Spring is in full action now, and I’m finally wearing shorts! All around campus, students’ spirits have risen again. And, it’s not only noticeable in the people, but the plants and animals all across the greater Burlington area!
I chose North Beach and the surrounding area as my participation spot for the inaturalist City Nature Challenge. Many of the plants are still feeling shy—not yet growing new green. However, especially in the understory, some exciting colors are arising. Greens, purples, reds, and more are scattered across the ground.
Inaturalist is an awesome resource to have right in my back pocket as I explore the GBA. It’s so easy to use, and the recommendations it suggests are almost always on point! I’ve applied many of the identifications I have learned through its recommendations in my everyday life.
While at North Beach, I saw so many cool things—many that I’ve never seen before. I found about nine really awesome species I wanted to document. Some of the organisms and plants I photographed were: a canada goose, black knot fungus, jelly fungus, and ground-ivies. Something I noticed was that the goose was alone. I thought they usually hangout in flocks, but maybe this guy needed some alone time! Hope, although whatever is going on, he or she is okay!
I was amazed with how many species have been globally documented in the nature challenge—nearly 65,000! And, so many people are participating. I think this is such a cool way to get nature lovers all around the world together and bonding over an activity! I loved the diversity of species found—from birds to trees to flowers to weeds. Many of the species had thousands of observations too, showing how widespread so many of these plants and animals can be! For example, the great egret was all over the world. The only major places it wasn’t observed in were Canada, Russia, Greenland, and the arctics. How cool is that?!
This project is so fun and creates a totally awesome global community. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to participate, and I can’t wait to see the overall results!
