The Friends of the Wilderness Park’s Annual Report for 2021-2022 is now available. Click here to see what we’ve been up to this past year.
Friends’ 2021-2022 Annual Report now available!
BioBlitz in the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park – Saturday, April 30!
Please join the Friends of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park on Saturday, April 30, for a Wilderness Park BioBlitz in conjunction with the City Nature Challenge
What is a BioBlitz?
A BioBlitz is a communal citizen-science effort to record as many species within a designated location and time period as possible. It’s a great opportunity to meet other naturalists, scientists, and curious members of the public to meet in person in the great outdoors and learn about the plants and animals that live in the Wilderness Park.
How will the BioBlitz work?
Observers will look for plants and animals in the Park, take a photo (or multiple) phots of an organism, and upload the photos to iNaturalist.
What is iNaturalist?
iNaturalist is an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature. iNaturalist is a collaboration between National Geographic and the California Academy of Sciences. Anyone can participate in iNaturalist!
Before arriving on Saturday please:
- Go to iNaturalist.org and create a free account. You should see “SIGN UP” featured prominently on the homepage. Otherwise, there’s a “Sign Up” link in the top right corner.
- On your smart phone, go to the Apple Store or the Google Play store and download the iNaturalist app.
Once you’ve signed up, you can enter observations from either your phone or computer.
Can I get help in learning to use iNaturalist?:
Yes, indeed! If you’re new to iNaturalist and would like instruction or training on how to use the app, two great opportunities coming up just in time for the BioBlitz:
- Virtual iNaturalist Training
Tuesday, April 26, 7:00–8:00 pm
Zoom (register to get the link)
Free!
Free online iNaturalist training with experts from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Aquarium of the Pacific, and the National Wildlife Federation. Learn how to participate in the City Nature Challenge and other community science projects by turning your photos of plants, animals, and other wildlife into data points for science!
Register in advance for Zoom link at https://bit.ly/INat-april26. (Event will also live stream on Youtube with captions)
- Introduction to iNaturalist
Saturday, April 30, 10:00am–12:00 pm
California Botanic Garden
Adult $16 | CalBG member $11 | Student $9
The class will be led by botanist and photographer Keir Morse, who will break down the features of iNaturalist and teach you the best ways to log your finds and photograph plants so that they can be accurately identified. Keir will also introduce you to some of the more advanced features of the website. You can attend the class, then head over to the Wilderness Park while all of Keir’s tips are fresh in your mind.
Are guides or tutorials available for people who cannot attend an iNaturalist training event?
- The iNaturalist site has a really good explanation here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started
The page also has links to video tutorials. - We also have two printer-friendly handouts created from the iNaturalist guide:
iNaturalist Getting Started Guide for Android
iNaturalist Getting Started Guide for iPhone - Volunteers from the Friends will be at the Wilderness Park on Saturday, April 30, to help you with iNaturalist and any BioBlitz questions you may have!
How do I add my observations to the BioBlitz record?
You don’t need to do anything to add your observations to the BioBlitz record. All observations made in the Park on the BioBlitz day will be automatically collected and added to the City Nature Challenge and Biota of the Wilderness Park projects.
How does one sign up for the BioBlitz?
You can sign up here or you can register at the Park. You can also make observations without signing up, but if you sign up, you’ll get a report of the results.
California Biodiversity “Day” in the Wilderness Park
Thanks to everyone who participated in California Biodiversity Day at the Wilderness Park on September 11, and thanks to the Park Rangers, who set up their canopy for us! During the official California Biodiversity Days, Sept. 4 – 12, seventeen new observations were reported to our iNaturalist project, including 14 taxa, of which 11 were identified to species.
Here are a few that were observed:
Telegraph Weed (Heterotheca grandiflora)
Telegraph Weed was the species most commonly reported in the Park during California Biodiversity Days. Its bright yellow flowers on tall stems (sometimes more than 5 ft) are a common sight in the Park in late summer and fall. It is a pioneer native species, growing along roadsides and in other disturbed sites.
The origin of the common name is hazy. Some think it’s because the tall, slim stalks stick up like telegraph poles. Others have suggested it’s because it readily colonized the areas disturbed by telegraph pole installation.
Threadleaf Groundsel (Senecio flaccidus)
Another late summer and fall bloomer, Threadleaf Groundsel’s bright yellow daisy-like flowers rise about the mass of pale gray-green threadlike leaves that give the shrub its common name. Many different bees like to visit Threadleaf Groundsel.
