Sorry for not blogging this past week! To be honest, there hasn't been that much to blog. It has been lousy weather since Tuesday evening. We've tried to go out on the boat twice for sampling but had to turn back because of rain and wind. So that means I'm back to counting bugs all week!
The good news is that for I think the first time this summer, we are completely caught up on counting pitfalls, infalls, and sticky cards with plenty of time before the next round comes in. The bad news is that we have 164 vacuum samples to count. Vacuum samples take longer to count because they are chock full of mites, nearly microscopic arachnids that are varied in function, although many are parasitic to plants and insects. It's not uncommon to have nearly a thousand in one sample. Even though we just learned how to process vacuum samples, I think we made good progress today. 16 down, 148 to go!
A few nights a go I went for a walk around the peninsula and a fog rolled in before I was out of sight of the house. It was rather mystical!
The good news is that for I think the first time this summer, we are completely caught up on counting pitfalls, infalls, and sticky cards with plenty of time before the next round comes in. The bad news is that we have 164 vacuum samples to count. Vacuum samples take longer to count because they are chock full of mites, nearly microscopic arachnids that are varied in function, although many are parasitic to plants and insects. It's not uncommon to have nearly a thousand in one sample. Even though we just learned how to process vacuum samples, I think we made good progress today. 16 down, 148 to go!
A few nights a go I went for a walk around the peninsula and a fog rolled in before I was out of sight of the house. It was rather mystical!
So so many beautiful pictures.... gorgeous!
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