September 5 - 11! Cancel all of your plans and obligations. It's time to bioblitz!

Hey all!

Last year, we had a trial run of a "socially distant bioblitz" on the first full week of September.
The main question was "what area of the DFW metroplex has the most species and most participation with most observation?" Well, we saw that each area has loads of interest, great observations, and some really unique finds! If you'd like to read up on the results, here's the long post..

Since we've done it last year, now we have a year to compare. What all will we see this year?

This project is broken up into the 6 areas of DFW, and each of these areas is served by a Texas Master Naturalist chapter. If you observe in any of these areas, those observations are automatically added in that specific project. Here are the projects:

Collin and Hunt Counties, the Blackland Prairie Master Naturalist chapter
Parker and Tarrant Counties, the Cross Timbers Master Naturalist chapter
Cooke, Denton, and Wise Counties, the Elm Fork Master Naturalist chapter
Ellis and Navarro Counties, the Indian Trail Master Naturalist chapter
Dallas, Kaufman, and Rockwall Counties, the North Texas Master Naturalist chapter
Hood, Johnson, and Somervell Counties, the Rio Brazos Master Naturalist chapter

You DON'T have to join any project, nor this one, the umbrella project, for your observations to count.

Just make observations from September 5 - 11 in one (or several!) of these areas, and the projects automatically grab them. No other steps needed!

Also, each day there will be a challenge with a sub-challenge. These can be pretty challenging, so try your best to get as many as you can! What's your reward? Sam's respect. And that's worth its weight in gold! I'll put the challenges on a journal post in this project on September 1.

Most of all, we'll be using these results, especially the observations made in public areas like parks, to guide land management. It's a powerful thing when we talk to a park manager or a city council and show them not just the biodiversity that exists in the area, but also the constituency of naturalists that actively seek out this biodiversity! So yes, we need you!

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me!
Sam Kieschnick @sambiology
Urban Wildlife Biologist, DFW, Texas Parks and Wildlife
sam.kieschnick@tpwd.texas.gov
214-215-5605 (c)

Posted on 17 August, 2021 20:39 by sambiology sambiology

Comments

Also, here are some frequently asked questions -- I'll update as I get others:
https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/55356-frequently-asked-questions-about-the-bioblitz

Posted by sambiology over 2 years ago

Hi @sambiology , Tomorrow is the last day for the week long Summer 2021 El Camino Real TMN Chapter (Milam County) BioBlotz down here in central TX. This is our third seasonal bioblitz under the cloud of Covid restrictions. I am pleased to say that while my contributions were not what I anticipated them to be, we had two members who have actively made an effort to use the iNaturalist platform this past week. I am so proud of them. Like you said.... it is like learning to play baseball.

Posted by connlindajo over 2 years ago

It's on my calendar, @sambiology. BPTMN is planning a series of iNat outings to get our Chapter, family, and friends involved. Should be fun!

Posted by jsuplick over 2 years ago

I'm in for the bioblitz but I'm not a Texas Master Naturalist so I'm a free agent- I live in Denton county but I will travel for the right incentives! (joke- I have a weird sense of humor).

Posted by jblinde over 2 years ago

Sounds good Sam! Johnson County represent!

Posted by katelyn3 over 2 years ago

I'm always up for a Bioblitz, I can't wait!

Posted by tashap over 2 years ago

I’ll put it on my calendar.

Posted by observerjosh over 2 years ago

Yay, yay, yay! Always a joy to participate. :-)

Posted by kathrynwells333 over 2 years ago

Yippee!!

Posted by dorothy12 over 2 years ago

I'll be in town most of that so we'll see what I can find :) LELLA is finally mostly reopened so that's good, may see stuff there

Posted by williampaulwhite17 over 2 years ago

Getting a game plan together. I will be hitting all the parks I can in my general area. I am also going to be looking for more bees and things since I am part of the Bee City Arlington group now. I am needing to really focus on getting more bees since that is one thing they are trying to show more data on. I will be looking for more birds too. I have had a bit of a hiccup getting some observations this month. School is about to start up again. I am thankful I will be out at the TCC Southeast Campus again; they have that nice pond that I look for Dragonflies and birds. I will also be at TCC South too. I will be out and about after classes. I can't wait to see how many DFW can get. We got second from what I recall last year. I am so ready for this one. I was hoping that we would do this one again. Can't wait to see what all we find. I am hoping to get a few new species for the counts.

Posted by galactic_bug_man over 2 years ago

Looking forward to it! I love watching everyone's observations roll in.

Posted by joyous over 2 years ago

Yes! I will post an announcement with UNT SER letting the students know. Fun times!

Posted by baxter-slye over 2 years ago

What's a bioblitz?? ;-)

Of course, ready to go.

Posted by henrya over 2 years ago

@bugman1388 where i can find more information about Bee City Arlington? I am familiar with Bee City but wasn't aware of y'all's efforts there

Posted by katelyn3 over 2 years ago

I'll be an amateur Denton county observer. I have a few places I like to observe over the course of the year

Posted by texslm over 2 years ago

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