BioBlitz finds Batman on Two Owls Farm

On a sunny and warm Saturday, August 5th, Bert Harris, Ph.D., executive director of The Clifton Institute, and more than 20 participants BioBlitz'ed Two Owls Farm. From early morning to dark, they hunted for as many species as they could spot. Results are still being posted, but far exceeded our expectations. For a photo catalog of the more than 600 species found, go to: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/two-owls-farm-biodiversity-inventory-private-property.

The biggest category was, not surprisingly, Insecta. Batman is the Batman moth (Coelostathma discopunctana), whose wings look exactly like the Caped Crusader’s mantle. My favorite is the Eastern cicada killer wasp. Six of us got to watch this aptly named predator systematically eviscerate its cicada victim and muscle it into its burrow. Blow that up on the big screen, and you’ve got a heckuva horror film!!

The Rappahannock River was low, but in the afternoon, the Blitzers set out nets and canvassed the stream bed and banks, revealing some nice finds, including largemouth bass, fallfish, hornyhead chub, and the Northern lance, a freshwater mussel.

The lichenologists and fungi-hunters may not have hit the mother lode, but they did uncover 27 species of fungi, including a Gibellula, a member of the higher Ascomycetes that feeds on spiders. Check out that photo on iNaturalist!

Not all the species found are welcome: the invasive autumn olive, tree of heaven, Japanese stiltgrass and Asian clam, and many others. Knowing they're here, where they are, and how widespread, will help efforts to reduce or eradicate them.

Not all of Two Owls Farm was intently surveyed, including about 30 acres of upper fields, creek and some rock outcroppings. A year from now no grazers will be present (currently there are 25 cow-calf pairs). With taller grasses controlled only by strategically timed mowings, we may find evidence of grassland birds and more native plants rising from the seedbed.

From Merlin sound recordings we know there are plenty of avians about, but birds were not the focus. We were glad to see the bald eagle, buteos and other raptors, but sadly missing are barn owls (Tyto alba)! They had been roosting in the empty cow barn silos, hence the farm name. But there was no sign of them on August 5th, nor owl pellets on the silo floors. We plan to erect owl nesting boxes, so check back next year.

While mammals were not a focus either, we've seen fox and groundhogs. And there have been reports of a large black bear in the area.

It's tempting to riff on the beauties and grotesqueries seen in the photos. There is time for that. Maybe we'll highlight one species a month on this website. But our goal for the Blitz was simply to see what's here at this moment. With species disappearing at rates beyond alarming, dare we hope to increase their numbers over time? That's the plan.