March 25, 2024

Solar Eclipse April 6-8th

Obligatory "oops I'm going to Texas last minute, who wants to meet up" announcement. Is anyone free and interested for the 7th, and perhaps portions of the 6th and 8th, to find Cool Stuff in the area near Kerrville? I am tagging along on a trip with someone else who has reservations for camping at the Kerrville Music Festival, hence the location. As much as I appreciate the existence of fine music culture, I would like to try and get some iNatting in.

Unfortunately I don't know many people who live around San Antonio so some of these user pings may be unwarranted, apologies if so, but if anyone knows anyone else in the area do bring them in!

As usual, my goals are to see as many interesting species as possible, which has been challenging to plan so early in the year. Similarly if anyone knows what species to target and where from San Antonio all the way to New Mexico, especially in terms of local endemics likely to be visible in April, please pitch in!

@prairie_rambler @beschwar @brandonwoo @gtsalmon @franpfer @sambiology @gcwarbler

Posted on March 25, 2024 03:07 AM by silversea_starsong silversea_starsong | 3 comments | Leave a comment

June 14, 2023

Bay Area Visit 2

Funnily enough, my last journal was on this very topic. Wow, that was really 4 years ago!

And as it happens, just like last time, things are very last minute. Guess what? I just found out today that I'm probably going to the Bay Area...drum roll please...tomorrow!

I will be around until the 19th June, and my goal is generally to catch up with all the goodies that the Bay Area has to offer. I've barely scratched the surface and there's many areas like Marin (including Pt. Reyes), Mt. Diablo, and all those regions that I've never been to at all. Generally, I try and get around with public transport as I will not have a vehicle during this time. However, obviously cars are a lot more convenient and I greatly enjoy sharing my passion and energy for iNaturalist with like-minded folks, so I'm hoping some of y'all have open schedules and interest lining up with this time period.

Currently I don't know where I'll be as a base, somewhere between San Fran and San Jose, probably wherever the cheapest or second cheapest motel is located (unless anyone has a spare guest room available, to which I'd owe you big time).

For now I'm tagging people I know have been in the Bay Area recently. Some of you might only be there on holiday, apologies if so, I'm not aware of where everyone lives at this time. But feel free to tag anyone else you know might be interested.
@chilipossum @merav @truthseqr @sea-kangaroo @graysquirrel @anudibranchmom @lorri-gong @garth_harwood @catchang @kueda @tiwane @damontighe @dgreenberger @onyxrat @kestrel @robberfly

Regardless, it oughta be a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing the bounties and marvels of that distant world up north!

Posted on June 14, 2023 07:55 PM by silversea_starsong silversea_starsong | 9 comments | Leave a comment

July 22, 2019

Bay Area visit

I'm going to be in the Bay Area starting tomorrow (oops, I should have made this post earlier), with the following days at stake:

Monday 22nd -- arriving around 11am, meeting @robberfly.
Tuesday 23rd -- meeting with @tiwane and @catchang (formerly cicada stuff with @easmeds)
Wednesday 24th -- general catch-up around the West Bay to look for Geraniums

25th-29th -- butterfly bonanza with @robberfly

July 30th -- Returning to the Bay Area from butterfly bonanza early afternoon.
July 31st -- Morning with @merav at Warm sprongs.
August 1st -- ???
August 2nd -- early am tidepool stuff with @kestrel and others, am to pm.
August 3rd -- I have the day spare until I fly out at 7pm.

So if anyone wants to arrange a meetup or some such, let me know. I think most of my wanted plants are crispy beyond identification at this time of year, but there ought to be a lot of other stuff around.

@sea-kangaroo @dpom @gyrrlfalcon @alexis_amphibian @merav @catchang @mazer @leslie_flint @jmaughn @tiwane @kueda @damontighe @anudibranchmom @graysquirrel @dgreenberger
Feel free to add anyone else I forgot.

Posted on July 22, 2019 12:25 AM by silversea_starsong silversea_starsong | 18 comments | Leave a comment

June 11, 2019

San Luis Obispo?

