Southern New England Outdoor and Nature Site: BioBlitz 2023!

The Herp Team adding up their list before
turning it in.

Over the last couple of months I have been "recruited" by my friends Danielle and Jen to participate in BioBlitz. It is okay if you don't have any idea what the hell BioBlitz is. Every year, a site is picked in the state where a bunch of scientists and amateurs meet to see how many species can be seen in a twenty four hour period. The property is sometimes a public park such as Roger Williams Park while other years it may be at a private property such as an Audubon Sanctuary. The goal is to see how many different species can be seen. There are various teams and each team has a captain. These captains are true experts in their field.

When you think of species in an area you probably think of birds, fish, probably insects, and plants. However, there are quite a few teams. There is a fungi team, there is one team for butterflies, while there is another for moths. There are people that identify lichens and even experts on the different species of mosquitoes Believe it or not there is a team that looks for mollusks. Many of these people are experts, some PhDs in fields I know absolutely nothing about. There is one team that spends the first fifteen minutes of BioBlitz collecting leaves, then they spend the next 23 hrs 45 minutes trying to identify the organisms in the leaves.

Allison and I getting a photo

The RI BioBlitz is the longest continually running BioBlitz in the world. It has been going on since 2000, and even during the Covid year they improvised and did one from "backyards across the state". The people involved are absolutely true nerds. These are the people that study ants for a hobby or study up on mushrooms for fun. In short, I was going to fit in, learn a lot, and hopefully make friends.

You have to register for BioBlitz online. When you do, you get an option to buy a T-shirt and let them know if you are staying for dinner. You are allowed to camp on the grounds or sleep in your car if you don't want to go home. I was in New Hampshire when registration closed. When I came home I went to register and found out the bad news. I emailed the woman in charge (Kira Stillwell) and she allowed me to register late. I could let her know my shirt size, but there wouldn't be any guarantee I could get one. Same for the food, chances were there might not be anything for supper so I brought food. I was just happy to get in.

This year's BioBlitz was held on Narragansett Indian Tribal Lands in Charlestown, RI. This is obviously normally off limits to the general public. Needless to say, the "nerds" were quite excited to get on land that really hasn't been changed in decades. BioBlitz runs from 2 pm on Friday until 2 pm on Saturday.

When you register you allowed to choose three teams. Chances are that the team captain will send an email with some sort of gameplan or even just a meeting location. You do not have to stay with your team. It is very laid back and really you can go where you want. For example if you're on the mammal team and you heard the bird team is going for a walk, you certainly can ask to go with the birders and they will always say yes. When I registered late, in my email I asked to be on the mammal, fish, and herps teams. I got a pre-Friday email from Kyle the captain of the mammals.

Banded Sunfish

Now that you are caught up on how BioBlitz works, it might be easiest to tell you how my twenty four hours went. I got to the meeting area on the Indian Grounds at 1:40. There is a big tent called "Science Central". There are tables set up for each team. Some of the tables have microscopes to identify tiny organisms. When I got there, there were pre blitz speeches going on. The Native American chief talked about the land and his home. Long story shorter, I couldn't register until the speeches were over at 2 pm. I registered and had to use the bathroom which was a two minute walk from Science Central. When I came back, the Herps and Mammal teams were both gone. So I walked over to the fish team.

I introduced myself to the captain. A tall guy with a gray beard named Tom. I told him I had fishing poles in my car so I grabbed one and went fishing with him in his canoe. I caught a couple Largemouth Bass and some Yellow Perch. Tom caught a couple Pickerel, bass, and perch. A lady who had signed up for the fish team sat in the canoe drawing. After we were done around 5:30 we went back to Science Central and recorded our findings.

When we put the canoe in, a couple others on Team Fish were using nets and caught some very interesting tiny fish. One of the species was a Bridle Shiner which is a Species of Special Concern. They also had a Banded Sunfish which only get to about two inches. I was also told that Banded Killifish live in the pond.

