Hello iNatters and insect enthusiasts!
A big thank you to those of you who were able to participate in the recent Bioblitz at Uplands Park (or I’ve heard that some prefer the term Biothon?). It was great to see the energy and to be able to bring this community together to learn and share. I really enjoyed a night walk under the stars with UV lights glowing on white sheets hung among the Garry Oaks and seeing so many people excited about moths and other small and beautiful nocturnal creatures.
Based solely on the observations submitted to iNaturalist, 31 people made 1092 observations on 239 species, identified by 98 people. Look at all of that insect diversity during a drought when most plants are dormant. (Let’s do it again another time of year!) In addition to the observations made on iNaturalist, we also had several additional participants who made collections and/or species ID’s submitted to me in writing. There will surely be many, many more species to be ID’d and added to the list by Joel Gibson and Rob Cannings from the RBCM!
Some of the photographs are spectacular! Check them out!
Drum roll please….
We have 3 winners! Not that this is a competition, but hey, when Margaret offers homemade native berry jam and native plants (bug food) to give away, it becomes a contest for sure.
I would like to congratulate:
Thomas Barbin for making the greatest number of observations and for the most species (328 observations and 65 species). Also Thomas’ photographs are outstanding.
Shawn Brescia for the most identifications (121). We couldn’t do this without you!
(Please note that still about 71% of observations need to be verified to get up to Research Grade, so keep the IDs coming, folks!)
Deb Wertman for the judge’s choice award for the only observation of the cicada: Whip Cicadas (Genus Okanagana) (and let’s get that beautiful photo ID’d to species!)
Congratulations Thomas, Shawn and Deb. I’ll send you a separate message to get you in touch with Margaret to arrange getting your prizes.
But of course you’re all winners! Thanks for your interest and for those of you who were able to come out and offer your time, energy & enthusiasm, amazing photography, and expertise. We hope to offer more opportunities to bring this community together to learn about and document Upland Park’s biodiversity in the future. Sign up to receive our email notices on our webpage here: https://friendsofuplandspark.org
Best regards,
Stephanie
P.S. For those interested, here is a link to a 1985 paper by David Evans of the Pacific Forestry Centre, An annotated checklist of insects associated with Garry oak in BC. (more than 800 species!)
https://d1ied5g1xfgpx8.cloudfront.net/pdfs/2475.pdf