Small Carpenter Bee (Ceratina sp.)
© Nancy Hamlett · some rights reserved
Small Carpenter Bees are related to the large carpenter bees you may have seen around your house, but they are much too small to be able to bore into wood to make their nests; instead they make their nests in the pithy stems of plants.
Woodland Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanoides)
© Nancy Hamlett · some rights reserved
Woodland Skippers are common in chaparral in the late summer and fall. The larval host plants are grasses, but the adults nectar on a wide variety of plants.
You can see all of the Biodiversity Day observations here.
Celebrate California Biodiversity Day in the Park September 11
September 7, 2021 marks the third official celebration of California Biodiversity Day, an annual event created in 2018 to celebrate the state’s exceptional biodiversity and encourage actions to protect it. This year organizations throughout the state are hosting California Biodiversity Day events from September 4 to September 12, 2021, and the City of Claremont Park Rangers together with the Friends of the Wilderness Park be celebrating in the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park on the morning of Saturday, September 11.
Join us on Saturday morning, September 11th and learn how to use your phone to record observations of Wilderness Park flora and fauna with iNaturalist! Just look for the canopy near the North Mills entrance for more information! All iNaturalist observations made in California from September 4 – September 12 will automatically be added to the California Biodiversity Day 2021 iNaturalist project.
Already an iNaturalist user?
Please come and help show others to use the iNaturalist app! Contact Vicki Salazar, our Volunteer Coordinator, at vickisalazar01@gmail.com, to let her know when you will be able to come. (Please note that all Friends of the Wilderness Park volunteers are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.)
New to iNaturalist?
iNaturalist is an online social network of people sharing biodiversity information to help each other learn about nature. iNaturalist is a collaboration between National Geographic and the California Academy of Sciences. Anyone can participate in iNaturalist!
Before arriving on Saturday please:
- Go to iNaturalist.org and create a free account. You should see “SIGN UP” featured prominently on the homepage. Otherwise, there’s a “Sign Up” link in the top right corner.
- On your smart phone, go to the Apple Store or the Google Play store and download the iNaturalist app.
Once you’ve signed up, you can enter observations from either your phone or computer. The iNaturalist site has a really good explanation here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started
The page also has links to video tutorials.
In addition, we have two printer-friendly handouts created from the iNaturalist guide:
The Wilderness Park Biota Project:
In addition to the “California Biodiversity Day” project, any observations you make in the Wilderness Park (at any time) will be automatically added to the “Biota of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park” project. This project was created by the Friends of the Wilderness Park specifically for documenting the plants and animals of the Wilderness Park.
If you’d like to check out the CHWP project and see what’s already been reported, just go to:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/biota-of-the-claremont-hills-wilderness-park
A few tips for best practices:
- If feasible, crop your photos to feature the subject, especially if it’s not clear whether the subject is the bird or the tree, for example.
- Include a little description. For one thing, you can use the description to say what’s the subject. But you can also note any additional details, interesting behavior, type of habitat, odors, etc. that may not be obvious from the photo.
- Give the most specific ID you can, even if it’s not to the species level. For instance, “insect”, “snake”, or even “plant” or “animal” is better than just having “unknown”.
- Give a little info about yourself in your profile – it increases your credibility.
We’re back! Second Saturdays have resumed
The City of Claremont has lifted the restrictions that prevented the Friends from holding Second Saturday events in the Park. We had a “soft open” with a few volunteers on July 10, when we were visited by Claremont Mayor Jennifer Stark, and a regular Second Saturday event on August 14.
The second Saturday volunteer program is a collaboration of the Friends of the Wilderness Park, CHWP Rangers, and City Staff. On the second Saturday of each month, for four hours Friends’ volunteers:
- Answer questions about the Park.
- Provide directions (with a map that visitors can photograph).
- Remind visitors to take adequate water for themselves and their dogs.
- Give water and/or refillable water bottles (or a drink from a dog bowl) to those in need.
- Remind visitors to keep dogs on leashes and not play music out loud.
- Hike the loop, picking up trash and answering questions along the way.
We are always looking for volunteers for Second Saturday, so if you’re interested, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Vicki Salazar at vickisalazar01@gmail.com, or if you’re in the Park, stop by and say, “Hi”.
Friends of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park 