Good morning AppState Team!

Great job on finding that biodiversity on campus! We are at 811 taxa (715 species) this morning compared to a final total of 825 taxa (709 species) last fall when we did this for the first time. We've already beaten our own record for number of species observed and identified! (The taxa count on the project pages also includes IDs at genus and higher levels. These numbers are subject to change as observations accumulate IDs.)

Overall, UNCW is still leading the pack with over 4,500 observations this morning. We made it over 2,500, and UNCG cracked the 1,000 threshold. We recruited some more observers with currently 113 actively involved, but we could still use some more. UNCW has 180 people making observations so far.

Amongst the AppState group, we have five observers now who have collected over 100 observations each. It looks like maxbird1 and leighalobelia are battling it out for the top observer spot with over 300 observations each, followed by amills9418, andersonnathanielbirmingham, and kirnsc.

I'm looking forward to a great Open Gate event at the ASU Dark Sky Observatory tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon from 1-4 PM. Come on out to explore the woods around the Observatory! The weather forecast looks great and we do have permission to sample bugs and leaves. If you need to do a collection for entomology or dendrology, bring your nets and plant presses! We will start with a guided walk and sampling demo at 1 PM.

Directions for the DSO event:
The Parkway is currently closed, but the Phillips Gap Rd stretch is open. Be aware that GPS does not know this and will send you on a long detour. Here's the most direct route from Boone (~25 minutes):

• Take US 421 S (towards Wilkesboro)
• Merge onto US 221 towards West Jefferson (ramp on the right)
• After 2.5 miles, turn right onto Idlewild Rd
• After 3.4 miles, turn right onto Phillips Gap Rd (intersection after speed limit drops to 45)
• After 2 miles, turn left onto the Blue Ridge Parkway (barricade to the right)
• Turn right at the next barricade to stay on Phillips Gap Rd
• Turn left onto Observatory Rd and go all the way to the end of the road to park at the observatory building

We have three more days to go including the weekend. So grab your phones and cameras and see how much more biodiversity you can find!

Posted on September 29, 2023 12:50 PM by annkatrinrose