Trip Report: Nature Walk and Bioblitz at Whiskeytown NRA
On Sunday, September 14, thirteen people from a diverse range of ages, interests and expertise gathered for the SEA/CNPS nature walk and bioblitz at the Lower Brandy Creek Trail in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. We were very fortunate to be joined by Greta Davis, an AmeriCorps fellow serving as the Community Volunteer Ambassador for WNRA. Greta provided wonderful information about the park’s history, immense biodiversity, and the many opportunities available for supporting and protecting this local treasure.
Shasta Environmental Alliance education coordinator Juliet Malik and California Naturalist and SEA volunteer Holly White-Wolfe organized this event to celebrate California Biodiversity Week and support the state’s 30×30 initiative to conserve 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030 by linking this event to the Find 30 Species Challenge on iNaturalist. iNaturalist is both an international database of observed biological species and a participatory science program open to anyone who can take a photo and learn how to upload it to the project.
Our challenge was to find, photograph, and upload at least 30 species from this trail, which, considering the vast biodiversity of this region, was quick work. Many of us walked away with over 40 or 50 observations in our phone’s photo gallery and we didn’t even make it a full mile up the trail. (Bioblitzing is a slow and meandering activity.) Some “research grade” observations (identifications at species level by two or more people) we logged include serpentine fern (Aspidotis densa), hairy brackenfern (Pteridium aquilinum pubescens), Pacific poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii), green bird grasshopper (Schistocerca shoshone), giant chain fern (Woodwardia fimbriata), scarlet monkeyflower (Erythranthe cardinalis), and a mama mule deer and two fawns (Odocoileus hemionus).
While preserving our region’s biodiversity is a task too large for an individual or a small group of 13, the coming together and sharing of curiosity, experience, passions, concerns, knowledge, and ideas is the foundation for meaningful change. Our group did much more than upload photos to the iNaturalist project. We connected and learned from each other. We found inspiration and opportunity to do more. We perhaps even made new friends. And of course, we had fun while we shared a couple of hours together under a canopy of conifers and oaks alongside the burbling sounds of Brandy Creek.
