This is my first time participating in the City Nature Challenge, and I think Burlington is the best place I could’ve been introduced to it! For the bulk of my BioBlitzing, I went to the Intervale community event on Sunday the 27th and identified the plants I saw walking around. Here are some of the highlights:
I saw a lot of Ostrich Fern along the Calkins trail, and even planted some myself! The Intervale is trying to rehabilitate the Ostrich Fern population and improve the forest’s ground cover.
Above are a series of Maples; the first two are Boxelder Maples, but I’m not 100% sure what the last one is. I think it might be a Red.
I also saw some lovely old Eastern Cottonwood (left) and what I think is a Dogwood (middle, right), perhaps Red Osier or Silky. Cottonwood has become one of my favorite trees lately, as the deep furrows make it easy to spot.
The challenge inspired me to do some ID-ing going about my day on campus as well, and I identified some of the cultivated plants that have started blooming in this warmer weather. In order from right to left and top to bottom, these are Magnolias, a Tulip, Weeping Cherry, and an Eastern Redbud.
In total, I identified 6 unique species and made 15 observations during the City Nature Challenge.
Exploring the iNaturalist site, I decided to look at my hometown’s input to the challenge. It was interesting to see that they had a lot of the same common species that we do in Burlington, like Garlic Mustard and Greater Celandine, though they didn’t have nearly as many birds observed. It makes sense, since there’s really only a handful of places where larger bird populations can live in NYC, but it’s not something I would’ve realized without looking at it for myself. I also looked at Hong Kong, where my dad is from. HK has a completely different climate, and its observed species clearly reflect that.
Above are a Chinese Hibiscus, Beautiful Bougainvillea and a Eurasian Tree Sparrow.