Cherokee BioBlitz 2023's Journal

We’re officially 1 week into the Cherokee BioBlitz 2023! In just one week, we’ve already collected 286 observations featuring 203 different species. That’s an amazing job! Our map shows us that we have observations all over the county, from Acworth in the south, to Ball Ground in the north. We’d love to see the entire map filled by the end of the summer!

Each week we’ll also be picking our Observer of the Week. For Week 1, that’s jfornuto! This week, jfornuto found a House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) and a cicada from the subtribe Cryptotympanina.

Have you attended one of our BioBlitz-themed programs yet? This week, we learned about native plants at R.T. Jones, built our very own bird feeders at Ball Ground, and discovered the best ways to encourage biodiversity at Woodstock. Join us at Rose Creek Library on June 14th at 3 PM for Backyard Biodiversity and Ball Ground Library on June 20th at 11 AM for Growing Your First Garden.

We can’t wait to see what you find next week!

Only 2 weeks into our BioBlitz Challenge and we have 618 observations! This week we rounded out our special BioBlitz-themed programs with a presentation about native plants and backyard biodiversity with Laura from the Cherokee County Master Gardeners! We even got to see some invasive species in the Rose Creek Library’s parking lot! Thanks to everyone who attended one of these programs. SRLS has gardening programs year round, so be sure to check our calendar for more nature and garden-themed programs.

This week we added a lot of different animal species to our observations. Our observer of the week, cloudyfissiped, was lucky enough to spot a Barred Owl of the Strix varia. Don’t forget you can add plant and animal observations from anywhere in Cherokee County, so always be on the lookout for new species to document!

Keep the observations coming!

Almost a month into the Cherokee BioBlitz 2023 and the number of observations keep growing! We have over 900 observations featuring over 500 different species!

Even if you do not have any observations to add you can still help by identifying the observations of others. That helps our observations get moved from the "Needs ID" category to "Research Grade." The more "Research Grade" observations we have, the more beneficial our project is for scientists and researchers. We currently have over 500 observations that still need community identification.

For more information on how to identify observations, take a look at the Identifications section in the iNaturalist help page.

Week 3’s Observer of the Week is metroatlantanatives. This week they observed Red Raspberry Slime Mold! Such a cool and colorful form of mold!

Don’t forget to share the challenge with your friends and family member who love nature and the outdoors. Check back next week to see how many more species have been identified!

We are a month into the Cherokee BioBlitz 2023 and the number of observations keep growing! We have over 1,200 observations featuring over 600 different species!

Even if you do not have any observations to add you can still help by identifying the observations of others. That helps our observations get moved from the "Needs ID" category to "Research Grade." The more "Research Grade" observations we have, the more beneficial our project is for scientists and researchers. We currently have over 600 observations that still need community identification.

For more information on how to identify observations, take a look at the Identifications section in the iNaturalist help page.

Week 4’s Observer of the Week is autumnskullcap. This week they observed a White-Tailed Deer mother and fawn! Such a cute baby animal and a unique find!

Don’t forget to share the challenge with your friends and family members who love nature and the outdoors. Check back next week to see how many more species have been identified!