Eastern Hercules Beetle photo by Tyler Bell

Discover the biodiversity all around you

Can you believe it's already August? That means fall migration is underway and that we have kicked off of our morning flight bird counts at Turkey Point and Dans Rock. Please join us in welcoming Lucas Pittman, our lead counter at Turkey Point, and Ben McGrew, lead counter at "The Rock." Frode Jacobsen and Ian Moody will be our primary alternate counters at Turkey Point and Dans Rock, respectively. Here's to another amazing season!

You may have noticed some changes to the MBP website recently. Many of them are thanks to feedback from Sandy Brown, our community engagement lead, who is helping us share our message more clearly, especially with people new to the project. Important information should be easier to find across the website and the blog. One favorite upgrade from this week is making the species search more "forgiving". For example, you can find "Broad-headed Sharpshooter" with "Broadhead" (no hyphen) and you can find "Laura's Clubtail" with "Lauras Clubtail" (no apostrophe) (or "Laura '''s C-l-ubtail" for that matter!). We're also constantly tuning to keep the site fast, secure, and accessible despite the relentless arms race with bots. We're using all the best tools available from database query optimization to caching to Cloudflare (firewall/CDN).

I'm also loving Paleena's content on social media. If you use Instagram or Facebook, be sure to check them out. If you would rather not visit those sites, you can see the latest posts at the MBP blog.

Thank you!

-- Bill

Science

For the birds

The MBP Bird Counts launched on August 1!

Maryland Biodiversity Project leads two fall morning flight bird counts in the state. These are located at Turkey Point (Cecil County) at the top of the Chesapeake Bay and at Dans Rock (Allegany County) in western Maryland. The counts' timing and protocols align with the morning flight counts hosted by Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO) in Cape May, New Jersey. Working together we have our clearest window to date into fall migration in the Mid-Atlantic. The counts run each morning from August 1st to November 30th. We provide all data in near real time via Trektellen and daily via eBird. Counters share regular updates to the MBP blog. Season reports are published in the peer-reviewed journal Maryland Birdlife. The data collected is valuable to our understanding of eastern U.S. bird migration, especially when gathered consistently and year over year.

The controversial Spotted Lanternfly

According to the University of Maryland Extension, Spotted Lanternfly adults may be found feeding on many host plants, especially Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissma). These insects are mainly nuisance pests in residential gardens and landscapes. They have not been shown to significantly damage otherwise healthy ornamental plants. Consider sustainable management options if you want to take action. The photo on the bottom left was taken by Sandy at her house. So, it appears that eventually SLFs will be subject to native predators. If you see a cool bug or plant, don't forget to upload it to iNaturalist.

Education

MBP summer internship

MBP welcomed Sara Gorski as our summer intern. Sara is a life-long Harford County resident who developed an early interest in the environment. She holds a bachelor's degree in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from University of Colorado Boulder, where she had many opportunities to hike and explore the Rockies. Her passion for conservation was fueled by her work with the American Conservation Experience (ACE) throughout the Southeast US and in an AmeriCorps rotation in Pinnacles National Park in California.

Sara is currently enrolled in a Joint Masters program through the Erasmus Mundus ISLANDS program. She’ll spend this fall at the University of Groningen (Netherlands) to continue working towards degrees in spatial science and environmental sustainability.

After learning of the Maryland Biodiversity Project through Facebook, Sara was excited to assist with the identification of the many species in Harford County and help build her “home” catalogue. This opportunity is also providing a great foundation for her thesis work this spring.

Her work is documented on iNaturalist and in the MBP database. We love supporting young naturalists, and that aligns with one of our core pillars, Education. We can't wait to see what she does next!

Above left: Susquehanna River. Above right: Photo of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail taken by Sara Gorski in Susquehanna State Park.

Conservation

Life List Podcast on Pollinators

Our friends at Life List: A Birding Podcast hosted Doug Tallamy on a recent episode to discuss the critical importance of biodiversity and how we can all make a difference by starting locally. You can check it out here.

August Backyard Habitat Tips

August is frequently a dry month. Check the U.S. drought monitor map to see current conditions. Prioritize watering newly planted trees and shrubs, to help them establish a healthy root system

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), smooth oxeye sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides), mountain mints (Pycnanthemum spp.), and New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) are some native plants that bloom in August. You can find these perennial plants at native plant nurseries.

Late August through September is a good time to transplant, divide, and plant perennials. Be sure to keep them well-watered during dry periods.

Save seeds from flowers that have finished blooming.

Avoid mowing your lawn during extremely dry and hot weather. Mowing wounds grass blades creating more surface area for plant moisture to escape.

Brown patch is a common fungal disease of tall fescue lawns that creates thin, brown areas. Grasses will green up and recover in the fall. No chemical controls are recommended. This disease is typically worse on over-fertilized and irrigated lawns.

Thanks to the University of Maryland Extension for providing these monthly gardening tips.

Community Engagement at work

MBP is on the move and out in the community. We will be tabling at the Maryland Native Plant Society (MNPS) conference in College Park on Saturday, September 12th. Jim will be leading some field trips there as well.

https://mdflora.org/fall-conference

On September 26th we will be at the Maryland Ornithological Society (MOS) convention in Salisbury, with Jim giving a MBP update Saturday evening and leading more field trips.

https://mosconvention.org/

Want to share an event with us? Contact us!

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Maryland Biodiversity Project | PO Box 1316 | Easton, MD 21601

What is Maryland Biodiversity Project?

Maryland Biodiversity Project (MBP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to cataloging the living things of Maryland. Together, our community maintains a living atlas of the state’s flora and fauna and makes this carefully curated biodiversity archive available for science, conservation, and education.

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