Berkshire Natural History Conference
The exhibit hall at the Berkshire Natural History Conference was buzzing! It was great to see familiar faces, and new faces. Over 20 new sign-ups for the Berkshire BioBlitz email list!
The tentative date and location for next year’s event is September and we think it will be held at Monument Mountain–just waiting for the go ahead from the Trustees of the Reservations.
Bioblitz 2016 Tallies (so far)
This year’s Berkshire BioBlitz 2016 took place in the area around Mt. Greylock Reservation Visitor’s Center Saturday June 18 to Sunday June 19, 2016.
Initial tally at the end of the 24 hours was 585 species. Several of the experts are still identifying to species. These numbers will be added to the counts as they come in over the next few months.
Breakdown:
Vascular plants: 120
Fungi: 42
Lichens: 46
Bryophytes (mosses etc.): 34
Insects: 271
Spiders: 5
Mollusks: 2
Amphibians: 4
Reptiles: 1
Birds: 55
Mammals: 5
With regards to “big finds”, MA State Botanist (Bob Wernerehl), who attended and led our plant survey, found at least one plant new to Massachusetts: a variety of a grass (genus: Poa). It is known from the northern NewEngland states, but this was the first record for Massachusetts.
With regards to lichens: One “big find” is that there were far less “reindeer lichens” (Cladonia species) in the Rounds Rock area than there were 20 years ago.
The tallies are being added regularly to iNaturalist project: Berkshire BioBlitz 2016.
Thank you to all the experts and organizers that volunteered their time to collect and count and educate!
More photos and lists to come!
This year’s event is sponsored by the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance under a grant from National Geographic Education Foundation and Elms College and co-sponsored by Dr. Augie’s Science Education Programs and Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT).
7th Annual Berkshire BioBlitz Schedule
Program Schedule:
Saturday June 18th:
11:00am sign in at the Visitor’s Center, please pick up a t-shirt/name tag and collection forms, there will be coffee and light refreshments
11:30 am quick tutorial on how to use the iNaturalist software
12:00 pm – BioBlitz begins
4:30-5:00 – Berkshire Biological Identification Day 1
Dark – “Firefly Count” with Scott LaGreca and a “Moth-Light” demonstration
Saturday June 19th
7:00 am-9:00 am Saturday – Bird identification walks
9 am -10:30 Berkshire Biological Identification Day 2
9am-12pm – Mammal Tracking with Elia Del Molino, Berkshire Wildlife Tracker and BEAT Program Manager
12:00pm –Bioblitz ends survey counts will be submitted at this time (future counts can be sent in at a later date.) Please turn in your species list to Lisa Provencher or Scott LaGreca at or before you leave or use iNaturalist “Berkshire Bioblitz 2016”.
What is this?
Can you name this creature*?
If not stop by Berkshire BioBlitz June 18th and 19th because this year we re planning an extra event “Berkshire Biological Identification Days”.
This is where YOU are invited to bring unidentified, curious, baffling biological specimens or items like feathers, fossils, eggs, seeds, insects and weird curly things from personal collections and our experts will take a look and see if they can identify the specimen. The specialists will be at the Mt. Greylock Visitor’s Center 4:00 to 5:30p.m. Saturday and 9:00-10:30a.m. Sunday. If we can’t identify the specimen we will find someone who can! And its okay to bring a photo on your phone if you don’t have a specimen.
*This lovely multi-legged arthropod is a forest millipede, Sigmoria trimaculata. Not to be confused with a centipede, that has less legs and poison jaws. This little guy is harmless, eats leaf litter and will tickle your arm if you let it!
7th Annual Berkshire BioBlitz!
This year’s Berkshire BioBlitz will be held at Mt. Greylock Visitor Center starting at noon Saturday June 18 and ending noon on Sunday June 19.
Mt Greylock is Massachusetts’ first wilderness state park, acquired by the Commonwealth in 1898, to preserve its natural environment for public enjoyment. It is home to a wide variety of plants and trees such as New England Cottontail rabbit, native Mountain Ash trees and various species of owls.
The BioBlitz is an opportunity for biologists, naturalists and environmentalists to work in collaboration with the general public to gather in a given area and in a 24-hour period to complete a formal survey of all living species and see first-hand the importance of a healthy, active ecosystem in their own community.
