With permit B23 - 005.
NO COLLECTING.
I set up two sheets at Pinecrest Campground (no campers) in Big Cypress National Preserve for blacklighting. I originally tried Mitchell Landing Campground nearby but all of the spots with electrical sockets were taken by campers so I went to Plan B and only used my DJ blacklights connected to USB powerpacks. This observation is from the 1st sheet described below
1: Pinecrest campground, very close to the gate and in the tunnel of trees before the open area. 2 DJ blacklights running from ~11:00PM until ~12:30AM and then the batteries died. I put on a new battery later than I should have (around 2:15AM) but I was busy photographing insects at the other sheet.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2023-03-25&d2=2023-03-26&nelat=25.761806503458363&nelng=-80.91879250206762&order=asc&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&project_id=blacklighting-florida&swlat=25.76067598755696&swlng=-80.92007996239477&user_id=joemdo
2: Pinecrest campground, sheet tied to large sign and tree facing open area with just one DJ blacklight connected to USB powerpack.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2023-03-25&d2=2023-03-26&nelat=25.762470660741428&nelng=-80.91913662455477&order=asc&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&project_id=blacklighting-florida&swlat=25.762144553314332&swlng=-80.91953359148897&user_id=joemdo
In addition to the blacklighting, I also set up a sheet (no lights) under an oak with some low hanging branches that I was able to whack with a fallen branch I found. I didn't put a ton of effort into this but still saw some cool barklice and other critters.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2023-03-26&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&field:Entomology%20Sampling%20Method=beating
All of my observations from tonight including a little bit of walking around with a flashlight looking for spiders/insects:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2023-03-25&d2=2023-03-26&nelat=25.91366727752328&nelng=-80.78348221694716&order=asc&order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&subview=map&swlat=25.57411578765215&swlng=-81.10345902358779&user_id=joemdo
Here's a video showing the DJ blacklights in action at the Pinecrest campground (Big Cypress) from Summer 2019: https://youtu.be/tavmTa7WoPk
Info about the cheapy DJ blacklights I used, great for getting started with blacklighting: https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/damontighe/11836-diy-moth-light
Blacklighting project for Florida on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/blacklighting-florida
Gus Engeling WMA -- one of the greatest places to engage with nature! Went here after a presentation and field trip with the East Texas Master naturalists. They recently did a burn here, and wow -- the area looks GREAT. Had loads of fun this weekend!
Did some black-lighting this evening -- it was a bit chilly, but quite a few things showed up!
(also, please forgive the blurriness of many of these photos -- still playing with my new camera...)