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Biodiversity Party: Desert Museum Style!
Gather your friends, family, and fellow nature nerds for a day of searching, scouting and documenting the Wild species at the Desert Museum! We will Party in a day — what surprise animals or plants can you find?
The Desert Museum is joining in the Pima County Nature Challenge (CNC). CNCs have been growing in major cities in the past few years as a way to connect to the outdoors, document biodiversity, build community, and data sets.
When:
Saturday, April 13, 2024 (The Biodiversity Party is open all day! Museum Education staff will be available on the front patio and roaming grounds to answer questions from 8:30 a.m. to noon)
Who:
Everyone!
Cost:
Included with Museum admission
The more the merrier! Celebrate biodiversity with a BOGO deal - only on Saturday, April 13, 2024. With each adult ticket purchased, receive free admission for one child. All membership levels can bring an extra child guest for free.
Biodiversity Party Activities!
- BioBlitz the Museum and add sightings to our iNaturalist Project
- Dance to some desert tunes at 10:30 a.m. with the Desert Museum Band!
- Participate in a community art project with the Art Institute
- Enjoy talks and walks highlighting the flora and fauna of the Museum
- 8:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m. Bird Tour with Docents
- 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. Desert Discovery Tours with Docents
- 9:30 a.m. Reptiles — A Walk in the Wash
- Animal Enrichment
- 9:30 a.m. Reptiles and Invertebrates Exhibits
- 11:30 a.m. Ocelot Exhibit
- 12:30 p.m. Sonoran Animal Spotlight: Live Animal Theater Program
- Meet local organizations that celebrate diversity in all its forms
So How Does This Work?
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Join the iNaturalist Projects 2024 Desert Museum BioBlitz Challenge and City Nature Challenge 2024 (Pima County)
Note: When you upload a sighting to iNaturalist, it will count in both projects with no extra work on your part! - Snap photos of Wild species. The rules: stay on the paths, respect other guests, and do not disturb plants, rocks, animals, or exhibits in your search for species.
- Upload your photos to iNaturalist! We do have WiFi at the Museum, or you can wait and do this later at home. Upload all observations by Wednesday, April 17, 2024.
- Win Prizes! Categories include: most species, most overall observations, funniest photo, and most identifications. Can’t get to the Museum? Participate by helping to ID photos! Winners will be contacted via their iNaturalist account by iNaturalist user: catherinebartlett.
- Previous Results by Year:
Helpful Hints!
- What’s Wild in a zoo? Any birds, insects, reptiles, or mammals you see outside an exhibit is Wild. For example, a cactus wren in our parking lot would count! Strawberry the Bear (while adorable) would not. Many of our plants are purposefully exhibited and labeled. A wild brittlebush on to the side of the path would count. A boojum (while remarkable) would not. Remember: if it has a label, it probably isn’t Wild.
- Use iNaturalist (or Seek for kids) before visiting the Museum. Try it out at home and familiarize yourself with the app. While iNaturalist is fairly intuitive, the app will make a lot more sense after a trial run.
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Make useful observations.
- Take identifiable photos. In-focus pictures that fill the frame are much easier to identify than animals in the distance.
- Take multiple photos from different angles. For plants, try to include the flower or fruit (if the season is right).
- Bring binoculars or field guides. Putting a smartphone camera up to a binocular lens can yield some great pictures!
Curious about your competition? Join the Facebook Event to see how many people are interested!
