September has come to an end and Harris Center Big Year iNatters have travelled near and far searching for signs of life! This month we made 1,911 observations of 883 species, bringing our totals to 29,175 observations of 3,411 species (summarized below). Though our number of observations is lower than previous months, nearly 200 of the 883 species we saw this month were species we had not observed previously!

Speaking of traveling in search of unique life, there are few habitats as unique from the Monadnock Region as being out on the ocean, and @tmomeyer documented this Black Guillemot and Great Cormorant from a boat during a pelagic trip out to Jeffreys Ledge.

@natemarchessault decided he was a landlubber and instead made a blitz out to the seacoast to do some iNatting, and added over 75 new species to our Big Year list. A few highlights from the outing were this woolly beachheather, a plant species of dunes along the coast, and this juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron, a species that breeds further south but occasionally takes post-breeding forays to northern New England.

Speaking of up north, @lbburford continued to be diligent about documenting the butterflies of Coos County, documenting this striking Milbert’s tortoiseshell (above) and this equally-striking green comma (below), but you may not know it by its cryptic underwings!

Closer to home, September also marked the month when the Harris Center’s Pack Monadnock Raptor Observatory began doing raptor surveys for the season. Every day from September 1 to mid-November we survey the skies, and are greeted by beautiful buteos such as this immature Red-shouldered Hawk documented by @tmomeyer. Besides raptors, we always have our eyes open for other critters, like this finned-willow prominent caterpillar documented by @groxby.

Working back towards our headquarters still, @brett-amy-thelen enjoyed some of the spectacular late-blooming wildflowers on our Hiroshi Lands such as this slender false foxglove, whose flowers persist for only about a day, which contrasted nicely with this flat-top white aster, whose blooms are extremely long-lasting.

Up on Skatutakee, @kcreynolds found this Virginia meadowbeauty, an uncommon species in this region, whose flowers have alread senesced but trumpet-shaped seed pods persist. @downtownpab was also up on Skatutakee during our SuperSanctuary BioBlitz, and documented this three-toothed cinquefoil, the only observation of this species that favors exposed balds during the BioBlitz.

Speaking of our SuperSanctuary BioBlitz, during the weekend of the BioBlitz we made 857 observations of nearly 500 species, over 150 of which were species that had not previously been documented on Harris Center Lands on iNaturalist. One of which was this Emerton’s bitercubled orbweaver documented by @slamonde during our insect walk, and these American yellow fly agaric mushrooms found by @gcaughey were a neat find during our hike along our West Side Trails.

It’s hard to believe it, but fall is officially here! Soon we will see peak foliage and the senescence of herbaceous annual plants, and the birds we enjoy seeing so much at our birdfeeders in winter will return. I look forward to seeing many observations containing the brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows that October brings (closing photo of a whimsical ragged-fringed bog orchid observation by @nmarchessault).

Posted on October 02, 2024 01:08 AM by natemarchessault