Diario del proyecto Maricopa County Parks Eco-Blitz

06 de abril de 2023

April Eco Blitz Challenge Tiger Whiptail

Hello ecoblitz members! Happy Spring. It has been an extremely busy few months for the natural resources! so sorry it has taken me 3 months to create a monthly journal. But what a wildflower display we are having..at with that also comes many invasive specie, so we have been working hard to get the Desert Defender Program up and running. But i will provide all the new information for you all today!

April ecoblitz Flyer-Tiger Whiptail https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/April_-_Whiptail.pdf

March was Coulters Lupine https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/March_-_Coulters_Lupine.pdf
March: Coulters Lupine we had 36 total visitors post lupine pics. Eric Hough has the most with 72 lupines and Rachel Stringham coming in second with 27 lupine pics! Way To Go!!!

February: Gilded Flicker https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/February_-_Gilded_Flicker.pdf
February: Gilded Flicker we had one observation in February by Rachel Stringham. However we did have 2 observations of the Gila woodpecker.

January: CurveBilled Thrasher https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/January_-_Curve-billed_Thrasher.pdf

January: There were no curve billed thrashers documented during this month? I guess it was just to cold for folk to enjoy outdoor birding? We did get about nine members posting thrasher pics in February though!

The weather is perfect this time of year, lets get out there and enjoy it....happy blitzing! I hope you find many tiger whiptail on the trails!

Juanita
Natural Resource Specialist!

Publicado el 06 de abril de 2023 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

30 de diciembre de 2022

November, December and January

Hello ecoblitzers! Its been 2 months since my last post and i wanted to give a big shout out to you all for all your efforts in helping with our citizen science project. Although you may just be out there having fun and enjoying our parks natural beauty and observing the flora and fauna by adding that data to iNaturalist you are contributing greatly. This information goes into Maricopa County Parks eco-database and provides real time species information. So we know what species are common in pur parks and which species are either elusive or less common.

We have reached 100 followers! WOOT!

Novembers challenge was Mule deer and five of you documented them at three parks.
https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/November_-_Desert_Mule_Deer.pdf

December challenge was Cactus Wren and 4 of you documented them at 3 parks.
https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/December_-_Cactus_Wren.pdf

New January Challenge is locating and documenting the Curve-billed Thrasher. As we start a new year with new beginnings let's plan to get out to Maricopa County Parks more often.. hiking is a great way to exercise without even knowing it :-) And the weather is just perfect to be out and about in nature
https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/January_-_Curve-billed_Thrasher.pdf

Happy New Year!!

Natural Resource Specialist
Juanita

If you want to receive these posts by email please follow me on inat @juanitajn5

Publicado el 30 de diciembre de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

07 de octubre de 2022

October Challenge California Patch Butterfly

Hey Ecoblitz enthusiasts!
Last month we were on the search for Turkey Vultures (TV's). Great job by @ericgofreed and @stateam003 for finding and posting the TV pics. Looks like you both spotted these amazing birds at Lake Pleasant!

Oue new challenge is locating and documenting the California Patch butterflies. As we wind down our butterfly season this is a specatucular butterfly and very colorful...so keep an eye out
https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/October_-_california_patch.pdf

Let's see what you can find in the parks!
Happy fall Ya'll
Keep up the good work
Natural Resource Specialist
Juanita

If you want to receive these posts by email please follow me on inat @juanitajn5

Publicado el 07 de octubre de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

01 de septiembre de 2022

September!! Turkey Vulture Challenge

Hello Fall!... well maybe not yet... here in Phoenix! But soon.

August Monthly Challenge Results- We had six docemented Striped-tailed Scorpions in three locations in August, but total of 12 documented for the year! Since they are elusive and come out at night, it is hard to get a pic in the parks! Great work team!

September Challenge is the Turkey Vulture! The flyer is located here
https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/September_-_Turkey_Vulture.pdf

They have a black body and distinctive red head, but when in flight you would need your binoculars to view the red head.

Come join us for the Bats and Buzzards fest in Wickenburg sign up here: https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/events/bats-and-buzzards-on-the-bridge-wickenburg/0916221/
You wil learn all about these Turkey Buzzards and some great info about bats too!

The weather is cooling down, at least in the mornings and evenings..so it is a great time to get out to the parks and do some Ecoblitzing!

Get out there and have some fun while exploring.
Sincerely
Juanita
Natural Resource Specialist

Publicado el 01 de septiembre de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

18 de agosto de 2022

July Results and August Challenge

Hi Eco blitzers! How any of you made it out into the filed to look for our elusive banded gecko last month?

