By David Clements/Special to 91原创 Advance Times

For the third year running, 91原创鈥檚 watersheds were 鈥渂ioblitzed鈥� by camera-carrying nature enthusiasts, this time recording 521 species of animals, plants, and fungi.

Six different watersheds making up the Township of 91原创 were crisscrossed by 119 observers, who made a total of 2091 observations.

This time it was the Nicomekl watershed that boasted the highest number of species with 230 species, followed by Glen Valley (196), the Little Campbell (182), Yorkson (178), Salmon River (171), and lastly the Greater Aldergrove watersheds (162).

The Yorkson Watershed Enhancement Society also hosted a mini-bioblitz at Yorkson Community Park.

This is the fourth blitz the YWES has hosted in their watershed. Most exciting this year was that they were able to break out their new bioblitz kit they assembled with nets, microscope, ID books, and more through funds from BC Naturalists Foundation.

Some very unique and wonderful organisms were seen throughout all the six watersheds.

Mammal species sighted included Mule deer, Douglas鈥� squirrel, common racoon, and coast mole.

In the midst of driving to a spot I was going to be blitzing, I spotted a deer on 264 Street. I stopped to take the photo, then went on, not realizing until that night that I鈥檇 actually captured a photo of two deer, mother and fawn.

Then there were many bird species, including Bullock鈥檚 oriole, green heron, barred owl, western tanager, red-breasted sapsucker, and Anna鈥檚 hummingbird.

And we can鈥檛 leave out the reptiles and amphibians such as garter snakes, various frogs, and salamanders.

Or the invertebrates like the western tiger swallowtail, red admiral, Johnson鈥檚 jumping spider, twice-stabbed stink bug, many species of bees, Pacific sideband snails, the reticulate tail-dropper slug, and the Pacific banana slug.

And finally, the fungus, some of the most unusual organisms, like the slime molds (which aren鈥檛 actually fungus) such as dog vomit slime mold, wolf鈥檚 milk, and chocolate tube slimes, as well as types that really are fungi but still bizarre like jelly spot fungi and witch鈥檚 butter.

Although the 91原创 Watershed bioblitz is over for another year, there are many bioblitzes going on all the time.

I encourage you to participate in the Fraser Valley bioblitz run by 鈥淭he Knotweed Lab鈥� this summer, to help gauge how much last winter鈥檚 flooding moved knotweed around.

Take photos of knotweed plants you spot in the Fraser Valley and post your photos on iNaturalist to be included.

If you haven鈥檛 joined iNaturalist yet, check it out 鈥� it is a great way to track the organisms you see and to observe what beautiful and bizarre organisms people are spotting here locally and around the world.

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鈥� PhD, is a professor of biology and environmental studies at Trinity Western University

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