today's the Global Big Day, when all birders are encouraged to report as many sightings as possible into ebird to collect widespread data. I went with my queer birder club to long point, a good location for catching migrants, and we saw 42 different species of birds!
we also ran into a university group doing a regular snake survey in the park and got to say hi to a beautiful melanistic garter snake
also I got to experience ticks on me for the first time in my adult life. thankfully you have about a day between them crawling into you and them chomping down, so I could just brush them off, but I need to get more serious about tick safety as their range is expanding north
pants tucked into socks, light-coloured pants, deet-containing bug spray on your legs, and a tick check when you get home
@soph_sol yeah i was always told to check hairline/behind your ears in any tick check, they can be shockingly quick at times!
@soph_sol @Satsuma So... they also drop down from trees. That could be how the neck one got there. But I recommend socks with permethrin in them. (I have a few pairs from LLBean.) I go DEEP into tick land sometimes, and they work. Deep Woods Off does not. I used to come home with like 4x however many everyone else had, and now I just smile and suggest better socks.
@shadyspotlight
@Satsuma oh fascinating, thank you! I clearly have a lot to learn
@shadyspotlight @Satsuma I'm not used to having to worry about them because Ontario hasn't always been a part of their range, but they've been moving north and now like everyone I know is talking about how the ticks are bad this year. And none of us have the knowledge and techniques down for them yet!
@soph_sol @shadyspotlight @Satsuma i thankfully have minimal hands on experience with ticks, but I've always lived in prime Lyme disease country and was always told to check anywhere your skin folds, so like top of the thigh, armpit, underboob. But I think that's more because it's hard to notice a bug there unless you really look, most of the time when we've found ticks they've been somewhere open like back or side 🤷
@serenadestrong @soph_sol @Satsuma They do like to get into tight little places. Waistbands and sock tops are a favorite. But also I wear leggings when I hike, so everywhere is a tight little place, and I've pulled them off my kneecap before. I think they just crawl until they find a good patch of skin to stick their prongy head into. So now I make them crawl across poison first.
@shadyspotlight @serenadestrong @soph_sol @Satsuma locked friend found one somewhere intimate, so that's... A terrifying possibility
@Satsuma yeah I caught FOUR of them! one had somehow made it up to my neck at lightning speed this morning, the other three were just on my pants at the calf