2015 – Year in Review

It has now been just over a year since the launch of this project, so I wanted to send out some numbers from 2015:

• A total of 45 people sent in wildlife observations during 2015. Many of those people have participated more than once. Thanks, everyone!
• 179 wildlife observations have been recorded on the wildlife map.
• A total of 90 species of plants and wildlife were observed.
• The most commonly reported wildlife species was the American Mink (20 observations). Mink are fairly common along the Truckee River, especially in downtown Reno. They’re lots of fun to watch, so keep your eyes on the riverbanks when you’re out walking!
• Two species were observed that I could find no previous record of in our area: The Leopard slug and the Red-eared slider.

For more info on what happened along the Truckee River in 2015, you can browse the blog archives. I had a lot of fun exploring the Truckee over the past year, documenting wildlife sightings and changes in the seasons, and connecting with other people who enjoyed the same. However, blogging took a lot of time away from something else that I would like to do, which is to add more species accounts to this site.

This year, I am planning to do things a little differently. I’d like to spend more time researching the plants and wildlife that live along the Truckee River, and publish new species accounts as I go. At the end of each month, I will post an update to the blog with links to the new species accounts and a little bit of info about the wildlife, wildflowers, etc. that were out and about on the Truckee that month — slowly building a monthly wildlife calendar for the Truckee.

The Truckee River in January is icy and beautiful. Be sure to get out and enjoy it when you can!

Truckee River, Oxbow Nature Study Area. Jan 8 2016.