Del Puerto Canyon Bioblitz: August 31st, 2024 (Free)

Join us on August 31st, 2024 for a bioblitz in Del Puerto Canyon.  A bioblitz is a where people gather together to make detailed observations of the plants and animals they find in an area and then upload them to public databases like iNaturalist.  They provide valuable information for scientists and conservationists, as well as helping to raise public awareness about the biodiversity that exists here.  Del Puerto Canyon Road has a public right-of-way that includes portions of the roadsides, the areas we will be concentrating on. (reference for right-of-way: https://www.stancounty.com/planning/pl/gp/gp-chapter2.pdf, 2-15)  We will not be crossing fences or posted boundaries.  If we come across major piles of trash, we will also note where those items are for cleanup teams to deal with later/notifying relevant county contacts to pick up.  Click "show more" for meeting details, the iNaturalist app download link, and iNaturalist tutorials.

Initial meetup: 10am at 3300 Del Puerto Canyon Road.  Once people arrive, maps will be handed out showing the site(s) we will caravan to as a group and visit.  Since cell reception is poor in the canyon and location services may be limited for some, those handouts can serve as useful guides for manually finding the locations of your observations later.  The maps with labeled locations will also useful for those who are using DSLR cameras to take photos instead of their cell phones and plan to record observations later using a desktop computer.  The main bioblitz will go until at least noon-early afternoon.  However, the ending is open-ended, depending on what the group decides.  Those who want to leave early and those who want to stay later are both free to do so.  

For this bioblitz, we will be using iNaturalist.org and the iNaturalist app (free) to record and upload our observations:

A short video guide on how to make an iNaturalist observation using the mobile app on a cell phone: 

https://help.inaturalist.org/en/support/solutions/articles/151000170777-how-to-make-an-observation-with-the-inaturalist-mobile-app-video-tutorial

A short video on how to make and upload iNaturalist observations from a desktop computer:

https://help.inaturalist.org/en/support/solutions/articles/151000170784-how-to-make-an-observation-with-the-inaturalist-website-video-tutorial

A written intro guide to using iNaturalist: 

https://inaturalist.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/151000192921-how-to-make-an-observation

A step-by-step guide by tiwane (top of the thread) for how to still get approximate location data for iNaturalist observations without cell reception to upload later (Requires "Location Services" on your phone to be on before entering the canyon and losing cell reception): 

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-use-the-inaturalist-mobile-app-without-an-internet-connection/11620

An example video tutorial for a past project that shows how to download and use the iNaturalist app (click "skip ad" to get to the actual video):

https://youtu.be/Oe_FRjNg-AY?si=YsuTRVjLrS2ZHsUd

Please remember to bring sturdy shoes, sunscreen, plenty of water, a phone or camera, and prepare to have some fun!

*Included lnks to guides for using iNaturalist provided by third parties are for educational purposes only and do not imply affiliation between them and Save Del Puerto Canyon.  iNaturalist is used by many entities, and its use for this bioblitz is not meant to imply affiliation with Save Del Puerto Canyon.