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Community Science Investigators: Feeder Watch

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Join us for a Community Science Investigation! This month we will learn about backyard birds as we document feeder activity in the Learnscape for Project Feederwatch. Learn about this national project and practice its protocols with the bird feeders in our Learnscape…then go home and start your own data collection!

Designed for adult (and mature youth) participants. If you have a smartphone or a camera, bring one to take pictures. Smartphone users please load the iNaturalist, Merlin, and Project Feederwatch apps onto your phone if possible. We will have some devices to use during the session or good old paper and pencil if that is more comfortable. Members and Volunteers FREE, non-members $10. Meet outside Nearby Nature’s Yurt in Alton Baker Park. Pre-register online.

Note: The CSI Team will be recruiting volunteers to continue Project Feederwatch in the Learnscape for an hour on Monday and Tuesday mornings through April.  Let us know at the event if you are interested!

Also coming soon….

March 15th, 10 am – noon – Plant phenology with Nature’s Notebook.

April 24th 9 am -11 am – City Nature Challenge BioBlitz – Alton Baker Park

April 26th 8 am – 10 am – City Nature Challenge BioBlitz in Tugman Park before the Annual Newt Count

For more info, contact Wendy McKenzie at csi@nearbynature.org.

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Citizen Science: OH My Look Up High

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Join us for a Citizen Science adventure! This month we will learn about Ospreys and Herons as we document park water bird activity. Designed for adult participants. If you have a smartphone or a camera, bring one to take pictures. Smartphone users please load the iNaturalist app (inaturalist.org/) onto your phone if possible. Members FREE, non-members $7. Pre-register online. Space limited due to COVID-19 precautions. Meet outside Nearby Nature’s Yurt in Alton Baker Park.

20100202_Alton Baker_006

Citizen Science: Feeder Watch

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Join us for a Citizen Science adventure! This month we will learn about backyard birds as we document bird feeder activity in the Learnscape. Designed for adult participants. If you have a smartphone or a camera, bring one to take pictures. Smartphone users please load the iNaturalist app (inaturalist.org/) onto your phone if possible. Members FREE, non-members $7. Pre-register online. Space limited due to COVID-19 precautions. Meet outside Nearby Nature’s Yurt in Alton Baker Park.

Learnscape in the autumn

Learnscape Garden Volunteer Day

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Join us in Nearby Nature’s Learnscape this Saturday, November 23 from 10 am to 1 pm, as we prepare the gardens for a winter’s rest and work to free pollinator plantings from a grass invasion. Help weed and compost while enjoying bird watching and all the lovely hues of fall.

We’ll meet under the covered area next to the yurt. Nearby Nature will provide gloves, tools, and small snacks. We ask that you bring a water bottle, and dress for the weather in closed-toe shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. RSVP beforehand is encouraged. Contact Shaun Daniel at parkhost@nearbynature.org to let us know you’re coming.

Learnscape in April

Learnscape Bioblitz!

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The world around us is teeming with life! Come take a closer look at this web of life on Saturday, April 27, by participating in a bioblitz of Nearby Nature’s Learnscape and surrounding areas of Alton Baker Park. Volunteers of all ages will take photos of different plants, animals, insects, and fungi and upload them to iNaturalist for identification and a final species count.

A bioblitz is an event in which volunteers work together within a defined area to observe and identify as many different species as possible in a set amount of time. It’s a fun way to look at nature nearby while creating useful data for science and conservation. You don’t even need to be a skilled naturalist to do it. Can’t tell a maple from a cottonwood? No problem. It’s easy to take a photo with your phone, a camera, or another device. Then, upload the images to iNaturalist and let one of our expert naturalists add the species identification afterward.

Follow the Nearby Nature signs to our site in Alton Baker Park and look for the check-in table by the yurt. Drop-in any time between 9 am and 4 pm and participate for as long as you’d like – though, signing up in advance is still appreciated, since it always helps to know how many people to expect. For those interested in learning from and working alongside an expert, we will have skilled naturalists on hand throughout the day to lead small groups in more focused observation.

More detailed schedule coming soon!

What do you need to participate?

  • A smartphone, handheld device, or camera for making observations (please come even if you don’t have ready access to these)
  • Weather-appropriate clothing – event is rain or shine
  • Your own eyes and curiosity

To help streamline check-in, it’s recommended that you download the iNaturalist app, register your profile, and join the “Nearby Nature Learnscape” and “Alton Baker Park Natural History” projects. During the event, we’ll provide a short training on the use of iNaturalist at the top of each hour as needed. (Or you can get a head-start in learning it yourself.)

Nearby Nature will provide:

  • A WiFi hotspot for uploading photos without using up cellphone data
  • Access to a laptop and card reader for transferring photos from point-and-shoot cameras
  • Bathrooms, water, and light refreshments to keep the bioblitz rolling

Through the use of iNaturalist for observations, all of our efforts on April 27 will automatically contribute to the metro-wide Eugene-Springfield City Nature Challenge, which runs April 26-29 and is part of a friendly international citizen science competition to document wildlife in cities around the world. Observations of the Learnscape will also support Nearby Nature’s own efforts to foster biodiverse habitat within our gardens and outdoor classroom space.

Questions about the event and how to participate may be directed to Shaun Daniel at parkhost@nearbynature.org or by calling 541-687-9699.