This week I participated in my wildlife exploration around my house in Essex, Vermont, about 20 minutes outside of Burlington.
While here, we’ve had evidence of a couple of different animals. This weekend alone I noticed a bunny and some Red-winged Blackbirds.
In the past we’ve had an opossum die under our front steps, and what we believe to be red fox scat.
We also often get Black-capped Chickadee’s on our deck.
I didn’t use iNaturalist for this weekend, but I have used it at my phenology spot in the past and have found it to be somewhat clunky but overall a useful tool. I think it’s interesting to look at what NR 2 students have found and recorded and it reminds me that there are some species of plants and animals that I find really common and tend to overlook.
Worldwide, I thought Ithuriel’s Spear was cool, and I wish it grew closer to Vermont! Someone in Luxemburg found a Field Maple, which I had no idea even existed. Someone in Portland, Oregon got an up-close picture of an American Shrewmole, which was also really cool. And someone in Cape Town found this plant, but wasn’t able to identify it. I think overall, looking through the observations made me realize how many different species are out there and how many I’ve never seen or even heard of.
