Want to get up close and personal with nature at Bennett’s Creek Park?

The Nansemond River Preservation Alliance is searching for volunteers of all ages to participate in its second annual BioBlitz from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 16. During four 75-minute sessions, participants will count the species of plants and trees; birds; invertebrates, such as insects; and mammals, reptiles and fish, within sections of the park, said Elizabeth Taraski, the alliance’s executive director.

The local event comes one week before a national BioBlitz campaign sponsored by National Geographic Society on April 23. On that day, eight state parks across Virginia — including Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry and York River State Park near Williamsburg — will sponsor similar events.

During the first BioBlitz last July, experts and volunteers inventoried and identified 35 bird species, 50 plants and trees and more than 60 different insects, fish and reptiles in the Nansemond River watershed, Taraski said.

This year’s event is being held earlier in the spring, partly in an effort to identify different species of birds that may be migrating through the area.

All information being collected will be used in a Suffolk field guide being developed for residents and visitors by the NRPA, she said.

Each of the four sessions will focus on taking a different inventory. Volunteers will work hand in hand with local experts, including Old Dominion University graduate students in biology, master naturalists and an arborist. The experts will make the event informative and entertaining, Taraski said.

Each participant will be given notebooks and pencils to record their findings, Taraski said.

“We are hoping families will come and bring their children,” Taraski said.

“We want people to look and listen to the different chirping melodies … and record what they see and hear. We want people to see how rich this area is as a natural habitat and encourage families to have their own BioBlitz events with their children.”

For more information or to sign up for the BioBlitz, call taraski.nrpa@gmail.com.