A Centennial BioBlitz

At BioBlitz 2016, 300 people including 200 students made 285 observation of 116 species resulting in 10 updates to the park species list! Thank you to all of our partners and volunteers.

Celebrating Biodiversity at the Park!

In May 2016, First State NHP partnered with The Nature Conservancy in Delaware (TNC) to host a public BioBlitz at the park, to celebrate the National Park Service's 100th Birthday! Located just a short distance from downtown Wilmington, Delaware, the Brandywine Valley unit of First State NHP is a treasure of winding nature trails along the the Brandywine Creek.

During the BioBlitz, 300 visitors, including 200 students, used an app on their phones called iNaturalist to document 116 different species by making more than 200 observations. It's been a few years since the BioBlitz, but we can keep the ball rolling by encouraging everyone to become a Citizen Scientist. To few simple steps listed below, to get started:

• Request one of the following postcards from the park- Butterflies & Moths, Caterpillars, Flowering Plants, or Biodiversity - and we'll mail it to you! Then, come visit the park with your postcard(s), and start looking for species!

• Download the iNaturalist app on your mobile device. In iNaturalist, you can add photos as evidence in real time, or upload photos from your camera later, to identify species.

• Share your nature adventures with friends on Facebook or Twitter through iNaturalist, and/or send the postcard to a friend! And, as always, mention First State NHP in your socials, so we can highlight your cool observations!

*If you are interested in a postcard, please send us an e-mail with your request. The Biodiversity postcard is posted below as an example of what the front looks like.

An example of the Biodiversity post card with a robin, tree, squirrel, snake, fern, frog, butterfly and flower pictured.

NPS Photo