City Nature Challenge 2020: Washington DC Metro Area's Boletim

Please join the new project for the 2021 City Nature Challenge!

If you want to be involved in recruiting participation in our region, please join the Google Group. We'll have a call for returning organizers on Friday, January 22 and another for new organizers on Friday, January 29. All planning calls this year will be on Fridays at 11 am.

Do you know any parks, nature centers, interest groups, clubs, community gardens, photographers, libraries, conservation organizations, government agencies, or other nature enthusiasts anywhere in the DC metropolitan area who may be interested in participating and/or recruiting others? Please encourage them to join the call on January 29. More details will be sent to the Google Group, so please join to stay in the loop.

We're looking forward this exciting spring event and hope you'll join us again this year!

Wow, what an amazing job everyone! More than 1500 people from across the DC area added observations they made during April 24-27 for the City Nature Challenge.

Now is the time to finish uploading (if you haven't already) and focus on identifying! We had a great virtual identification party on Tuesday evening. If you missed it, you can watch the webinar recording.

Ready to identify? Here are all of the observations from our region that still need ID help.

@dbarber is having virtual office hours if you have questions:

Friday May 1, 12 - 1pm
https://tnc.zoom.us/j/97695034573

Saturday, May 2, 2 - 3pm
https://tnc.zoom.us/j/98442746302

Sunday, May 3, 5- 6pm
https://tnc.zoom.us/j/91450329023

Let's see how much we can do before 9 am on Monday!

...who among us has not been bitten by the bug of getting just a few more species or observations because it's City Nature Challenge weekend! The rain and concerns about COVID-19 are keeping many of us closer to home, but we are still getting out and seeing some wonderful things. @capitalnaturalist, @jmgconsult and @jacobogre are in the top 20 worldwide for observations or species! Here are a few observations that have really tickled me:
-DC's first iNat record of golden club by new iNatter @kathleenkrepps.
-@ndebarros' observation of a cocoon recently vacated by an ichneumonid wasp, ID'd by iNat as a member of Campopleginae. This gave me a thrill because I had seen one earlier this month and would have had no clue about what it was without iNat's computer vision.

• An eastern red bat by new iNatter @lucymcfadden.

It's not a competion, but the leaderboards are still up and we are looking really good. Here are few tips to help our community get even more out of (and into) iNaturalist! Last night at midnight the DC area was second for number of observers with 961. If you know someone who sends you pictures and asks you for identifications, or posts them to Facebook groups, ask them to post to iNaturalist as well! We were 5th for number of species with 1,446. Since we have less native floristic diversity, and are further behind phenologically, than warmer areas such as Houston and especially Cape Town, there's only so much we can do. But don't overlook the diversity we "borrow" from other continents in the form of weeds, a list that's expanding faster than our native species are evolving. Just in the last 2 days, by scrutinizing sidewalk cracks and lawn weeds right here in Inner Suburbia, I have seen 3 plant species that I had never seen before! We were 4th for number of observations with 12,451. When you're not outside because it's rainy or after dark, try turning your lens to the small creatures who share your home, garage, and basement, and don't forget to add them to the Never Home Alone project.

I'll share one more tip that saved my day yesterday: If your iNat app is taking up a lot of space on your mobile device, log out of the app on your device and then back in. In the field yesterday my phone refused to take any more pictures and I had to delete some things on the fly. When I got home I searched the iNaturalist forum on "storage space" and found this tip. When I headed back out after lunch, I had 40GB of space to work with!

See you back here tomorrow--or maybe today in the field (or on the sidewalk)!

We have collectively documented well over 1000 species so far in the last 2.5 days for the Washington Metropolitan Area City Nature Challenge! And nearly 1000 people have contributed.

With the rainy weather today, this is a good opportunity to take a look at what we're missing that we think we should be able to find, and chip in with the identifications.

Here are a few species that I think we should be able to find (remember, tracks/scat/bones count!):
-Coyote
-Fox Squirrel
-American Black Bear
-Brown Rat
-Striped Skunk
-Gray Fox
-Southern Flying Squirrel
-So many birds
-Cabbage white (!)
-European Hornet
-Eastern Yellowjacket
-Red Swamp Crayfish
-Atlantic Blue Crab
-Pitch pine
-Indian pipe
-Purple pitcher plant
-Post oak
-Burr oak
-Ohio buckeye
-Striped maple
-Trident maple

A much more extensive list of links can be found here.

If you can help with identifications but are unsure how to get started, check out this overview and/or this short video. Huge thanks to everyone helping with identifications, especially @dbarber @tlit46 514 @sarahva @liztrain @lucareptile @nanjemoycreek @choess @erininmd @tsn @pfirth @jraiford

Please also check to see how your county and its neighbors are doing by clicking through the links here, and reach out to anyone else you know who might want to participate. We've got at least one person from every county, but just barely!

Stay safe and have fun!

Good morning! The world and the City Nature Challenge are looking very different from what we expected when we started planning, but I'm comforted by how much is the same. Our trainings and our kickoff were virtual this year, not in-person, but everyone exuded the same spirit of excitement and collaboration as in previous years. Many of us can't get to our favorite spots because of travel restrictions, park closures, increased obligations at home, health issues or safety choices, but collectively we are still making some great finds!

We've had the month of April, declared City Nature Month by regional organizers, as a warmup. Species in the top 10 for City Nature Month that were not, as of midnight on Friday, as highly ranked for CNC-DC are Virginia spring beauty, common violet, redbud, and bluebells, reflecting that they are by now past their peak of bloom and not catching the eye as much. New species in the top 10 for CNC that were not there for CNM are Virginia creeper, cardinal, bush honeysuckle, and poison ivy. At the other end of the species leaderboard with just one or two sightings so far are ruby-throated hummingbird, savannah sparrow, indigo bunting, green-and-gold, black cohosh, and many other charmers that I hope we'll be seeing much more in the coming days.

