Urban Nature Pictures 12/31

Mallards on the Charles.


Gulls in front of the Back Bay.

3:00 snapshot #665

A contractor was sizing up our kitchen when the alarm went off, and I didn't want to make him thin I was insane by suddenly whipping out the camera and making a snapshot, so I tried to do it on the sly. I think this picture at least makes the case that the floor needs to be redone.

50 More Urban Species, completed.

I am very happy to report the successful completion of my "50 Urban Species" project. There was a time about 2/3 of the way through it where I was sure I would not get there. Next year's project is "100 species found in my new yard." I will be starting at least one week behind, due to delays in closing, but I am looking forward to it nonetheless.

But this year was pretty interesting. The species break down thus: 20 out of 50 were insects, reflecting that group's ubiquity and my own interest in them. (6 flies, 3 beetles, 3 true bugs, 2 butterflies, 2 dragonflies, 2 roaches, plus one ant and the antlion.) 10 were fungi, including one lichen. Again, the strong presence of fungi on the list says as much about where my attention is as it does about the group's importance in the urban ecosystem. The next best represented group are the plants, most notable for staying pretty still for pictures, with 9 species on the list. Spiders, another favorite, are next with six. Last come the vertebrates, with 5 species somehow missed from the 365 project. Granted, 2 of these were birds I photographed overseas, but two were mammals and one was a lone amphibian. I will continue to use the "More Urban Species" tag to chronicle any new additions to my list.

The 50 added in 2010:

01: German cockroach
02: Winter crane fly
03: Running crab spider
04: Triangulate cobweb spider"
05: Exidia recisa
06: Lemon Drops
07: Crocus
08: Black vine weevil
09: European fire ant
10: Broadleaf plantain
11: Zenaida dove
12: Lovebug
13: Red Admiral
14: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
15: Antlion
16: Mullein
17: Candystripe leafhopper
18: Fruit fly
19: Dark-eyed fruit fly
20: Widow Skimmer Dragonfly
21: Tiger bee fly
22: American carrion beetle
23: Virginia opossum
24: Northern Flatid Planthopper
25: Blue (swamp) Vervain
26: Perennial (everlasting) pea
27: Hairy rove beetle
28: Sunburst lichen
29: Common moorhen
30: Fennel
31: Giant puffball
32: Common whitetail
33: Jack-o-lantern mushroom
34: American house spider
35: Mexican fleabane
36: Oak-feeding tree hopper
37: Carbon balls
38: Six-spotted orb-weaver
39: Red-backed salamander
40: Mock oyster
41: Reishi
42: Daedaleopsis confragosa
43: Phidippus audax
44: Eastern red bat
45: Urban bluebottle blowfly
46: Cleavers
47: House Crab Spider
48: Conifer witch's butter
49: Yellow-groove bamboo
50: Australian cockroach