I loved the idea of the City Nature Challenge BioBlitz when I learned about it, so I was excited to be a part of it this year in Burlington. I uploaded my first picture to iNaturalist on the way to my 8:30 chemistry class on very first day, pictured below on the right of a ring-billed gull. I originally identified it as a member of the “Gulls” group, but in no time, there were two comments suggesting a more precise identification. It was cool to see that other members of the community were committed to helping others identify species. I made several more observations over the next few days, mostly of bird species. One of these was the American robin pictured below on the left, which I observed on athletic campus on Friday.

On Sunday, I ventured off campus into Centennial Woods, where I observed several bird species eating from the feeders including American goldfinch, black-capped chickadee, and tufted titmouse. If I were to do the BioBlitz again, I think I would expand on what type of species I observed to include more plants and other types of animals. I would also spend more time looking at what was going on in other cities, because I was shocked to see so many new species, so much biodiversity, and so many observers when I scrolled through the global City Nature Challenge 2022 group on iNaturalist. It created a sense of global community to know that people across the world are appreciating nature and participating in citizen science at the same time. I’m looking forward to taking part in this event again next year!