Here are some of the patterns in my biodiversity run from this afternoon. I count and map all birds, all butterflies, all wild mammals, all larger mushrooms, the flowering and fruiting states of various plants, and a monthly selection of early incursion weeds (and a few other things). Here are some of today's birds. As usual, the flat suburbs of Ōtautahi-Christchurch are a native bird desert (Why? No native forest+lots of cats).
#WildCounts #EcologicalMonitoring #Biodiversity # AotearoaNZ
@joncounts wat is on your head???😅
@menachemfriedman 😄 It's called a sea tulip. It was washed up on a beach, so it just had to be used as a wig.
Sea tulips are a kind of tunicate, which are invertebrates in the same Phylum (the taxonomic step below Kingdom) as fish and birds and you and me. Distant cousins, if you will.
@menachemfriedman Thank you! 😄