Volunteers raced against the clock to collect, identify and count as many living things as they could find in 24 hours at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge recently.

WILD LIFE: John-Kaarli Rentof, 12, makes a friend at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

The 250 nature enthusiasts — ages 2 to 81 — hiked the 9,000-acre grounds armed with butterfly nets and binoculars as part of the park’s first BioBlitz, organized by Queens College and the Jamaica Bay Institute.

The tally: 665 species, including birds, mammals, insects and fish.
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