Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) fourth annual Big Backyard BioBlitz is back for the August long weekend, encouraging everyone to go outside and document their surrounding nature.
Whether you have a deep-rooted passion for nature, or just looking for a fun new outdoor activity, the Big Backyard Bio Blitz is open to all ages. You can enter as an individual or work together as a group.
You can use your smartphones, tablets or digital cameras to snap photos or record audio of birds, insects, plants and other species and then upload them to the online database.
Every observation can help conservation groups and scientists understand the state of local biodiversity, track at-risk species
Over the last four events, participants have recorded over 147,000 observations, documenting over 7,700 species, including many that are at-risk or even endangered.
In 2023, there were over 59,000 observations, with species including grizzly bear, bighorn sheep, humpback whale, great blue herons to plains bison. There were also many different tree species, turtles, insects. There were also 1,947 species at risk documented, most notably monarch butterflies and barn swallows. There were also 12,000 introduced and invasive species reported.
In Saskatchewan, people uploaded over 2,108 photos, including pronghorn, Swainson’s Hawk, barn swallows and Baby’s breath an invasive plant that is damaging native prairie grasslands and forage areas.
To register or to receive more information, you can visit backyardbioblitz.ca. Once you register, you will receive instructions on how to participate in the Backyard BioBlitz. There are also learning activities in the kid’s corners featuring such as scavenger hunt bingo, word searches, colouring pages.