Benefits of iNaturalist for Bruce Trail Conservancy Trail Captains

Our Trail Captain Jessica Hachey from the Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club brings this month's journal post to you:

As a Bruce Trail Captain, I routinely hike the same section of trail and commit to inspecting, monitoring, and ensuring the optimal conditions of the trail. My responsibilities span from reporting hazards and structure repair requirements to maintaining visible blazes, removing litter, and clearing encroaching weeds from the trail corridor. Amid these responsibilities, my phone stands out as a vital tool, aiding in documentation through notes and photographs, capturing dates, times, and geographical locations for reporting.

Now, you might be wondering, "How does this connect to iNaturalist?" From my experience, there is a symbiotic relationship between this app and the role of a Trail Captain, that elevates my hikes to new levels of excitement and impact.

Benefits of Using iNaturalist as a Trail Captain:

1. Adding novelty and adventure to my routine

As I walk my section repeatedly, iNaturalist transforms my hikes into digital treasure hunts. I can capture images of the diverse flora and fauna encountered along the way, turning routine checks into an exciting treasure hunt of biodiversity. For example, while clearing some fallen branches from the trail in late December, I discovered this Wild Yam seed! Thanks to iNaturalist, I now know that it is not only a native plant, but medicinal as well. I carefully moved the branch off of the trail where the seeds could germinate and this plant could continue to grow. I enjoy the excitement of discovering new to me species in what otherwise can look like a tangle of confusing brown and greens.





Wild Yam seed

2. Increasing my naturalist skills in an accessible way

I can say farewell to the days of carrying heavy and sometimes outdated field guides and flipping through hundreds of pages in an attempt to identify mysterious plants. Or taking a photograph with the intent to look it up when I get home and promptly forgetting all about it. Instead, I can now take multiple photographs with the iNaturalist app, and if I have service, can get on the spot suggestions as to what I am seeing in real time. And if I’m having trouble with the identification, there are thousands of other helpful users who will make suggestions to help me confirm what I saw, like this American Bladdernut seed.





American Bladdernut seed

3. Introducing me to the joys of birding along the trail

I am discovering a new love for birding, especially during my winter hikes, when the leaves have fallen and it is so much easier to spot our feathered friends usually hidden in the branches. Bird identification can be tricky as there are so many species and variations depending on the age of the bird, the season of the year, the position of the bird and so on. Using iNaturalist, I have been able to document my bird sightings, and even with far off and blurry photographs, have been able to identify many species along my section of trail, like this Eastern Bluebird who was calling to me from above.





Eastern Bluebird

4. Enhanced contribution to conservation efforts

Being a Trail Captain provides me with a feeling of satisfaction knowing that I’m able to enhance trail user’s experience and connection to nature on the Bruce Trail. The knowledge that while I’m out there, I can also use my observation skills to document flora and fauna on iNaturalist and directly contribute to the conservation and land stewardship mission as well is deeply satisfying. By connecting the app to the Bruce Trail Conservancy Project, I am providing data that can have a direct impact on evidence-based conservation decisions. For example, finding this patch of dog strangling vine along my section. I can remove the vines that I found, have noted it in the project with iNaturalist and it can be monitored to see if further action will be require to remediate the invasive species.





Dog Strangling Vine
iNaturalist is quickly becoming a favourite tool while conducting my trail inspections, and I’ve only just begun to explore its capabilities. I will continue to use it to explore and connect with my section of trail, increase my knowledge of the plants and animals that share the trail and hope my findings can assist with the Conservancy’s mission to preserve this ribbon of wilderness, for everyone, forever.

One way to aovid missing our Journal Posts is to get it sent directly in your email inbox:

1) Join the Bruce Trail Conservancy's iNaturalist Project, AND
2) Check "Project Journal Posts" under your iNaturalist Account Settings > Notifications > Email Notifications.

Thank you for your interest in the Bruce Trail Conservancy and our work to preserve a ribbon of wilderness, for everyone, forever.

Posted on January 31, 2024 01:56 PM by shimeem