Ocmulgee Butterfly Bio Blitz
Ocmulgee’s Past Bio Blitz
2013
Start in 2013 Ocmulgee held its first Bio Blitz with a goal of see what butterfly species was present in the park. On August 23 & 24 Ocmulgee held its first butterfly count at the park. This Bio Blitz provided crucial data about the different species of butterfly living within the 702 acre park. The park used community volunteers to count as many different species of butterfly as possible over the course of the two day event.
On August 23 the park used middle school age children from the local community to help do the count and on August 24 the park invited the general public to come and participate in the event. Each participant received a free t-shirt, water bottle, and backpack for helping with the event.
The park had 5 teams of scientists from South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia helping the community volunteers find and identify the different species they came across in the park. Participates roamed the park along with the scientists equipped with cameras, binoculars, various field guides, and checklists all on the hunt for a colorful fluttering butterfly.
Participates were encouraged to take pictures of the different species of butterfly they saw in the park and turn them into the park staff. Hundreds of photographs were taken during the event of which 28 different species were identified with the photographs. More species were identified during the event but were unable to be captured with a picture; in all over 40 species were identified during the two day period.
The event also had a children’s education area where younger children could learn the different life cycles of a butterfly and do hands on craft programs.
During the event the park had over 400 community volunteers to help identify the different species of butterfly at Ocmulgee National Monument. The event helped raise awareness in the community of the important role that butterflies have on our ecosystem.
2014
On August 22 & 23 Ocmulgee held its second butterfly count at the park. This Bio Blitz provided crucial data about the different species of butterfly living within the 702 acre park. The park used community volunteers to count as many different species of butterfly as possible over the course of the two day event.
On August 22 the park used elementary and middle school age children from the local community to help do the count and on August 23 the park invited the general public to come and participate in the event. Each participant received a free t-shirt, water bottle, and tote bag for helping with the event.
The park had 3 teams of scientists from Florida, and Georgia helping identify the different species they came across in the park. Participates roamed the park along with the scientists equipped with cameras, binoculars, various field guides, and checklists all on the hunt for a colorful fluttering butterfly.
Participates were encouraged to take pictures of the different species of butterfly they saw in the park and turn them into the park staff. Hundreds of photographs were taken during the event of which 21 different species were identified with the photographs. More species were identified during the event but were unable to be captured with a picture; in all over 30 species were identified during the two day period. During the event a rare albino Gulf Fritillary was seen by a park employee and photograph.
The event also had a children’s education area where younger children could learn the different life cycles of a butterfly and do hands on craft programs.
During the event the park had over 400 community volunteers to help identify the different species of butterfly at Ocmulgee National Monument. The event helped raise awareness in the community of the important role that butterflies have on our ecosystem.
2015
On August 21 &22 Ocmulgee held its third butterfly count at the park. This Bio Blitz provided crucial data about the different species of butterfly living within the 702 acre park. The park used community volunteers to count as many different species of butterfly as possible over the course of the two day event.
On August 21 the park used elementary school age children from the local community to help do the count and on August 22 the park invited the general public to come and participate in the event. Each participant received a free t-shirt, water bottle, and backpack for helping with the event.
The park had 7 teams of scientists from Florida, and Georgia helping the community volunteers finds and identifies the different species they came across in the park. Participates roamed the park along with the scientists equipped with cameras, binoculars, various field guides, and checklists all on the hunt for a colorful fluttering butterfly.
Participates were encouraged to take pictures of the different species of butterfly they saw in the park and turn them into the park staff. Hundreds of photographs were taken during the event of which 28 different species were identified with the photographs. More species were identified during the event but were unable to be captured with a picture; in all over 30 species were identified during the two day period.
The event also had a children’s education area where younger children could learn the different life cycles of a butterfly and do hands on craft programs.
During the event the park had over 800 community volunteers to help identify the different species of butterfly at Ocmulgee National Monument. The event helped raise awareness in the community of the important role that butterflies have on our ecosystem.
In 2016 the park is looking forward to see what species are added to the list and the turn out we get from our citizen scientists. Every year the park has been delighted over the community involvement with this event.
Last updated: April 14, 2016