Projektin Llano Estacado Spring Bioblitz, April 24-27, 2020 Päiväkirja

... to everybody who participated, even if you did not know it, and of the 109 observers likely half had no idea a bioblitz was going on. Congratulations to everybody for your work and interest in the biology of our region. Our area gets short shrift and little respect from those in East Texas or on the Coast, or even in the Trans-Pecos, and that is unfair; we have a lot to see and appreciate here. Not all cotton and mesquites. NOT that there is anything wrong with cotton or mesquites.

This project will continue to collect observations made within its area and time frame, so check back from time to time. And the process of identifying the observations made continues. Less than 60% of the observations here have a confirmed identification, and I know that of my observations, many IDs are shaky or just plain wrong and I need to go back over them. There will be changes.

The bioblitz has been a success and I hope we can all work together on another and find even more species!

Even though midnight on April 27 is the cut-off for MAKING observations, you can still post your observations after that date, so treat yourself to a good night's rest and congratulate yourself on participating! For those who are Texas Master Naturalists, don't forget to log your volunteer hours, both in making observations and for identification and uploading!

If you want to see it show up on your observation page's project list. You are still in the project without joining, but having it show up on your observations may motivate you and others.

If you look at the map on the project front page you will notice that the east boundary of this project does not stop at the Caprock Escarpment but includes part of the Rolling Plains and part of the Edwards Plateau as the eastern boundary of the Texas Panhandle is continued south to a point southeast of San Angelo before the boundary heads west to join the Pecos River as the southern boundary. The reason for this is frankly laziness on my part because this map was already drawn and designated as a "place" on iNaturalist and ready for import into this project.

Some of the most interesting places in our region, biologically speaking, are what Professor Tom Flores called "Caprock Canyonlands" in his book by the same title, and when one speaks of "the Llano Estacado" there is always a little uncertainty whether the canyons that cut through the Llano are to be included. This project includes not only the Canadian Breaks up to the Canadian River but all of the transverse canyons etched into the Caprock and the region to which their mouths open, along with some very interesting places such as Caprock Canyons State Park (still temporarily closed, alas), the Matador Wildlife Management Area (open, at least for day use), White River Lake, Twistflower Ranch (see https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/twistflower-ranch-environs-crockett-county-texas), and Monahans State Park, a huge and diverse region indeed.

But please keep in mind: this area is not synonymous with the Llano Estacado and you may need to know that when, example, you put plant observations into the project "Plants on the Llano Estacado," which is based on a different map that much more closely (but still imperfectly in my opinion) follows the true boundaries of the Llano Estacado.

But here is one anyway. Join in the competition and fun. As I think of names I will add them here.

@jennpaxt @jordandcochran @jotol @nathantaylor @starrgirl @jjmiller @skylerdparks @rowdius @gaganeill @brooksy @lupe @shaunmichael @ibaline @mitbse @vickiwilmarth @dwhitec