During the four-day urban BioBlitz, I explored my phenology spot (behind Trinity Campus) and the Intervale Center for the City Nature Spectacular. I observed 6 major plant species (and several painted turtles) while at the Intervale and 11 major plant species and lots of bird calls at my phenology spot.

At the City Nature Spectacular, Invasive species seemed to be the main point of interest at the event, with an “Eat Your Invasives” table where they served Japanese knotweed Ice Cream and Garlic Mustard pesto to planting Fiddleheads to change the dominant land cover along the river. I got to bring a few of my friends and sit alongside the river, which was super nice and relaxing.

At my phenology spot, there was a lot of bird activity, which was really exiting. I recorded some sounds and put them into Merlin Bird ID. It turns out that I was listening to a Tufted Titmouse and a Northern Cardinal. Lots of Striped Maple buds, sprigs of Eastern White Pines, European Reed, Red Osier Dogwood, and Colt’s Foot. My spot is looking a lot more vibrant than it did just last month…I get a little teary-eyed thinking I have to leave it so soon.

Upon further investigation in iNaturalist, I was interested in how NYC (5,750 observations over the BioBlitz) and Cape Town, South Africa (16,791 observations). Looking at Breezy Point, NY specifically, there seemed to be a lot of bird activity. Just yesterday, an observer reported a Willet, which I thought was really cool. Some other birds included American Oystercatchers, Eastern Phoebe, Northern Harrier, and a Great Cormorant. The natural ecology of places like Breezy Point is incredibly interesting considering its close proximation to one of the biggest cities in the world. In Cape Town, there is a lot of pollinator observations such as Lagoon Flies on Groundsels as well as Dotted Borders (butterflies) and sea bamboo. There is definitely a lot more biodiversity happening in Cape Town than in New York City (or more iNaturalist observers).