Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.
Camera in hand, Kim Smith was capturing a bird in flight, appreciating the vibrant contrast between the blue and black feathers. Soon after, she was filming another bird she had never encountered before.
”I’ve got a Steller’s jay just now, and then another one whose name I don’t know,” she said. But then the answer suddenly came to her. “Oh, it was a grosbeak, which I’ve never seen before. I’m looking forward to seeing those pictures up close.”
Smith was one of the participants engaging in a “BioBlitz” held June 14 at Alum Rock Park in San Jose. Sponsored by Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, the BioBlitz encourages participants to find and identify as many species as possible in a specific area at their own speed.
Silas McDermott was there with his daughter, Mia McDermott. He listed several of their sightings. “We have some good bugs down here, like some sort of butterfly or moth,” he said. Also within the bug kingdom, “Some ants we found earlier were interesting.”
Asked if they’d encountered anything surprising, he mentioned “some sort of holly-leaf cherry tree, and that’s cool. I didn’t know there were any cherries around here.”
Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful is a nonprofit that works with community groups, public agencies and students in an effort to restore the creek. It sponsors cleanups, plantings, recreational and cultural activities and educational partnerships.
The group’s website describes the creek as an essential element of the South Bay habitat: “It is over 64 miles long and is the largest watershed in Santa Clara County. Its headwaters are in Henry Coe Park, and it runs through Morgan Hill, Gilroy, downtown San Jose and into San Francisco Bay.”
The biodiversity of Coyote Creek “is an indicator of the health of the environment, and a BioBlitz is a way for us to document and observe what biodiversity looks like,” said Jessica Ruppert, the organization’s event coordinator. “So when we return to these various parks year over year, we can see trends that occur, and changes that might happen, such as seeing an invasive species pop up.”
The group tries to make the event a family affair. “It’s a great opportunity for families to get their kids out of the house,” said Néstor De la O Vargas, an organization event assistant. “Parents naturally want their kids to be out and about … People walking around, having a little nature walk, is better than just scrolling on TikTok.”
The BioBlitz is aided by naturalists who help guide participants through the variety of plants and wildlife.
The variety can be impressive, Ruppert said. “Just recognizing that there’s so much diversity here. There was a woman that came by and we had these little pamphlets that have examples of different things you can find here, and she was like, ‘You can find all of those here?’ and I was like, ‘Yes! Yes, you can, and more. This is just a very small sample.’ ”
That “small sample” was literally true for Smith. ”The insects that I found on one leaf…I tilted the leaf up, and in one little cluster we saw two or three different insects, some egg casings, some larvae,” she said. “In this one-inch area, there’s all of this life going on.
”It makes you realize how much is happening that’s not visible to us.”
Agamjot Aulakh is a member of the class of 2027 at James Logan High School in Union City.