Rowan Lehmann ’27 pauses as she nears Pomfret Woods, holding still as a clear, rising birdsong cuts through the late spring air. She tilts her phone slightly, listening as the notes drift from somewhere in the nearby trees. The sound is flutelike, almost layered, easy to miss if you’re not paying attention. On her screen, Merlin Bird ID begins to register the song. She waits a moment longer, watching as the app confirms what she’s hearing — a wood thrush. 

It was a simple act of noticing, but part of something much bigger: Pomfret’s second annual bioblitz, a four-day effort to identify and document as many species as possible across the School’s 500-acre campus. Led by Science Department Head and Director of Sustainability Annie O’Sullivan and Science Teacher Jackson Lyon, this year’s event recorded 303 species, including 84 species of birds and 13 species of warblers alone. Participants submitted their observations through a shared Google form, creating a growing record of discoveries on the Hilltop.

Commonly used by scientists, schools, and conservation groups, bioblitzes invite participants to observe closely, record carefully, and build a clearer picture of biodiversity in a given place. Just as importantly, they encourage people to slow down and engage more deeply with the natural world around them. 

This year, the event was intentionally scheduled a week later than last year to capture more of the spring bird migration, as species return north through Pomfret from the tropics. Technology helped lower the barrier to entry. With apps like Seek, which can identify plants, insects, and other organisms through a phone’s camera, and Merlin Bird ID, which recognizes bird species by their songs, anyone could contribute.

“Before we started recording them, I’d never even noticed the birds chirping,” said Sophia Zhang ’26. “But once I started paying attention, it felt like they were all chirping at once.” Over the course of the bioblitz, her attention widened beyond birds, as she continued recording all that she encountered across campus.

“Most students see the woods as one big green blur,” said O’Sullivan. “These tools change that, helping students name the species that make up Pomfret's remarkable biodiversity. And once they can name something, they start to truly see the wonder of our New England forest.”

For Owen Schmidt ’26, the bioblitz also reinforced a growing connection to Pomfret’s landscape. After coming across a campus map near the end of his sophomore year, Schmidt began to understand how much of the school grounds he had yet to explore. “I didn’t realize how much land we actually had access to,” he said. “Once I started exploring it, I found all these trails and spaces I’d never seen before.” 

Now a senior in O’Sullivan’s Advanced Environmental Science class, Owen and his classmates regularly visit sit spots in the woods behind Jahn Rink, where they observe traces of wildlife throughout the forest, from birds and saplings to signs of animal activity woven into the environment around them. Those observations build a broader picture of the variety of life that moves through Pomfret each day, often just beyond immediate notice but always present on the Hilltop. 
 

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