For the four day inaturalist BioBlitz, I explored areas of Burlington that I am both familiar with, such as the downtown waterfront and UVM campus, and less familiar with, such as Rock Point and the Intervale. I really enjoyed using inaturalist because it was fun to challenge myself and see what wildlife I could identify. It was also helpful to get comments from other inaturalist users confirming or refuting my identification. Aditionally, it encouraged me to make a conscious effort to be more observant when using inaturalist, which led to me noticing more about the wildlife around me.
Species Encountered and Global Observations
During the BioBlitz, I encountered and recorded fifteen different species: a boxelder bug, forsythias, a chipping sparrow, a two spotted bumble bee, an American goldfinch, a Norway spruce, star magnolias, ostrich ferns, large flower bellwort, dicots, large white trillium, paper birches, house sparrows, green frogs, violets, European starlings, a painted turtle, lesser periwinkle, staghorn sumac, and American Robins.
Globally, I found it interesting that Washington DC was 7th on the leaderboard for the City nature challenge. I am from right outside DC and I had no idea there was such a strong citizen scientists community there! I also find it interesting that the most observed species in the City nature challenge all seemed to be commonly seen in Vermont as well, such as the red winged black bird, western honey bee, common dandelion, and garlic mustard.
