BioBlitz at the Dark Sky Observatory this afternoon

Hi all,

it looks like perfect weather out there today for some more weekend BioBlitzing! We will have the gate open and some activities planned at the Dark Sky Observatory from 1-4 PM today. We can stay until it gets dark so if you arrive late that's ok. Just stop by whenever it is convenient for you within the open gate time frame this afternoon. Drive all the way up the road to the main building for parking, or park anywhere along the side of the road (please make sure you are not blocking it).

Directions:
You can download and print the PDF with map and directions from the DSO website (use the route suggested "if there are Parkway problems"). However, note that GPS will lead you on a long detour around the current Parkway closures. Here's again the quickest route (~25 minutes) to get there from Boone:
• Take US 421 S (towards Wilkesboro)
• Merge onto US 221 towards West Jefferson (ramp on the right)
• After 2.5 miles, turn right onto Idlewild Rd
• After 3.4 miles, turn right onto Phillips Gap Rd (intersection after speed limit drops to 45)
• After 2 miles, turn left onto the Blue Ridge Parkway (barricade to the right)
• Turn right at the next barricade to stay on Phillips Gap Rd
• Turn left onto Observatory Rd and go all the way to the end of the road to park at the observatory building

Progress update:
The BioBlitz is going great! We've cracked the 3,000 observations threshold with almost 841 species identified so far. Check out the project Stats for a breakdown of what has been identified so far. (The 'species' count on that page also includes observations identified to genus or family level, for example, and thus shows up higher than the actual species count.) Our three most diverse categories are 43% of our observations for plants, 23% for fungi, and 19% for insects. Good job on finding those bugs and mushrooms! Remember we're giving out prizes for most species observed in total and various subcategories. So if you are not in the running for most species overall, you could specialize in one area such as fungi or insects for another chance at a prize.

UNCW still has the lead on us for number of observations (5,753 to our 3,257 when I checked this morning), but we're much closer on their heels in terms of number of species identified so far (UNCW 883, AppState 841). I am convinced we can still win this if we have a good turnout over the weekend, or at least take the title for most species found. So let's get out there and see what else we can find!

Publicado el 30 de septiembre de 2023 por annkatrinrose