By Merav Vonshak
Thanks to everyone for joining us on our 3rd BioBlitz at Kelley Park! Conditions were far from great with rain, drizzle, sunshine, and clouds (the whole shebang). However, over 40 people joined us in the rain and mud to help the continuous efforts to document the biodiversity of this urban park. Together, we documented 150 species from 450 observations! You can view our findings on the iNaturalist project.
Thanks to our die-hard docents for sharing their knowledge and fun with our explorers.
As expected on such a rainy day, we saw some rain-loving creatures, such as the California Slender Salamander, many earthworms swimming on the trails, snails and slugs.
We saw other winter organisms, such as fungi and slime molds, and plenty of plant species. At least 20 of the 53 plants species are non-native, but many are California natives, such as the California Buckeye and California Manroot that are common near Coyote Creek.
We found five species of lady beetles, and many other arthropods (fancy word for insect, spider, or snail).
And, we saw 22 species of birds, most are documented on iNaturalist, some on an eBird list (adding European Starling and Chestnut-backed Chickadee), and two more undocumented for now – a pair of Merlin and a Bewick’s wren. Despite the rain, we saw a lot!
More BioBlitz events are planned, such as at Almaden Quicksilver and Hellyer Park for the City Nature Challenge!