Hit 2,000 pollinator observations this week and it messed with my head

Ive been tracking bees and butterflies on the same 3 acre plot near my place in Eugene for about 18 months now. Thought I was maybe around 1,400 or so, but my spreadsheet said 2,004 as of Tuesday. That number surprised me because I just do this on lunch breaks, not like a real survey or anything. The part that hit me wasnt the count itself, it was how many species showed up only after I stopped mowing the back corner. Like 37 types of bees and 12 butterfly species that just werent there before, I checked old notes to be sure. Has anyone else had their totals jump just from leaving a patch alone, or am I turning into a weird data guy for no reason?

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leobrown26d ago

That 2,004 number is probably still low, since you're only catching what you see on lunch breaks, but the real story is that unmowed corner for sure. Just don't call yourself a data guy until you've got a graph with error bars, that's the real line in the sand.