Last Saturday, September 23, we held our first Bioblitz of the Condado Lagoon Natural Estuarine Reserve! This event was organized as part of the celebration of National Estuaries Week, and featured several group tours that evaluated birds, reptiles, amphibians, marine life, plants and nocturnal fauna. There were also workshops on censuses of birds, botany and nocturnal animals.
During the week, we offered workshops aimed at training participants to perform an effective Bioblitz. These workshops covered the species of flora and fauna found in the estuary, and the use of iNaturalist, the platform used for species documentation.
We thank the volunteers and citizen scientists who joined us, as well as the resources and collaborators who supported us: botanist Mario García, biologist and professor Dr. Rafael Joglar, Wilkins Otero of the Puerto Rico Bat Conservation Program, the coordinator of bird censuses of the Estuary, Eliezer Nieves, DNER management officer of the Reserve, Ricardo Colón, our education manager, Ivangs Rivera, Aquatic Waste Program Manager, Cristina Ramírez, and Education and Coastal Resilience Coordinators, Coral Avilés and Daritzel Cintrón.
Thanks also to the botanists and naturalists, Rita Cáceres, Roqui Bello, Alejandro Cubiñá, Carlos Laboy, Steve Maldonado, George Locassio, Jadiel García, Ianis Rivera, Naomi Rohrbaugh and all the other citizen scientists who in one way or another collaborated with the identifications, even days after the event.
Life in the Reserve was catalogued using the iNaturalist platform. See the species observed, their photos, listen to some of their sounds and learn more about them, here.
