In all honesty, I wouldn’t say that I was extremely excited for the BioBlitz event. I am not much of a science person and when I received the email for the event I did not know what to expect from it. Hoping to get it over with quickly, I signed up for the first time slot available and kept telling myself, “How bad could it possibly be?”
When I arrived to the North Meadow Recreation Center, the place was already filled with many students, faculty members, and even some journalists as well. After signing in and receiving the supplies I would need for the event I was placed into my group. Since I did not specify which group I preferred to be in, I was randomly placed into the “Birds” group. I was a bit disappointed because although I did not really have a strong preference, I was not really a fan of birds.
At first I thought it would be really boring to simply observe birds for three hours. Then I wondered how many different types of birds could there possibly be in Central Park. The only birds I could think of were pigeons, ducks, and robins. As the day progressed I was really surprised to see all the various species we came across. We spotted some grackles, finches, catbirds, bluejays, warblers, and etc. Each of the birds had their own distinct features and contributed to the beauty of Central Park in a special way. By the end of the day we spotted over twenty different species of birds.
I realized that I had taken Central Park for granted this whole time. Although I have been there countless times to rewind from the city life I never really looked deeper into the environment and all of the different animals and plants that resided in it. Through BioBlitz I was able to learn more about not only birds, but Central Park and New York City as well. We are truly living in a city filled with diversity and it is amazing to see how we all coexist in this chaotic, yet wonderful, city.
