On May 3rd, join us for the second Socially Distant Bioblitz in our new tri-weekly series of self-paced natural exploration that adhere to the World Health Organization's guidelines for social distancing. (https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public) Participants can contribute observations from home, or wherever you find yourself on May 3rd! This recurring event, every 3 weeks starting May 3rd, is sponsored by Antioch University New England and Distant Hill Gardens and Nature Trail.

The first Socially Distant Bioblitz on Sunday, April 5, was a huge success! We had an amazing turnout; nearly 350 participants submitting over 12,500 observations of over 3,000 species, representing 6 continents and 27 countries across the world.

What is a "bioblitz"? A bioblitz is a way of documenting the biodiversity of a property, town, or region by recording all of the species of plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms within a designated time period and location. It could be a meal moth in your pantry, the amphibians calling from afar, the spiders in your house, the plants in the pavement, the doves flying by your apartment porch...any living organism you see or hear! Feel free to submit observations of plants inside your house or in your garden - just make sure to mark anything that was planted as "Cultivated" in your observation.

To participate, simply click the "JOIN" button in the top-right of the project page (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/socially-distant-bioblitz-5-3-2020). On the day of the bioblitz, your observations will be automatically added to the project.

We are looking forward to bio-blitzing with you!

Sincerely,

Your SDB Organizers

Steven Lamode (@slamonde; Antioch University New England)
Sara Lobdell (@slob973; Antioch University New England)
Michael Nerrie (@mnerrie; Distant Hill Gardens)

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/socially-distant-bioblitz-5-3-2020

On Facebook:

https://m.facebook.com/events/225011655514202/?refid=12&ref=m_notif&notif_t=page_message

It is not the time for a global outdoor gathering of thousands of people to see who can find the most wildlife. But spring goes on (in the Northern Hemisphere), and the wildlife abides, so the fifth annual City Nature Challenge, originally envisioned as a worldwide live community science event, will go on this week too, with all those tens of thousands of amateur nature observers looking for nature closer to home and looking for a nature community online.

https://baynature.org/2020/04/22/the-city-nature-challenge-modified-returns/