I'm thinking of coordinating a trip to San Luis Obispo in the near future (before the end of the month, maybe even this weekend). Anyone interested in a meetup? I'm mostly intending to focus on plants while here, both around SLO and closer to Morro Bay. I have some itineraries in mind that target specific species, but company is welcome.

Posted on June 11, 2019 03:57 PM by silversea_starsong silversea_starsong | 28 comments | Leave a comment

December 2, 2018

Travel February-March 2019

Until the volunteering opportunity in Australia came up this was actually the only travel I was expecting to do...!

From Februrary through March, I will be on a birding tour in New Zealand, commencing in Christchurch. I'm thinking of spending a few extra days (or more?) in Christchurch to appreciate the non-bird fauna, as well as flora. I'm interested in about everything, particularly dragonflies, butterflies, plants, snails...but not excluding fungi, and other things. If you have a blacklight setup for moths, that's of particular interest too. My focus will be on native species.

If anyone from the area can advise on locations accessible with public transport, or if you want to schedule a meetup or two, now is your chance! This will be my first time in NZ. If you show up and say "hey, we can go on an expedition to the mountains for a week", I wouldn't say no either!

Apologies for the group tag -- if you know anyone else who might be interested/want to help, feel free to let them know...
@jon_sullivan @meurkc @joepb @grahame @reinderw @katemccombs @melissa_hutchison @suemcgaw @alice_shanks @cooperj @steveattwood @quanwei @ecoman @jennysaito @shona_t @trevor_partridge @crellow @gregs @koofen @jacobl

Posted on December 2, 2018 07:05 PM by silversea_starsong silversea_starsong | 13 comments | Leave a comment

September 7, 2018

Travel September-October

Just a heads up I suppose that I will be visiting Hawaii from the 12th September to 19th, following the Festival of Birds there. The first days will be on Big Island, and then the remaining days on O'ahu. I was also thinking of trying to get tours on Maui and Kaua'i, but most tour guides no longer do tours in recent years! Really though if anyone has any target groups to look for (I have already contacted several of you), let me know. For instance, I will be checking Euphorbia for Nathan Taylor, and psyllids for Chris.

I have a good deal of map points for my visit to Hawaii, but if there are any particular suggestions, let me know! I wouldn't mind some sort of snorkelling/scuba diving session somewhere, since I have virtually zero ocean observations. I have a camera suitable for the task so I might as well. I think I'm good on bird locations, but I don't have any good stakeouts for the butterflies (although I have a big grid of koa tree congregations that I can check for koa blue).

Not to mention, I was invited to a volunteer session in Australia starting September 25th. So that will keep me out of America until late October. I will be based in Tasmania.

Just when I thought the year was over!

Posted on September 7, 2018 04:51 PM by silversea_starsong silversea_starsong | 5 comments | Leave a comment

June 12, 2016

iOS version of Adalia

After several months of hassle with technicalities, tax forms, and other miscellaneous nonsense, my secret resource on American ladybugs/birds/beetles is finally out on the app store. This is at this time currently the only current resource detailing the nearly 500 ladybug species in North America, besides Robert Gordon's text heavy publication from the 1900s.

It is currently on the app store for iOS devices (Apple iPhone). So far it covers only adults. But if it sells at least a few copies, and is worth my time, I will make work on adding larva and pupa to this guide too.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adalia-field-guide-to-ladybugs/id1121061924?mt=8

If you find bugs, and I don't mean ladybugs, let me know so I can hide my shame!

Posted on June 12, 2016 06:28 AM by silversea_starsong silversea_starsong | 3 observations | 15 comments | Leave a comment

May 30, 2016

Moving to OC!

Journals? Oh yeah, that's a thing that exists.

Anyways, so I recently moved from Agoura Hills all the way down to Irvine in Orange County. I'll sure miss having the Santa Monicas on my doorstep but Irvine does put me much closer to other equally cool sites from the San Gabriels to the San Jacintos.

So, anyone around this area have any suggestions for cool spots to visit? There's a lot to choose from judging by the map.

Posted on May 30, 2016 04:30 PM by silversea_starsong silversea_starsong | 11 comments | Leave a comment

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