Virtual Spring BioBlitz! Oklahoma 2020's Boletim

Wow! We are just a few hours into our month long BioBlitz! and you guys have already counted over 30 species! Looks like it will be a beautiful day across the state to get out and explore!

We are also super excited to see some many citizen scientists have joined our project. Tell your biodiversity loving friends to join us! When we reach 100 members we will do a random drawing for a free fall BioBlitz! Oklahoma 2020 registration and t-shirt. This October we will be headed to Roman Nose State Park to explore the canyons, gypsum hills, and mixed grass prairie of this western Oklahoma State Park.

Salticidude for being one of the first 100 members of our BioBlitz! project!

This citizen scientist gets free registration to our fall BioBlitz! weekend in October at Roman Nose State Park.

Our next challenge! Four Days of Fungi and Lichens. For April 2-5, record at least 6 different fungi or lichens. This should be easy for most of us with all the rain we have been getting!

All the citizen scientists that complete the challenge will earn a special fungi sticker and one will randomly be chosen to win the Lichen Study Guide for Oklahoma and Surrounding States by BioBlitz! OK expert Sheila Strawn.

Have fun fungi finding!
Priscilla

Hey BioBlitzers!

Looks like you guys are going strong on the Fungi and Lichens! Today is the last day to make your 6 observations for a prize!

Challenge #3 starts tomorrow - 3 days of Trees! Make observations of 5 native trees with their flowers or fruits. A random person who completes this challenge will receive a copy of the Forest Trees of Oklahoma book from Oklahoma Forestry Services!

Later in the month we will have a "Birds in the 'hood" challenge. In conjunction with this challenge, would you be interested in participating in live Bird BINGO, via Zoom? Appropriate for all ages and chance to earn small prizes. Comment below if you would like to join us!

Stay healthy and enjoy the outdoors!
Priscilla

Happy Monday Morning BioBlitzers!

Congratulations to everyone that recorded 6 or more Fungi and Lichens in the past 4 days. 12 of you took up that challenge and you earn a fun fungal sticker! Our randomly chosen winner of the Lichen Study Guide by Sheila Strawn, also happens to be the person with the MOST fungi and lichen observations so far. Congratulations to Emily (user name emilyexplores)!

If you have won a prize that I need to send in the mail (books, stickers, etc...), there will be a delay. Sending things from our remote BioBlitz! HQ isn't as easy as from our normal office.

Good luck with our 3 days of Trees! A couple points of clarification
- trees you observed before this date will count toward the challenge
- can include woody shrubs and vines
- observations need to include at least one of the following: flower (including catkins), fruits, and cones (for our conifers)

Here is a great website to help you learn more about our woody plants:
https://nobleapps.noble.org/plantimagegallery/Woodies.aspx

Staying safe at home? You can still experience a field trip via ZOOM to the Three Forks Nature Center at Sequoyah State Park and learn from Park Naturalist Angelina Stancampiano!

Thursday April 9th, 12:30 p.m.
This week's trip will be about the owl and bald eagle.

To register, please email: Angelina.stancampiano@travelok.com.
You will receive helpful worksheets and login information ahead of the meeting time.

Hello BioBlitzers!

Today is the last day to record trees for the current challenge!

A reminder of the guidelines:
Make observations of 5 native trees, shrubs, or woody vines with flower (including catkins), fruit, or cone (for our conifers). A random person who completes this challenge will receive a copy of the Forest Trees of Oklahoma book from Oklahoma Forestry Services!

To enter the drawing, please message us with links to your five qualifying observations.

We will announce our next challenge later today!

Have a treerific day! :-)
Priscilla

We are excited to announce that next week we will begin a series of online discussions "Meet the Expert Biologists of BioBlitz!" We will host interactive video conferences via Zoom. You will hear a little about what the experts do for their job and research. Then you can ask your questions!

Our first session will focus on Herps - Reptiles and Amphibians, on Tuesday April 14th at 4:00 p.m. Our experts will be Jessa Watters of the Sam Noble Museum and Matt Fullerton of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. For those of you that have attended our annual fall BioBlitz! event, you will be familiar with these two experts!

To participate you will need to register by Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.

Registration Link:
https://ousurvey.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3NRnmCxMrgraN01

Our next Virtual Spring BioBlitz! challenge starts today (Thursday) and goes until Sunday night.

So... are you ready to leave your house? This challenge is for those of you who need to get out and explore. While practicing safe social distancing, this challenge encourages you to visit one of the many public natural areas in Oklahoma. It could be your local wilderness park, an Oklahoma State Park, an ODWC Wildlife Management Area, or National Wildlife Refuge. You will need to add observations of ten different species at this location from now to midnight on Sunday.

A random person who completes this challenge will be chosen to receive the Atlas to the Wildlife Management Areas of Oklahoma, donated by ODWC.

Please be aware that many public areas have limited facilities and fewer staff during the pandemic. Plan accordingly. Check the website or call to make sure you are still able to visit.
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/outdoor-news/wildlife-departments-outdoor-areas-remain-open-public-recreation

Also be aware that there may be turkey hunting in your local public natural area!

Are you radiant for reptiles, amused by amphibians, or happy for all herps? If so, you will be turtlely thrilled with one of our month long grand challenges! 🐢

The Ultimate Herp Observer -- The BioBlitzer who records the most species of reptiles and amphibians with research grade observations during our Virtual Spring BioBlitz! Oklahoma 2020 will earn a membership to the Oklahoma Herpetological Society and one of their member t-shirts.

Observations must be posted by 30 April 2020, midnight (research grade can be determined by our experts and identifiers after 31 April 2020).