Explore your backyard: Connect with nature across Jefferson County

According to the National Wildlife Federation, the average American child spends as little as 30 minutes per day engaging in unstructured outdoor play, and up to seven hours per day on a screen. Some studies suggest that children may be spending as little as four to seven minutes per day outside. Here at Jefferson County Greenways (JCG), we like to promote green time, not screen time - and one of the best ways that we do that is through our outdoor education field trips, where students experience hands-on learning in nature.

Over a 24-hour period, Jefferson County Greenways hosted its first-ever BioBlitz at Red Mountain Park, welcoming dozens of independent participants and 37 organized group participants who collectively recorded 792 total observations, documenting more than 440 species across Birmingham’s largest urban greenspace.

For those in the know, Turkey Creek Nature Preserve is a summertime treat and one of the most popular outdoor destinations and hiking areas near Birmingham, located a mere 30 minutes away. It supports no less than twelve imperiled species thanks to the beautiful creek that carves its way through the preserve for over a mile. And many of the same characteristics that sustain Turkey Creek’s amazing biodiversity, also draw in the crowds.

Jefferson County Greenways invites the community to take part in its first-ever BioBlitz at Red Mountain Park on April 17 and 18, featuring live bats, nighttime wildlife activity and hands-on scientific discovery. The 24-hour biological survey will bring together nature enthusiasts, families, scientists, and beginners to identify and document as many species as possible.