Saturday, October 17, 2015 was the Riverside Citizen Science BioBlitz!  The Ameal Moore Nature Center hosted the event where scientists and naturalists from UCR, SAWA, Western Riverside County’s Regional Conservation Authority, the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, and more came out to interact with the public and lead scientific studies in the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park.

Visitors came prepared with proper clothing for hikes, binoculars for spying animals, and their smart phones with the free Nature Spotter app pre-loaded to ensure that any finds they made were reported to the Riverside Citizen Science Project for further study and sharing with the scientific community in Riverside.

During the day visitors searched for and recorded various birds, mammals, herps (amphibians and reptiles), insects, and plants. In the evening, a bat biologist came out to lead a group to record bat calls and species, and UCR entomologists set light traps to attract insects!

We had a great time and look forward to hosting another event similar to this one in the Spring of 2016!  For upcoming events, be sure to visit our events page!