This fall marks the start of Happy Dancing Turtle’s fifth year of Bingo Scavenger Hunts! For each season since 2020, a new bingo card has been created, each time providing 24 opportunities to appreciate the seasonal wonders of nature (and learn more about your cell phone’s camera!). It’s also a chance to team up with friends or family to see who can find what. Through Cluster, the photo app, participants can also be part of a virtual community that cheers each other on in their quest for bingos.
Registering (which is free) results in getting your bingo sheet and learning how to submit photos. Registration is required to win prizes. Each hunt has its own seasonal sticker sent to those who complete at least one bingo.
There’s a chance for a grand prize when you complete 6 or more bingos: a donation to a nonprofit organization in your honor. The nonprofit is selected based on the Seasonal Challenge. Read more info on the Seasonal Challenge below. Each bingo card will also have an ‘action item’ on it – from picking up litter, to bringing a reusable container. Completing this square will get you entered for a chance to win our bonus prize, some awesome HDT swag!
Noting what you found when submitting photos is a great idea. Need help with identifying what you’ve got? Local libraries have great tree/insect/bird/plant ID books. Also Seek by iNaturalist is a free app which is a staff favorite at HDT for identifying plants and insects.
If all your items are correctly identified, you have extra chances to win the grand prize! Only photos taken during the specified time may be used and all photos must be submitted by the last day of the hunt. For Fall 2024, the dates are October 1 to November 1.
So Many Ways to Get a Bingo
On the Cluster app, everyone can see the photos submitted by all participants who are also using the app. It’s always fun to see how some squares are interpreted. One of my favorite challenges is the recurring find-this-shape-in-nature. For Summer 2024, the shape was triangles. It’s fascinating to see all the creative spotting that happens! For the “triangle shape in nature,” there were a variety of shots including a moth, branches, a feather, and even negative space.
As someone who does NOT take stellar photos, I am envious of almost all of the photos. However, I especially appreciate the people who have demonstrated the ability to take beautiful photos and still are willing to use whatever they get to complete the space on a bingo card. For the Summer 2024 hunt, the hummingbird was an especially prized photo.
Long-time scavenger hunt participant Esther Hill said, “This last round, the hardest picture to get was the hummingbird. They are so dang fast! I saw a couple but couldn't get my phone out fast enough.”
During summer 2024, the seasonal challenge was around a column of bingo squares devoted to insects. For each participant who completed an insect column, Happy Dancing Turtle donated an additional $1 to the selected nonprofit, on top of the grand prize. In this case, it was the Xerces Society, who helps support insect conservation and habitat restoration. So not only are you having fun exploring, you are also learning and supporting organizations working towards conservation of the outdoors that we love to explore so much!
“I like the bingos lately that make you work for it, like the trees from spring and the insects from summer,” said Esther. “We talked all about the roots of the insect names. What Di- meant, what -ptera meant kinda thing.”
“We also googled trees and learned a lot about the different varieties, how to tell firs vs pines vs juniper. I thought everything was pines...my bad. I know better now!”
Plant photos are a favorite of Erika O’Brien who has been participating in the bingo scavenger hunt since it began. She appreciates the diversity of landscapes she has to find in seeking the plants.
Strategy Tips
The main goal of the BSH is to get outdoors and pay extra attention to the natural phenomena all around us. Participants choose how ambitious they want to be. Erika just completed her first blackout during the Summer 2024 hunt! For completing the bingo card (or even a single bingo!), here are some tips:
Have a buddy
Esther participates in the bingo scavenger hunt as a family. She and her son look for things when they are out. “I also have a buddy who I hike with a lot and we keep our eyes peeled for stuff, I try not to submit the exact same pictures as her though!” Erika reports she usually works on it solo, but has been known to enlist friends to help her scout things out. She recommends using the Cluster app. “When you submit photos, it's an easy way to stay organized,” Erika said.
Keep track
“I take a screenshot of the bingo sheet and check things off as we find it. We also have a hard copy on our fridge that we check off too,” Esther reported. Erika finds having a photo of the card on her phone is handy as she is usually searching for things on the fly. But she also keeps a paper copy on her desk at home for the satisfaction of crossing things off.
Enjoy!
“It's so fun to see everyone else's pictures,” Esther said. Erika echoed this, adding: “I look forward to it–glad the next one is starting Oct. 1.”
If you need a little more encouragement, the focus for the Fall 2024 Bingo Scavenger Hunt will be birds! Read more about it here and watch for more details coming closer to October 1!
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