checklist surveys

Clay Taylor CTaylor at worldnet.att.net
Thu Jul 18 14:51:14 EDT 2002


Laura -

    Any one location that can produce 40+ species qualifies as a "hotspot"
in my book, although that list can be misleading, depending on how many
visits it takes to accumulate those kind of numbers.  Ideally, it should
take monthly visits from April through September to cover all the "breeding"
species, and the August through October time period will contribute vagrants
and irruptive species.   I will bet that West Rock, in addition to covering
a pretty large area, has a lot of vagrant species to pad that 80+ list.

    If we want to truly call a place "hot", I think it should be able to
produce 25 to 30 species in a single visit -Haley Farm, Bent of the River,
Flaherty, West Rock, Andy Brand's yard, and Haddam Meadows all can do this
in the right time of the year, while fall spots like Barn Island, Haley
Farm, Bluff Point, Harkness, Griswold Point, Hammo, Lighthouse Point, Sandy
Point in West Haven, and Sherwood Island can be hopping on certain fall
days - hot spots for sure.   Places like Babcock, Pleasant Valley, Bluff
Point, Cromwell Meadows, Northwest Park, Durham Meadows, Bauer Park, and
others may well be able to make the "25 in 1 visit" standard.

    It would be kind of neat to compile a list of locations in the state
that qualify.   Tell you what, if people have a 1-visit checklist of 25+
butterfly species for a location (let's say within the past 5 years), please
e-mail it to me, and I'll compile the list for an article in the CBA
Newsletter.

Clay

    If the
----- Original Message -----
From: "Laura Rogers-Castro" <laura.rogers-castro at po.state.ct.us>
To: <Ctleps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2002 11:29 AM
Subject: checklist surveys


> I have butterfly checklist survey data for 4 wildlife managment areas.
All need to be surveyed a lot more (I know I am missing some common
species), but coincidentally, the numbers are similiar and represent about
1/3 of Ct's total butterfly species.  (41, 39, 39, and 38 species).  All of
the areas are a little different in their habitat and species diversity.
Does anyone have an opinion on what they would consider a butterfly
"hotspot"?  I noticed West Rock has at least 80 species seen (Larry Gall in
Butterflies through Binoculars).  I would certainly call that a butterfly
hotspot!  But what would be considered commendable?  Thanks.
>


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