If you haven’t already, be sure to read about the history of Mt. Pleasant Farm, my study site.
I’ve chosen to set up some traps in advance of my BioBlitz day. The photograph above shows a small tub filled with soapy water, perched precariously atop a rickety ladder in my forest habitat. I checked it this morning and already there were flies and wasps in it. I’ll dry out and photograph the unlucky insects and attempt to identify as narrowly as I can. Some I’ll preserve in ethanol.
More photos of my site, and the first few critters after the jump.
These images of my forest and riparian habitat sites don’t come close to capturing the peace and tranquility of the farm. They are shady so I should still be quite comfortable even if it is cloudless and hot. I know there are lots of birds, but I doubt I’ll see very many leps (butterflies and moths and their caterpillars). It is just too early for that. There are a number of tree holes and fallen logs to investigate, and a carpet of spring beauties.
Above are some early returns on the pitfall traps, which I checked this morning. We set up eight — four in each habitat as a square with 15 m on each side. It looks as though three of the 8 plastic cups were dug up by something, or else they spontaneously leaped from their holes. I put them back. I had been concerned that some were not deep enough, but as you can see, those that were not disturbed have already been successful. I probably should have removed these critters but I was on my way to work in College Park and didn’t think my computer science colleagues would appreciate organisms in their fridge/freezer. Let’s hope they are still there tomorrow.
A final sight to leave you with. I put the riparian wash tub (for catching flying insects) on top of a wooden blind made for an eagle scout project. Unfortunately I had already put my ladder into service so I had to create a makeshift stepladder from some books in the back of my vehicle. click on the photo to see the appropriate title of this encyclopedia series.
I believe you are not following standard OSHA protocols for step ladders!!
Comment by ned tillman — April 25, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
Hello,
Thank you for posting the information and especially the information about the applied methodology. Bioblitzing is a great concept for kids to do also and we are applying some of the methods on our school property as well as at our grade 6 outdoor education program. I was wondering if, for furry creatures, you have ever used “track traps” - treated lumber squares filled with a sand/soil mix to place bait over night and then return the next day to find who took the bait……with the right mixture we can do a good job of plaster casting the footprints. It was a great technique we used in Savage Park, Maryland. Also congrats on involving the eagle scouts. They have been a life saver on some programming where you need a dedicated crew to impact many more on another level. Again, thanks for the insight information and wonderful posting. Bob
Comment by Bob Keddell — April 26, 2007 @ 8:04 am
Thanks for your enthusiasm, Bob. Sounds like we’re on the same wavelength.
However, I can’t say I really involved the eagle scouts. I just took advantage of a structure they built for another purpose. Shhh, don’t tell OSHA.
I have not set up track traps before, though I’ve thought about it. Would love to see a picture of them. I will be posting more practical info about my pit traps so that others can learn from my experiences.
Comment by cyndy — April 27, 2007 @ 11:17 am
Traps! Why didn’t I think of that? I’ve used traps before for starting a fruit fly breeder, and for killing wasps. And there have been wasps around here.
Something to remember for next time.
Love your encyclopedia ladder!
Comment by Susannah — April 28, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
Well, it was easy to set up the traps. Not so easy to process everything I caught. I needed about five uninterrupted hours and a good dissection scope, neither of which were available to me this week. But I found that a muffin tin (you know, with bins for 12 muffins) helps for sorting.
Comment by cyndy — April 28, 2007 @ 8:51 pm