It has been a busy summer, sorry for the late notice we have a total of 6 banded geckos observed this year but only one from the past month. They are elusive and usually out at night. Good work Nick (cowturtle)

I apologize for the late notice for August Monthly Challenge Striped-tailed Scorpion. But you still have plenty of time this month to observe these species. For more information the Stiped tailed scorpion flyer is here: POWO</a
https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/assets/1/6/August-Scorpion.pdf

We already have four observations this month of the Striped-tailed scorpion. Join a ranger at one of the parks for an interpretive program y visiting our webpage here
https://www.maricopacountyparks.net/events/

There is a night time creatures program tonight at White Tank Regional park too.

Happy Blitzing!
Juanita
Natural Resource Specialist-Maricopa County Parks

Publicado el 18 de agosto de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

05 de julio de 2022

July Challenge-Western Banded Gecko

Join us in seeking out these amazing nocturnal geckos, they feed on insects including baby scorpions! So great to have around the house.

Click Here for the Flyer POWO</a

I did not get a chance to post the June Challenge as i was on vacation for the first period of the month.. my apologies. Hopefully you all were able to view the flyer on our social media pages if not it was the round-tailed ground squirrel and here is the flyer from last month Click Here for the Flyer POWO</a

Publicado el 05 de julio de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

07 de mayo de 2022

May Challenge: Common Chuckwalla

Been a busy time..sorry this is late.
May Challenge Common Chuckwalla

Click Here for the Flyer POWO</a

Publicado el 07 de mayo de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

05 de abril de 2022

April 2022 Challenge Palo Verde Trees

Sorry for the late notice. It has been a very very busy spring.
This months challenge is Palo Verdes Trees... Do you know how to tell the difference between the foothills and blue Palo Verde? Well your in luck, we are going to provide you with the skinny :-)

Palo Verde-
• Perennial tree grows up to 25-30 ft tall.
• Keystone species-meaning many wildlife species rely on them for shelter, food and shade. Primary nurse tree for Saguaro and other cacti.
• Photosynthesize through the bark. This is a drought adaptation as the leaves drop during long dry periods.
• Arizona State Tree

Characteristic differences:
Foothills Palo Verde
(Parkinsonia microphylla) :

  1. Teeny tiny leaves
  2. Seed Pods are constricted between the seeds
  3. The Flower has a white banner

Blue Palo Verde
(Parkinsonia florida)

  1. Leaves are in clusters
  2. Seed pods are not constricted
  3. Flower banner petal is yellow (can have small red/orange spots)
  4. Bark is smoother

Click Here for the Flyer POWO</a

They are in glorious bloom this month!
How many can you spot?
Enjoy April at the parks
Natural Resource Specialist-Juanita

Publicado el 05 de abril de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

01 de marzo de 2022

March Challenge

Can you believe it's already March? Happy Fat Tuesday!

Results from February Challenge we had 6 observations by four team members! Thanks, Team.

March Challenge is the Sara Orange-tip Butterfly

Butterflies....butterflies, butterflies...who doesn't love butterflies?
Let's meet the Sara Orange-tip Butterfly (Anthocharis sara)

  1. They are the first to appear in Arizona during later winter/early Spring
  2. They feed on Crucifers, rock cress, and mustards.
  3. You can find groups of males performing a behavior known as "hill-topping". This means that they are patiently waiting for females at the top of the hill, which provides the best view to find a mate.

Click Here for the Flyer POWO</a

I spotted 2 Desert Pima Orange-tip butterflies a few days ago on fiddlenecks. They are similar to the Sara orange tip with orange tips but are yellow. It was very exciting :-)

Let us get out there and find these beauties.

Thanks for your helping create real-time data sets with the biodiversity of the parks!

Sincerely
Natural Resource Specialist
Juanita

Publicado el 01 de marzo de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

08 de febrero de 2022

February Challenge!

Results for January Challenge: 4 observations at three Parks (Dec-Jan)

February Challenge ! Lets see if we cant document some Black Throated Sparrows this month!

Did you know that Arizona’s diversity of birds remains high during the
winter months? This month, we’ll learn all about the Black-throated
Sparrow. While this breed tends to stay in Arizona year-round, they
can migrate short distances. Here are three more things you may not
know about the Black-throated Sparrow:

  1. They are primary ground foragers and tend to forage near or
    under shrubs and cacti

  2. They mainly eat insects during the breeding season, which is
    roughly early March to early October.

  3. The females will make cup-shaped nests approximately one foot
    above the ground on the north or east side of cacti and shrubs

Click here for Flyer POWO</a

Perfect Weather..... go out and enjoy!
Juanita
(Natural Resource Specialist)

Publicado el 08 de febrero de 2022 por juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario