Ten people joined walk leaders Juliet Malik and Sarah Risher for the bioblitz nature walk at Nur Pon Open Space on Sunday, September 8. There were both new and familiar participants, all of whom contributed to the identification and discussion of the various plants, birds, and insects present.
We saw tall evening-primroses in bloom, a native digger bee foraging on naked buckwheat flowers, gumplant, a lone ponderosa pine, California pipevine, Canada geese, a great egret, and many caterpillars of the genista broom moth—an important native control of invasive broom plants! We also discussed the importance of our native oaks as keystone species that support more life forms than any other tree genus in North America—a true rock star worthy of our attention and protection.
It was a fun couple of hours of sharing stories and using the iNaturalist App to aid in both identification and the posting of observations as part of Biodiversity Week. Some participants reached the goal of 30 identifications for the 30×30 Biodiversity Challenge! To get your free app to help you identify local plants, fungi, and insects, go to inaturalist.org and download it on your phone.
Nur Pon Open Space, formerly Henderson Open Space, is now largely free of homeless camping; however, it still receives daily patrols and weekly cleanups. It is a pleasant, cool, shaded place to take a walk, as evidenced by the considerable use it receives. Nur Pon Open Space is a good place to learn non-native plants due to years of land disturbances, but there are still many native plants as well.
~Juliet Malik
