Georgian Bay Biosphere's Journal

Now that the biosphere has turned into a winter wonderland, it's time for another iNaturalist Challenge!

While many species in the biosphere participate in a form of hibernation, it's the perfect time to challenge yourself to see what signs of wildlife you can see! Maybe it's a feather, or tracks, it may even be the birds at your bird feeder, we want to see it all!

Each wildlife observation submitted to our iNaturalist project from January 17th until February 29th will count as one entry to our winter themed prize pack! The more observations you submit, the better chance of winning!

Participation is easy!
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
2) From Georgian Bay Biosphere’s iNaturalist Project, click on "Your Membership" beside the gear icon and click "Yes, for any of my observations” under "Trust this project with hidden coordinates" (this must be done from your desktop)
3) Submit your wildlife observations within the Biosphere's boundary between January 17th and February 29th.

Have fun in our winter wonderland!

With fall equinox right around the corner, it is about time for another iNaturalist challenge!

Snakes are out and about more during the month of September. Since snakes are unable to produce their own body heat, they rely on the sun or warm surfaces to stay warm. During the winter months, snakes will also gather together to keep warm during brumation. The fall season is the perfect time for the snakes to prepare themselves for the cold winter months, which means that they are more active and present during this time of year!

Show snakes some extra appreciation this month by participating in our Snakey September iNaturalist challenge! Each snake observation submitted to our iNaturalist project from September 1st to 30th will get you one entry to win a snake themed prize pack. The more observations you submit, the better your chances of winning!

Participation is easy:
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
2) From Georgian Bay Biosphere’s iNaturalist Project, click on "Your Membership" beside the gear icon and click "Yes, for any of my observations” under "Trust this project with hidden coordinates" (this must be done from your desktop)
3) Submit your snake observations within the Biosphere's boundary between April 3rd and April 30th.

Don't forget to sssnap a picture of all slithering snakes this month!

With summer flying by, it is about time for another iNaturalist challenge!

Show pollinators some extra appreciation this month by participating in our August Pollinator iNaturalist challenge! Each pollinator observation submitted to our iNaturalist project from August 1st to 31st will get you one entry to win a pollinator themed prize pack. The more observations you submit, the better your chances of winning!

Participation is easy:
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
2) Trust our project with your coordinates (option can be found under ‘Your Membership’ on desktop)
3) Submit your pollinator observations within the Biosphere's boundary between August 1st and 31st.

From ants to bees to wasps to butterflies – what cool pollinators will you find?

May 22nd is International Day for Biological Diversity! Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the term used to describe the variety of living things on earth and can refer to variability within species (genetic diversity), between species (species diversity), and between ecosystems (ecosystem diversity). This variety and variability is necessary to sustain the vital services that biologically-diverse ecological systems provide. These systems don’t just include plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms, but humans too!

International Day for Biological Diversity was created by the United Nations to celebrate the magnificent diversity of life on earth and highlight the importance of public education, awareness and actions to protect it. This year’s theme is “From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity”, which builds on the results of the recent COP 15 (the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties for biodiversity) and the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which includes includes four goals and 23 targets to be achieved by 2030. As humans are a part of biodiversity, and not separate from it, the loss of biodiversity threatens all life on earth. Learn more about the 22 actions you can take for biodiversity here.

Celebrate this day and raise awareness of local biodiversity by participating in our week-long iNaturalist challenge! Each observation submitted to our iNaturalist project from May 20th to 27th will get you one entry to win a biodiversity-themed prize pack. The more observations you submit, the better your chances of winning!

Participation is easy:
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
2) Trust our project with your coordinates (option can be found under ‘Your Membership’ on desktop)
3) Submit your plant, animal and fungi observations within the Biosphere's boundary between May 20th and 27th.

Spring has officially sprung, which means it is time for another iNaturalist challenge!

Celebrate the start of spring and World Aquatic Animal Day on April 3rd by participating in our April Amphibian iNaturalist challenge! Each amphibian observation submitted to our iNaturalist project from April 3rd to 30th will get you one entry to win an amphibian themed prize pack. The more observations you submit, the better your chances of winning!

Participation is easy:
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
2) Trust our project with your coordinates (option can be found under ‘Your Membership’ on desktop)
3) Submit your amphibian observations within the Biosphere's boundary between April 3rd and April 30th.

