Joining cities and town all over the world, Blacksburg invites everyone to participate in The City Nature Challenge, “a friendly competition among cities all over the world to see which one can observe the most nature over four days.“
From April 26-29, people in places as diverse as Austin and the Klang Valley will take pictures of local wild plants and animals. Then, from April 30 to May 5, they’ll identify what they’ve found.
Using the iNaturalist app, people will take a picture of “any plant, animal, fungi, slime mold, or any other evidence of life (scat, fur, tracks, shells, carcasses!) found in the Town of Blacksburg limits,” note where those things are and upload your findings to the app.
According to the organization’s website, the first friendly Challenge was held in 2016 between Los Angeles and San Francisco when a thousand people collected 20,000 observations in a week cataloging approximately 1600 species in the cities. Citizen science helps residents, visitors and scientists understand the biodiversity of a place. During last year’s challenge, 17,000 people in 70 cities all over the world collected 441,000 observations taking pictures of 8,6000 species.
Join groups for several free events where experts from Virginia Tech will be on site to assist with plant and animal identification at sites throughout town.
“We’re definitely interested in our urban biodiversity. It helps us understand what’s going on in our municipal boundaries, but anybody can form groups and I hope it snowballs,” Will Lattea of Blacksburg’s Sustainability Office said. Lattea organized this event, signing the town up with The City Nature Challenge.
Friday, April 26
•Bird Survey: 7:30-9 a.m. at the VT Duck Pond. Meet in the Wright House parking lot. Join us as we discover the vast variety of bird diversity that Blacksburg has to offer. Learn more about our local residents as well as the seasonal migrating birds that are passing through. Please bring binoculars if you have them.
•Insect Survey: 2:30-4 p.m. at Heritage Park. Meet in the upper parking lot on Glade Road. There are over 20,000 insect species in Virginia! Come out to Heritage Park and see how many of them you can find and identify.
•Stream Life Survey: 4-5:30 p.m. at Tom’s Creek in Heritage Park. Meet in the lower parking lot on Meadowbrook Road. Tom’s Creek is full of aquatic life including a diversity of fish, amphibians and invertebrates. Have you ever heard of a Blue Headed Chub or a Stone Roller? Join us and learn about the amazing ecology under the water’s surface. Please wear waders or clothing and shoes that you don’t mind getting wet.
•Moth Lighting: 8-9:30 p.m. at SEEDS – Blacksburg Nature Center at the historic Price House at 107 Wharton St., SE. It’s no secret – moths love light! Join us as we light up the Price Nature Center and learn about the moths and other nocturnal insects that make Blacksburg their home. Participants may want to bring a headlamp or flash light.
Saturday, April 27
•Amphibian Survey: 7-8:30 p.m. at Heritage Park. Meet in the lower parking lot on Meadowbrook Road. Heritage Park includes a variety of upland and wetland habitats that attract many different reptiles and amphibians. In fact, the Southern Appalachian Mountains have more salamander biodiversity than anywhere else on Earth! Please bring a headlamp or flash light and wear shoes and clothing that you don’t mind getting wet and dirty.
Sunday, April 28
•Plant Survey: 9-10:30 a.m. at Wong Park. Meet in the Bennett House office parking lot at 303 Wilson Ave. Anyone can spot a pretty flower, but have you ever wondered what all of those other grasses and plants are that make up a meadow? Join us as we take a closer look at the variety of plants that Wong Park has to offer.
Monday, April 29
•Millipede Survey: 2:30-4 p.m. at the VT Duck Pond. Meet in the Wright House parking lot. What’s in a name? That which we call a millipede by any other name would smell as sweet. Our region has a surprising millipede diversity and endemism including a new species being described from the campus of Virginia Tech! Come out and learn about a species you never knew existed.
•Plant Survey: 5-6:30 p.m. at Stadium Woods. Meet at the Flag Pole at the North East corner of Stadium Woods, just behind the Washington Street tennis courts (37.223817, -80.416208). If old growth forest is rare, then urban old growth forest is extremely rare. Stadium woods is an 11.5-acre tract of old growth forest that includes dozens of trees over 300 years old. Come out and learn more about this primeval forest community!
