State Sweep

Along with the Tick Surveillance Study with Old Dominion University Tick Lab, we are also working on a State Sweep of the entire eastern portion of Virginia to identify how far into the region two new species have invaded.

Today Robyn, Amy, James, and I left bright and early to hit two field sites. Sounds like a quick day right? But we spent most of it in the car traveling, from campus to the sites. I actually don't mind the car rides overall it presents an opportunity for me to see more of Virginia outside of Norfolk. It also gives me a chance to explore outside and see some amazing nature preserves which definitely brings out the wildlife biologist in me.

The first site we stopped at was Bush Mill Stream.

  A quick shot of the what the trail looked like, despite the foliage change, it definitely started to remind me of home. Especially the face attacking spider webs.

Observation deck for the bird watchers out there. It was beautiful and we even got to see some different bird species ourselves. 

 The second site of the day was Lands End.

Wildlife Informational Sign, Birding Rules, No Ice Skating...I wonder what we will find...

One of the fields we crossed through, bright blue sky, unbelievably high temperatures and high humidity levels, I'm not in Maine anymore.

Small water area at the first area we flagged, hot spot for mosquitoes and dragonflies.

Happy to be out from the direct sunlight we flagged through the low vegetation here definitely a change from the dry field.

Swampy area; we heard some sort of creature clomping its way out after it heard us, but there was a bit of a slope here which was fun to climb and flag around on. 

This site also provided ample opportunity to ID other species. This is the current mushroom under question. Anyone know what species it is?

Another perk from a long day of traveling on the roads is looking out for roadkill. We currently collect ticks off of any roadkill that seems 'fresh' enough and that isn't 'too dead.' The standard there is very subjective but today we checked a young turkey vulture and this squirrel below that Robyn is analyzing.

This picture is a summary of exactly why I love this internship. I can be in nature. The city is a bit overwhelming at times for a small town backwoods girl, but every experience here so far is helping me grow so much as an individual. The opportunity to reconnect in the field on a day like this is priceless.

-Lexi