Hi all,
It just occurred to me that this hasn't been advertised on here, so I
wanted to let folks know. The Minnesota BioBlitz is this Saturday at
Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. There are actually a few events
on Friday evening, although none of them are bird-focused. If you're
not familiar with the site, it's a big biological research site, managed
by the University of Minnesota, about 45 minutes north of the twin
cities. The Minnesota BioBlitz is an annual 24-hour event where
scientists and anyone who wants to help survey an area for all sorts of
living things (not just birds, but mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians,
insects, plants, fungi, even microbes).
Most of the Reserve is generally not open to the public, as it's managed
for research purposes. It has a great mix of habitats, from open fields
to savannah to marshes and bogs. It's also home to a large breeding
population of Red-headed Woodpeckers, probably the closest such
population to the Twin Cities. This is a great opportunity to check it out!
Planned bird-related events include banding demonstrations, an early
morning bird walk, and several Red-headed Woodpecker walks. But there's
lots of other stuff going on, from a snake walk, to a sedge walk, to a
dragonfly survey. More information and a schedule of events can be
found here:
http://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/ResearchandTeaching/BioBlitz/. All events
are based at the main office; directions here:
http://www.cedarcreek.umn.edu/about/directions/. There was also a blurb
about it in the StarTrib, which gives some more information on what to
expect: http://www.startribune.com/local/north/157022915.html
All of the events are open to the public and completely FREE! I hope to
see some folks out there.
Matt Dufort
Minneapolis
----
Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net
Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