Even after the rain ended, yesterday was an overcast, gloomy, glowering day, with bursts of biting wind. I found it hard to get enough light on my subjects. I kept thinking my lens was dirty! I felt silly submitting some really poor pictures, especially after the excellent webinar by @treegrow and @ana_kaahanui on taking great pictures for iNat. I always appreciate the patience and good humor of the identifiers! Thank you to the folks at the top of the identifiers leaderboard: @carrieseltzer, @tlit46, @erininmd, @nanjemoycreek, @jsulzmann and @jraiford, and also to big CNC-DC ID'ers who are not even on our area, such as @tsn and @davidenrique. We really appreciate you!

The Washington Metropolitan Area as defined by the US Census is huge: it includes 17 counties from Virginia, 6 counties from Maryland, one from West Virginia, and of course the District of Columbia at the center. For the last 3 years of the City Nature Challenge, participation has spread to the less urban parts of the metro area, but some counties remain underrepresented on iNaturalist.

During the most recent CNC organizer call, we got a partial sense of where people will be involved. I'm tagging a few top recent observers from the counties where we didn't have anyone on the call (italicized).

Washington, DC
@carrieseltzer (NE)
@stella20009
@oneRtwoNs (SW)
@romainclem (NW)
@tudor_place (NW)

Virginia:
Alexandria
@capitalnaturalist
@telbill
@lucareptile
@casadoray
@pmcollins

Arlington County
@CapitalNaturalist
@dbarber

Clarke County
@ljledford
@stinger

Culpeper County
@krechmer
@bwhfcf

Fairfax County
@liztrain(Annandale)
@mefisher (Clifton)
@ana_kaahanui (Burke)

Fairfax (city)
@maverick012
@sarliz9

Falls Church
@tipand
@fgwog

Fauquier County
@mjwcarr
@saucierj
@bertharris
@tmarable
@judygva

Loudoun County
@granolapunk
@hthrd
@nguyenkt34
@imasongster
@sweetbriarocto
@andrea1441

Manassas
@lharrell

Manassas Park
@circster

Prince William County
@dgovoni
@pwcsjabara

Rappahannock County
@rogue1
@briangratwicke

Spotsylvania County
@tca12345
@sassafraslass
@kat_shaver

Fredericksburg
@jdwilson55
@marilynncat

Stafford County
@stephanie1029
@melaniebrell

Warren County
@venturebear
@froyalp
@lindsayjohnson23

Maryland:
Calvert County
@karyn-nrd

Charles County
@karynmolines

Frederick County
@annagypsy
@jacobogre
@markjones6
@angela58
@andywilson
@aletaquinn
@botanygirl

Montgomery County
@hjlichtman (Germantown & Rockville)

Prince George's County
@spyingnaturalist
@hholbrook
@blitzen1986
@treichard
@jmgconsult

West Virginia:
Jefferson County
@mindymabry
@ryanhagerty

Can you reach out to your nature-loving neighbors and encourage them to get involved? In the simplest form, just tell them to download the iNaturalist app and look for wild biodiversity in their neighborhoods.

For more details, you can point them to http://citynaturechallengedc.org/

The regional City Nature Challenge planning team has been meeting virtually to keep the spirit of the CNC going while incorporating best practices for COVID-19 prevention. This year’s in-person group events have been cancelled in response to travel restrictions in Maryland, DC and Virginia. We are planning virtual events that will help you use iNaturalist individually to explore nature in your home and neighborhood!

In a spirit of positive engagement, DC area organizers have named April City Nature Month in the DMV. Think of this year’s City Nature Challenge as a month-long citizen science experience! In support of Washington DC area City Nature Month, we’ve created a new project on iNaturalist. Even with our movement limited to minimize the spread of COVID-19, there is plenty to explore. iNaturalist can help us observe nature at windowsills, through the window, in our backyards, on balconies and stoops, and as part of allowed activities such as walks in our neighborhood. (Check out the Never Home Alone project for some fun observations!)

The international City Nature Challenge is still happening! Global organizers have shifted this year’s focus from a competition to a collaborative event to help us all embrace the healing aspect of nature. This encourages us to safely document biodiversity at any scale we can, even from the safety of our own homes. We can all participate in the CNC on our own or with members of our household! All of your iNaturalist observations between 4/24 and 4/27 will count toward the City Nature Challenge, although it is no longer a competition.

To kick off City Nature Month, and to support iNaturalist observations, Carrie Seltzer will lead a lunchtime introduction to iNaturalist via Zoom for anyone who wants to learn the basics of using the app. Please join us on Thursday, April 9th from 12 noon – 1 pm! We will post a video of the program on the Resources page following the meeting. For Zoom details, please register here .

here.

Do you know an organization in the broader DC metro area that cares about biodiversity? Please join an introductory call on Tuesday, January 7, 10-11 am to learn more about the City Nature Challenge.

Details here:
Tuesday, January 7, 10-11 am
605-472-5436 Access code 908439#
Open this document and follow along during the call: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QYkp0HFkIUMltJhG2ri9VmTNzdpjCp3mK2pEhzScufQ/edit#

The Washington Metropolitan Area has participated annually since 2017. Dozens of environmental organizations, parks, libraries, nature centers, and other local groups help spread the word and incorporate iNaturalist into events. There are many ways to be involved and many ways to collaborate with other organizations.

We have outreach materials in Spanish, encourage bilingual events, and welcome other ideas for broadening participation.

Hope you can join us to learn more, or spread the word!

P.S. Apologies to anyone who is in both the 2019 and 2020 projects and therefore receiving this twice!