During the BioBlitz Challenge, I became aware of all the living creatures around me and the ways in which the natural world operates in different regions. Although our challenge was designated for the Greater Burlington Area, I did some camping in Bolton this past weekend and thought that would be worth mentioning as well! In Bolton, I was disconnected from all cell service so my experience with INaturalist was limited. However, I still was able to curate a collection of pictures that would later be identified in the INaturalist app. I believe the INaturalist app can helpful at times, yet my time in nature is spent with limited technology, therefore i’m less willing to pull out my phone to identify a species. I only encountered a handful of species (up to 3 living amphibians) and a few trees (Beech, Striped Maple, Birch, Yellow Birch, etc). Yet, here in Burlington, I decided to explore Centennial Woods a bit more and document my findings. These are yet to be identified but I wanted to note that I still participated in the BioBlitz that was assigned to us. It was also interesting to see how the BioBlitz and City Nature Challenge documents living things around the globe. There were some species I had never heard of before!
Amphibians Found in Bolton:
Along Preston Pond and Libby’s Look, my hiking group got on our hands and knees while searching for any sign of amphibians. This is what we found:
This wood frog was found laying in a pile of wet leaves.
There was lots of newts found in the terrestrial phase known as eft. Some of the salamanders were Eastern, with bright orange coats, whereas others had glimmering yellow spotted bellies.
More Sallies!! 🦎
Burlington BioBlitz in Centennial:
Will update with idenitifcations!
