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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mars4096" data-source="post: 1834265" data-attributes="member: 24267">Note that I said life list.  I have been working on the birds for eight years, butterflies and dragonflies for four years and most of the rest for less.  The circle for our naturalist club is very large -- a 80 km radius circle translates into 20000 square kilometers.  The reason for the large size is because the area is sparsely populated (60000-70000 people) so the club draws people from the edges of the circle.  The circle is too big and I will seldom twitch to the edges.  I prefer a 40 km radius circle which translates to an area about 5000 square kilometers.I find it curious that you get only five species of tiger beetles in the UK.  In my area I could get up to 9 species, perhaps more.  Yet the climate in the UK is more mild.  You got over 90 species of birds in January.  In North Bay, you have to struggle to get more than 25 species.  That is because our area is covered with snow for an average of two to three months a year, with maximum snow depths ranging from 50 cm to up to 120 cm.I worked hard on the dragonfly list.  I could easily spend twenty minutes simply trying to catch a single dragonfly.  Sometimes I am rewarded with an uncommon striped emerald species.  This June I have a week off and intend to use it to look for uncommon dragonflies.  Most of the time I will be wading in creeks looking for clubtails.  I hope the blackflies, mosquitos and deerflies won't be too bad.  Damselflies are easier to catch but you need your hand lens a lot to separate some species.  The Northern and Vernal bluets can not be separated without a microscope so I don't bother. One reward to being into dragonflies is because of where I live (its poorly covered) I am in the position of being able to refine the range maps for some species of dragonflies.  For example, I found a population of Midland Clubtails on Lake Nipissing, the most northerly site in eastern Ontario.I am getting interested in the marine stuff.  An excellent field guide for fish has just come out for Ontario and there is a also good guide to the common invertebrates available.  Need to buy these field guides, get an aquatic net, an examination bucket and a fishing license to cover my butt before I can get started.Lichens are not too tough, as long as you avoid the crustose lichens that require a microscope.  I have a nice regional guide that has been helpful.</blockquote>

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