Although the biological survey is the “core” of the Berkshire BioBlitz, this year an extra event will take place “Berkshire Biological Identification Days”. This is where the general public is invited to bring their unidentified, curious, baffling biological specimens or items like feathers, fossils, eggs, seeds, insects and weird curly things from personal collections and our experts will take a look and see if they can identify the specimen. The specialists will be at the visitor’s center 4:00 to 5:30p.m. Saturday and 9:00-10:30a.m. Sunday. If we can’t identify the specimen we will find someone who can!
In addition to this program there will be a variety of family-friendly, interactive, nature-oriented nature walks and conversations taking place throughout the day. Berkshire Wildlife Tracker and BEAT Program Manager, Elia Del Molino will lead a mammal tracking workshop there will be an invasive species identification exhibit. After dark two programs will be taking place “Firefly Count” and a “Moth-Light” demonstration by Mark Mello of the Lloyd Center for the Environment.
At noon on Saturday, the event will end with a closing ceremony and an announcement of our final species tally. This year the iNaturalist app will be used to count specimens. You can use the app on your phone or ipad, or give your information to one of our volunteers and they will input the data for you.
We encourage everyone to take advantage of this unique FREE event.
This year’s event is sponsored by the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance under a grant from National Geographic Education Foundation and Elms College and co-sponsored by Dr. Augie’s Science Education Programs and Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT).
Directions to Mt. Greylock from downtown Pittsfield: continue north on US Rte. 7 to Lanesborough for 6.6 miles. At the brown Mount Greylock sign, turn right onto North Main Street. Follow the brown lead-in signs 1.5 miles from Rte. 7 to the Visitor Center and park entrance.
Berkshire BioBlitz 2016
Tentative dates and location for this year’s Berkshire BioBlitz are Saturday and Sunday June 18-19, 2016 at the base of Mt. Greylock. Sponsored in part by Dr. Augie’s Science Programs and National Geographic Education Foundation, Elms College and organized by the Berkshire Environmental Action Team and the Massachusetts Geographic Alliance.
Save the date to join the fun!
Berkshire BioBlitz 2015
BioBlitz 2015 was held at Canoe Meadows. We had a record number of experts in the field and found a record number of species 637 and we are still counting!
The Results Are In! 2014 Berkshire BioBlitz
A BIG thanks to everyone who came out to this year’s Berkshire BioBlitz at the Treemile Hill Trail & Fountain Pond in Great Barrington. Below are the species totals by group. Together, 24 volunteers identified 402 species in just 24-hours! Everyone did a spectacular job. Thanks you to our hosts: Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Berkshire Natural Resources Council and Berkshire South Regional Community Center as well as our sponsors Massachusetts Service Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, Great Barrington Land Conservancy, Greenagers, AMC-Berkshire, Project Native, Flying Cloud Institute, Dr. Augie’s Science Education Programs and Berkshire Environmental Action Team! We couldn’t have done it without you! Be sure to check out our gallery of pictures from this year’s event [here]. And the final report [here].
| Algae | 56 |
| Amphibian | 8 |
| Aquatic Plant | 2 |
| Bird | 52 |
| Fern | 4 |
| Flower | 53 |
| Insect | 97 |
| Invertebrate | 1 |
| Mammal | 11 |
| Moss | 2 |
| Mushroom/Fungus | 45 |
| Reed | 1 |
| Reptile | 3 |
| Shrub | 10 |
| Tree | 38 |
| Vine | 4 |
| Arachnid | 11 |
| Moth | 4 |
| Grand Total | 402 |
Weather Update – Friday and Saturday
If I were a glass-half-full kind of guy (which I am) I would feel optimistic about the weather this Friday and Saturday. It appears that our 24-hour window for species inventorying will be about half-full of some nice weather.
That being said, we want to keep you all informed of the weather forecast so you can plan accordingly. We are currently in the midst of a cold front sweeping through New England that should end overnight on Friday but will be leaving us with quite a bit of wet weather.
Friday: Rain with a few thunderstorms likely. High near 80F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Thunderstorms in the evening with light rain and fog developing overnight. Low 57F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%
We also want to assure everyone that in the event of thunder/lightning that Berkshire South Regional Community Center will serve as our emergency shelter.
Saturday: A few clouds early, otherwise mostly sunny. High 78F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
We’d like to remind everyone that the Berkshire BioBlitz is an outdoor event that will take place rain or shine! (It takes more than some rain to deter us!) So there you have it! Those who are willing and able are still welcome to come out on Friday and those wishing for fairer weather will be treated to some spectacularly sunny skies as we conclude the BioBlitz on Saturday.