Eastern Box Turtle

When we got back, there was a big fire pit and musicians played folk songs. Tom the leader of the fish team played the banjo. There was a ton of food and after everyone else ate I did get to grab some. After we ate my friend Allison and I looked at moths during the night. Moth experts put up sheets and bright lights to attract them. It was fascinating. We saw three Luna Moths along with many other less famous species. We also did a night Bird Walk where the highlight was Jen Scranton hearing the Whip-poor-will first. After the bird walk and moths I went to bed at 11:30

Luna Moth

On Saturday morning I got up early because a Barred Owl woke all of us up. There were a couple dozen tents of overnight campers. Friday evening I ran into the mammal guy and he told me they set traps (live traps) overnight to hopefully catch mammals. There were small traps for mice and big traps that could hold a Fisher. I asked if I could go with his group and check the traps in the morning. Of course he said yes. So I went with him. They had set out twelve traps but all came out empty.

From the place they set the traps we all went to a swamp. Across the street from the swamp a friend of mine was looking for butterflies. So I helped her look for butterflies while also listening for Blue winged Warbler. A girl I had met needed Blue Winged as a lifer. Unfortunately we heard two but they wouldn't show themselves. Next to the field was a small stream where I saw a Spotted Turtle. I called everyone over but it slid off the rock and disappeared. I went into the water because I was wearing muck boots to find the turtle. No luck, but the water was ice cold and I think it may have native Brook Trout.

Bridle Shiner

Swamp Darter

Allison and I went back to Science Central where I asked permission to use the seine to catch small fish. As I did, an older guy introduced himself and he had waders and wanted to seine for the fish too. We decided to meet back at 11 am after we put on waders. I recruited a few other people to go. The girl that needed the Blue Winged Warbler, Ophelia, is interested in fish so she came along along with her partner. All in all, ten of us went down.

We used the seine twice. We caught a tiny Chain Pickerel, baby Bluegill and Pumpkinseed. More importantly, in the netting we had Banded Sunfish, Swamp Darter, and Bridled Shiner!!! We took photos of the fish and let them all go. While we were there, one of the guys named Mike told me they had Banded Killifish on the other side of the pond. He said he'd be happy to show me if I drove. So after we put the fish back and walked back to Science Central, I loaded the seine in my car and Mike and I drove off. The Killifish were simple to catch. There was a nice sand beach and they were in six inches of water. I used the seine once and we caught six. We put them in a bucket and took photos before letting them go.

Banded Killifish

When Mike and I were driving to the beach I told him if I had time I was going to look for Ring Necked Snakes. The herp people found many on Friday. Mike told me he found four in the morning and told me we could stop there. The spot was on the road leading to the freshwater beach. So when we were done with the Killifish, we pulled over just down the road and started looking under rocks. Within three minutes we had one. Not a lifer but only the second I've seen. That was the end of our day. We drove back to the parking area where Mike and I each packed our tents and went back to Science Central for the blowing of the ending horn.

Rick Rego a herping expert

Two really nice kids interested in all
aspects of nature.

BioBlitz usually runs the second weekend in June. It is run by the Rhode Island Natural History Survey. You can access their website below. The cost was $25 but camping was free, they will feed you (and they had good food including steak tips, all the desert you could want, and breakfast).

When I was on the canoe Friday, I felt a bit trapped. I couldn't leave to look for herps or even the small fish. When we got back to shore I felt the day was over. However, the evening bird walk and the moths made me feel like I was productive. Saturday I was determined to use my time wisely. There is so much going on, you wish you could be in multiple places at once. So I was very happy to check the traps for mammals, use the seine for the small fish, then get a Ring Necked Snake. It was a very productive day. I got four lifer fish and a Ring Necked Snake.

Ring Necked Snake

I also made many new friends. A herp guy named Rick gave me his business card (he teaches at a Vet school) and is happy to help me find more species of herps. He told me a place to find Rattlesnakes! On the other hand, the girl that is interested in fish has never caught one and I gave her my phone number and told her I'd be happy to go fishing with her and her partner or show them around Francis Carter for the specialty birds there. BioBlitz is awesome!

https://rinhs.org/