Intrepid NNN contributor Russ Waldron spent two days hiking through woods and swamps in Westerly last week to document BioBlitz 2008, the annual event when scientists gather to explore Rhode Island's natural history. They try to locate and identify as many different species of wild things as possible, within a 24-hour time span. Click on "More..." for Russ's full photo report.

A male Litttle Brown Bat, caught in a mist net set by Professor Peter August of URI and fellow volunteer naturalists, poses for a quick photo op before joining two fellow captives in the bag for a "show and tell" at Science Central.

Grills Preserve, located in Bradford and  owned by the Westerly Land Trust, was the site of BioBlitz 2008.

Dr. David Gregg, Executive Director of the RI Natural History Survey, signals the official start of BioBlitz 2008.

Doug Greene (r) searches the "Cliffs" for lichens while Keith Bowman (l) focuses on mosses.

Kira Stillwell, Program Administrator for the RI Natural History Survey, takes a late-night break from the Herculean job of keeping BioBlitz running smoothly.

The stars of the night, two Little Brown Bats and one smaller species called a Northern Miotis, begrudgingly tolerate a quick "show & tell" and official identification at Science Central before being released unharmed back into the night.

 5 a.m., Day 2.

Early morning fog on the Oxbow Pond. 

Norm Dudziak checks the aquatic macro-invertebrate traps that he set
out in the "Bog" during the night.

A dragonfly, species unknown.

Karen Given of NPR interviews Lou Perotti, Director of Conservation at Roger Williams Park Zoo, while awaiting the tally results.

Dr. David Gregg tallies up the species reports. A final count of 1,111 different species of plants, animals, and insects were recorded in 24 hours at BioBlitz 2008.  A record-breaking effort by all participants!

To learn more about the BioBlitz, see more photo collections, and get all the details about the plants and animals that were identified and tallied, click here.

Russ Waldron is a wetlands scientist and photographer based in Norfolk, Mass. For more info and to view galleries of his work, click here to visit his Web site.