Some tips to help you in your search for amphibians:
• Look in or nearby small wetlands (small ponds, vernal pools, marshes, etc.)
• Keep an eye out for both adults and their eggs! Most eggs can be found protected by jelly and floating in shallow water
• Go out on rainy evenings when temperatures are at least 4°C (adults generally move overnight to lay eggs in small waterbodies)
• Listen for Spring Peeper and Wood Frog calls (for help identifying frog calls, visit https://www.naturewatch.ca/frogwatch/ontario/)
• Use iNaturalist to find sightings of species near you

NOTE: Please avoid handling amphibians/eggs. If you do need to relocate any amphibians for safety, ensure that your hands have been rinsed with clean water (no oils/creams used) or wear gloves. Children should be supervised by an adult when participating in this challenge.

To celebrate World Wildlife Day, we are hosting our first iNaturalist Challenge of 2023!

For the month of March, you can participate in our iNaturalist Challenge by submitting a wildlife sighting within the Biosphere's boundary. Each observation counts as an entry.

Participation is easy:
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
2) Under your membership, make sure we are "trusted" with your coordinates.
3) Submit your wildlife observations during the month of March.

Happy Hunting!

• The GBB Team

bzz! Join this month's iNaturalist challenge!!

For the month of August, you can participate in our Pollinator iNaturalist Challenge! Each pollinator insect submitted to our iNaturalist project from August 1st to 31st will get you one entry to win a bee themed prize pack.

Participation is easy:
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
2) Under your membership, make sure we are "trusted" with your coordinates.
3) Submit your pollinator insect observations during the month of August.

It's July now, wow!

To start summer officially, we thought that a new iNatualist challenge was in order! July is very special for us at the Biosphere, as World Snake Day is on July 16th!

This means that each observation of a snake submitted to our iNaturalist project from July 6th to July 26th will get you one entry to win a cool snake themed prize pack! To spice things up for this challenge each snake observation on July 16th (World Snake Day) will earn you two entries to win the prize pack!

Participation is easy:
1) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
3) Under your membership, make sure we are "trusted" with your coordinates.
4) Submit your photos of as many snake individuals as you can between July 6th to July 26th!

Hello Everyone!

Thank you so much for joining our project and for all of the observations that have been submitted to us to date.

We have recently changed our project from being a "traditional"iNaturalist project to a "collections" project and with that comes a few changes including that:

** You no longer have to manually add observations to our project when submitting them. **.

This means any observation that is submitted within the boundary of the project will be automatically added. However, in order for us to see the true coordinates of obscured species or private observations this project will still need to be joined AND added as a trusted source.

Please head over to our project and insure that this is still the case! To do this go to:

1) Georgian Bay Biosphere project
2) Join Project (If you've joined in the past, make sure you still are!)
3) Click * Your Membership*
4) Click Yes (if you want!) to receiving journal notifications
5) Click Yes, for any of my observations under "Trust this project with hidden coordinates".
6) Click Save!

All data submitted to this project helps the GBB learn more about the species that call eastern Georgian Bay home. Much of this data is used to not only know what species are here but help to inform many of our projects including where to focus monitoring efforts in the future, where mitigation along roads could be best used, and more!

Thank you so much for being part of our iNaturalist GBB community!

Congratulations to @kelton_ah who won this May Challenge! Stay tuned for another challenge soon!

To celebrate International Migratory Bird Day on May 14th, we are holding an iNaturalist Challenge!

Each bird observation added to the GBB INaturalist Project between May 14th - May 31st has the chance of winning you a bird-themed prize pack! This is a great opportunity to get outside in this lovely weather and see what migratory birds come back to nest in our area every spring!

Participation is easy:

1) Create an iNaturalist Account (www.inaturalist.ca)
2) Join the Georgian Bay Biosphere iNaturalist Project (https://inaturalist.ca/projects/georgian-bay-biosphere)
3) Submit as many observations as you can between May 14th-31st.

Remember:
1) All observations must be within our Biosphere Boundary (map on our project page)
2) You must select Georgian Bay Biosphere under the project tab for each observation

The individual with the highest number of observations will be our winner!

Share with us your favourite moments from your biking adventures!

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