightings and dividing them up by county and by the time I’m done going through my existing photos, I will have records from at least twenty California countes.

Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Alpine Counties:

This last weekend I went for a family excursion to the Sierra Nevada and camped for three nights at Calaveras Big Tree State Park. This park spreads across two counties (Calaveras and Tuolumne) and holds two of the three northern-most native Sequoia groves in California. Mixed in among these giants are large stands of Sugar Pine, Incense Cedar, Ponderosa Pine, and White Fir with an understory of ferns and Mountain Dogwoods, serenaded by the constant daytime calling of Douglas Squirrels . On Saturday we joined another couple for a day trip into Alpine County to see the eastern Sierras and go for a soak at Grover Hot Springs. Although large tracks were fire damaged, the beauty of Alpine County was still very apparent, as huge monoliths of granite stuck hundreds of feet into the sky. Surprisingly, I found several Terrestrial Garter Snakes lounging in a mountain river at 6,000 ft in elevation! Over the next week I will be submitting the records for this trip as I process the photos and seek help with some of the identifications.

Posted on October 12, 2015 09:18 PM by rjadams55