It’s the end of April which means it’s time for the annual four-day global Bioblitz as a part of the 2024 City Nature Challenge! The BioBlitz is an international collaboration/competition where cities around the world share observations on iNaturalist. During the BioBlitz, I took observations at my favorite spot—the Salmon Hole—as well as the Intervale, and even on campus at UVM.
Garden tulips (Tulipa gesneriana) on Trinity campus at UVM
During this four-day period, I made 44 observations consisting of around 26 different species. I had some duplicates of box elders and other trees in the maple (Acer) genus, ostrich ferns, American robins, and birches. I also spotted four double-crested cormorants at the Salmon Hole, which confirmed my conclusion that the sighting I made during my last visit was, in fact, of a cormorant and not of a black scoter like I mentioned in my last post.
Ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) found at the Salmon Hole near my sit-spot on the left, and a double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) in the Winooski river on the right.
In terms of using iNaturalist, I had a great time with it! I’ve been a big fan of the app for a while now, but doing this challenge made it even more exciting to use. I felt so involved in the community of naturalists in Burlington, especially since people responded to the majority of my observations either confirming or denying my initial suspicions regarding species identification.
Boxelder bug (Boisea trivittata) found near Colchester Avenue
Additionally, looking at the global data on iNaturalist was super interesting. I was especially intrigued by which cities were in the lead in terms of observations. For example, the fact that La Paz in Bolivia was way ahead in the North & South America challenge with over 80,000 observations made me want to learn more about the city and its culture, history, and natural areas. Additionally, when I clicked on the submissions for La Paz, I was fascinated by the diversity of the plant species in particular. The most common species identified in La Paz was Viguiera pazensis (also called Paz viguiera) with over 400 observations. It was so cool getting to click on all the species identified around the world and learn more about them. Furthermore, it was surprising getting to notice species that are in places like Bolivia that are also here in Vermont. For example, there were 11 observations of American kestrel in Bolivia according to iNaturalist data.
Turkey tail mushrooms (Trametes versicolor) spotted at the Intervale
Some other data that I was super excited to look at was the observations made in West Michigan, which is where I’m from, and the greater Burlington area, which is now a place I consider to be my home away from home. For starters, I was curious to see the differences in the most observed species in both areas. For West Michigan, some of these included mayapple, garlic mustard, common blue violet, large white trillium, and common dandelion. For Burlington, these included red trillium, box elder, eastern white pine, northern cardinal, eastern hemlock, and dutchman’s breeches. It was super cool to me to compare and contrast the data found in these areas, and it also made me realize just how many species that they have in common.
Common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens) pollinating a common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Siberian squill (Scillia siberica) found along Colchester Avenue accompanied by some garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
All things considered, I had an awesome time participating in this global effort to collect scientific data. In fact, I already can’t wait for next year’s BioBlitz!
To close, I’d like to share a quote taken from Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass. She says, “Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”