August 20th, 2008
go flip a rock!
Remember this?
Yes, indeed, you do! International Rock Flipping Day is nigh upon us. This year, it takes place on Sept. 7th. On that day, folks from around the world will be sauntering out into their yards and gardens, or visiting some other site to turn a rock or two. They’ll be crouching down to carefully inspect what lies beneath — because they want to remind themselves that there are other creatures… interesting ones… that share this planet.
So, mark your calendar and get ready to pick up a rock or two. For more information about what to do, how to participate, etc… please visit Dave Bonta’s via negativa to learn more about International Rock Flipping Day.
August 20th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
You can count on me to flip a rock and post a photo!
August 21st, 2008 at 7:37 am
I can almost guarantee that if I flip a rock in our yard, I will find a black widow beneath it. Plus some roly-polies.
August 21st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
And in most cases, it is important to return the rock to its original position. They are habitat too.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:02 pm
John – For sure. Do take a look around your garden and share a photo of what might live beneath.
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Mark – Well, a black widow is nothing to sniff at. (-:
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pablo – Yes, good reminder, pablo. Do carefully set rocks back in place to conceal the creatures as you found them.
August 24th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Great blog, which I just found through Seabrooke Leckie’s The Marvelous In Nature. I’ll bookmark to my site and return to explore more of what you have written.
I also want to second Pablo’s comment. A recent post of mine shows some of the damage done to glade habitats south of St. Louis by those who flipped rocks and failed to return them to their original position. In some cases it may not be so important, but in others it could be critical.
August 25th, 2008 at 6:58 am
Ted of BITB – Thanks for the reminder to carefully replace rocks to their original position — well, that actually goes for replacing wood or any other object where you find creatures taking refuge. Also thanks for posting a link to Seabrooke’s and your blogs. I’ll be sure to visit both to do some more reading as soon as I have a little more time!
August 26th, 2008 at 8:55 am
Thanks for this idea! I am promoting it on my blog. How do we share our links with the rest of the rock-flippers?
~Kathi
August 27th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Kathi – Last year, Dave at via negativa and I, posted an ever-changing list of links to others who had blogged about their IRFD finds. We also encouraged others to do the same to help connect everyone together. If you go to this 2007 post from my blog, you’ll see more that should explain how we did things. Hope some of that helps. Dave can also answer questions about logistics as he has done more work on setting up the photo galleries, etc…