Look Closer

Bolbocerosoma beetle

Nature is incredibly complex. Did you know that 'A single teaspoon (1 gram) of rich garden soil can hold up to one billion bacteria, several yards of fungal filaments, several thousand protozoa, and scores of nematodes.'? Source. Even not accounting for dirt, we share this planet with millions and millions of different species – from plants, to insects, to animals, reptiles, birds, fish, fungi, and more. We know that we haven’t identified all of it because we discover more each year. We don’t really have to go far to discover new things – our own yard is home to so much if we look closely.

I’ve lived in the same place for 15 years now and you can be sure that I have looked all over it, especially in the first few years. I still find new plants. I found a fern I’d never noticed after 13 years and have since found 3 instances of it around the property.

I found golden tortoise beetles on leaves after 11 years, emerald green tiger beetles on the sidewalk after 13 years, and dung scarab beetles (Bolbocerosoma) drowning in the swimming pool after 14 years. 

Every year I have found new birds - even if only because they ran into my windows (I’ve let my big windows get really dirty and collisions are down every year!). This is a black and white warbler that hit the window in 2017; it recovered and flew away.

I identify new butterflies almost every year and I’ll probably never stop finding new moths and caterpillars because there are vastly more of them. Frankly, it’s a matter of the more I look, the more I find.

Intensely watching a defined area was the subject of a year-long project by a Nebraska employee of The Nature Conservancy. I’ve always enjoyed Chris Helzer’s blog about his work (and life) on Nebraska prairies. He announced in January 2018 that he’d be observing one square meter of prairie for a year. This quote from Chris captures how I feel about my place: “I honestly don’t think I ever visited my plot without seeing something I hadn’t seen there before.”

Perhaps he was inspired by David Haskell’s book The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature. That book documents a similar effort except it was in a forest. [That’s a great book, you should read it, by the way.] Chris's final species total (and it doesn't include insects that flew away before he could take their picture): “As of December 27, 2018, I have photographed 113 different species of plants and animals within my little square meter plot.  That includes 15 plant species, 21 different flies, 18 beetles, and 14 bees.” You can see some of his pictures in his blog.

So as the new year rolls on, pledge to pay more attention to what's going on at your place. You'll probably get a few surprises.