Maricopa County Parks Eco-Blitz's Journal

Journal archives for March 2021

01 March, 2021

March Challenge Costa's Hummingbird and Wolfberry (Lycium exsertum)

Hello Ecoblitzers!
I wanted to keep you all up to date on this months challenge. Of course we want you to continue to document all species but we also want to make it fun!! Below is some identification information about the highlighted species:
Costa’s hummingbird can be found feeding on nectar of wolfberry and other desert upland species. A small and compact hummingbird with hunched posture and a short tail, wings barely extends past tail. Adult males have an iridescent purple throat patch flares along the sides of the neck. Females are greenish above, whitish below and white eyebrow strip, a grayish and eyebrow stripe, and a grayish cheek patch. (smaller than the Anna’a Hummingbird)
Wolfberry- The region has several wolfberry species, blooming in in February the Arizona Desert- Thorn (Lycium exsertum) is blooming generally upright, openly branched 3-13 ft tall, dark gray to brown twigs densely pubescent (hairy), alternate leaves on petioles 3-5 mm long, solitary-2-3 clustered bell shaped flowers. The flowers are white or purple and the berries are a distinctive red or orange.

You can find the flyer with the challenge info on social media pages copy and paste link below in your web browser. webpagehttps://www.facebook.com/maricopacountyparks/photos/a.595847437229714/1882354721912306/?type=3

Posted on 01 March, 2021 17:25 by juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

29 March, 2021

February and March Challenge Updates

Hello Eco-Biltzers! I wanted to give a brief summary of the February and March Challenges.

February-We had 6 observations of Phainopela by 5 participants.
And 19 observations of Mistletoe by 9 participants.

March (so far there is still 2 days to go!) 4 observations of Costa's hummingbird and 22 observations of four species of wolfberry (Lysium spp.).

Kudos to all of you Eco-Blitzers that were able to locate and photograph the monthly challenge species. I observed the Costas hummingbird on wolfberry at Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area....but was not swift enough to capture it! Some species take more skill and patience then others :-)

We also have an unexpected participant that is monitoring bats at the parks (permitted) and Matt is sharing the sonograms (echolocation calls) of the bats on here! So we are also excited about that!

I hope many of you are learning about new species and techniques for capturing photos while participating in the Eco-Blitz program!

Keep up the good work!

Maricopa County Parks Natural Resources.

Posted on 29 March, 2021 15:38 by juanitajn5 juanitajn5 | 0 comments | Leave a comment