Bioblitz @ Nottely Tailwater Trail

June 24, 2022 @ 6:00 pm – June 25, 2022 @ 12:00 pm EDT

Free

Free, family friendly opportunity to learn about local animals and plants while contributing to science. Join Discover Life in America and the Tennessee Valley Authority at the Nottely Tailwater Trail at Nottely Dam, in Blairsville, Georgia.

What’s a bioblitz?

During a bioblitz, volunteers help document as many kinds of animals, plants and other organisms as we can find in a certain place. It’s also an opportunity for you to be a community scientist, gathering real scientific data, while also learning about the local flora and fauna living around you.

What will we be doing?

Walking the Nottely Tailwater Trail, looking for bugs, flowers, salamanders, and anything else we can find. We’ll photograph them with our phones and post pictures to our iNaturalist project. It’ll be a fun morning of outdoor time in a gorgeous natural space and we’ll have experts on hand to guide small groups around the trail and point out interesting facts about the organisms we see.

Afterward you can see what kind of organisms we found by visiting the Nottely Tailwater Trail project on iNaturalist, which will be left up indefinitely. We encourage you to revisit the trail and post what you find! Making iNaturalist observations helps TVA know what’s out there so they can better manage and protect these public lands.

Before the event

Download iNaturalist to your phone (it’s free!)
Follow prompts in the app to create an iNaturalist account
Bring water and some snacks (we’ll also provide water)
Wear weather-appropriate clothing and sturdy shoes for hiking

Two chances to ‘blitz!

Join us Friday night (June 24) 6-10 pm to see what evening critters we can find, or join us Saturday morning (June 25) 8 am-noon, or come for both! We’ll meet at the same location for both.

Where to meet?

Meet at the BOTTOM of the Nottely Tailwater Trail (not the trailhead at the top). Park along the road near the picnic tables that mark the end of the trail.