Bunker Hill Forest Preserve Bioblitz Participants Hard at Work (Play)
Inspired by the San Francisco McLaren Park Bioblitz organized by Nerds for Nature, Save McLaren Park, iNaturalist, and Bay Nature Institute, we (Habitat 2030) decided to have our own event a bit closer to home. Habitat 2030 is a group of 20-30-40-somethings in the Chicago region who are dedicated to the understanding, preservation, stewardship, and general nerdy appreciation of the natural areas that form the beautifully diverse Chicago Wilderness region.
Bunker Hill Forest Preserve is a Forest Preserve District of Cook County site consisting of open savanna, woodlands, and wooded riparian area through with the North Branch of the Chicago River runs. We chose this site for its proximity to Chicago and for the fact that one of Habitat 2030’s members is an assistant steward there. The bioblitz took place on Saturday, September 14th, 2013 from 9AM to 4PM, with a break for lunch inbetween (grilled pineapple! Nutella pastry! bruschetta!). Emeritus stewards extraordinaire John and Jane Balaban led us throughout the site, pointing out this or that rare or unusual plant or creature, in addition to the common species. Many thanks for their assistance.
So, what did we find?
As of 10/01/2013, we had 592 observations contributed by 9 participants. A total of 12 people participated – some used smartphones and others used cameras and haven’t yet uploaded their observations. We have identified 231 unique species to species level. That means we had many duplicate species, species only identified broadly (e.g. Insects, Carex, etc.), and 102 uncategorized observations. The most observed species (with 5 observations each) were New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, left), wild leek (Allium tricoccum), sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), and bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii).
All Our Observations: Green = Plants, Orange = Animals, Blue = Fungi, White = Unclassified
| Taxonomic Group | % of Total Observations |
| Plants | 66.3% (339) |
| Unclassified | 18.2% (93) |
| Insects | 7.2% (37) |
| Arachnids | 2.5% (13) |
| Birds | 1.8% (9) |
| Fungi | 1.4% (7) |
| Mammals | 1.0% (5) |
| Other Animals | 1.0% (5) |
| Mollusks | 0.4% (2) |
| Fish | 0.2% (1) |
Become a citizen scientist and help us out by signing up for iNaturalist to identify our unknowns or confirm our observations. Research grade observations will automatically be added to the Bunker Hill Species Guide, a nice way to explore the biodiversity of this urban forest preserve.
View all the Bunker Hill Forest Preserve observations on iNaturalist here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=57796
Cataloging an as-of-yet unidentified oak gall (view the observation on iNaturalist).
We have no idea yet what this is yet either (view the observation on iNaturalist).
Our youngest participant proudly shows off a tiny spider she found (view the observation on iNaturalist).
Thanks to everyone who participated! We hope to host more of these events in the future.