Biodiversity Month - Report Event 139

Reports

	Reports

Orange School Science Club BioBlitz

Event Description

Event type: Backyard BioBlitz
Number of participants: 14 students
Event date: May 16, 2002

Event location - GPS Coordinates: 42.428N, 92.357W
General Description of area surveyed:
The school is located on the outskirts of town. Houses are around the school, but there are farm fields and a big soccer field close by. There are areas of wetland near the soccer field, but it was filled in at one time so it's not a true wetland area.

Windy
Sunny
Low 60°'s F

Species Found Total

Amphibians 0

Reptiles 0

Birds 11

Fish 0

Mammals 2

Insects 10

Other Arthropods 1

Mollusks 0

Plants 15+

Total 39

List of species common names (or description) found:
Honeybee, june bug, monarch butterfly, pill bug, flies, ladybug, red ant, gnat, orange bugs in bottom of pond, black ant, gray small spider, water spider, crows, robins, mourning dove, goldfinch, blackbirds, sparrow, wren, bluejay, squirrel, dog, dandelions, violets, lilac bush, pine trees, joe pye weed, tulips, rose, chives, clover, cattails, creeping charlie, maple tree

What species was suprising?
The first monarch butterfly of the season was seen. The students reported it to the Monarch Watch and Journey North web sites, and this monarch was the furthest north reported in Iowa for this date.

What species was the "coolest" and why?
"Everything - there's too many to get rid of if you build an addition"
Students also liked the little orange bugs found at the bottom of a pond.

Ms. Carol Boyce reports:
Students were so excited about the BioBlitz they didn't want to go home! They decided they would do a BioBlitz in their own backyards that week-end. This project was so successful I will repeat it in the fall, when perhaps we'll see more species. It has been a very cold, windy and wet spring in Iowa, and that limited the number of species observed.

Last updated June 27, 2002 16:04