Crawford Park District Bio Blitz!

An up-close view of a Green Darner (Anax Junius).

Citizen or community science is a relatively new term used for describing the practice of public participation in scientific research to advance public knowledge. Through citizen science, people share and contribute data to monitoring and collection programs, typically as volunteers. With the advancement of technology, contributing to citizen science has become super easy and fun for everyone! As long as you have access to a mobile device or computer you can contribute to citizen science!

At the Crawford Park District, we provide opportunities for you to get involved with citizen science by helping us catalog the flora and fauna found within our park system. As you visit each of our parks, you can capture photos of the plants and animals that you find and upload them to our "Crawford Park District Bioblitz" project on iNaturalist. There are five quick and easy steps that you need to complete before you can contribute to the CPD Bioblitz.

1) Download the iNaturalist app on your smart device or utilize a desktop computer and open iNaturalist in your web browser

2) Create an active iNaturalist account

3) Join the "Crawford Park District Bioblitz" Project

4) Take a picture of what you found
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5) Upload it and identify it or wait for someone to help you!

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A wasp mimic, Eastern Hornet Fly (Spilomyia longicornis) at rest on vegetation at Sandusky Headwaters Preserve.

An adorable Unisexual Mole Salamander (Ambystoma 'unisexual complex') found during trail excavation at Sandusky Headwaters Preserve.

A common, beautiful butterfly known as the Bronze Copper (Tharsalea hyllus) takes a drink of nectar from goldenrod at Sandusky Headwaters Preserve.