I kicked off the City Nature Challenge by attending the SPECTACULAR Nature Day on Saturday down at the Intervale where we learned about edible invasive species such as garlic mustards and Japanese Knotweed and recipes to use them in (they were delicious). We then went into the forest and planted ferns and used the majority of our time working with the iNaturalist app and the Wildways volunteers to identify plant and animal species.
Garlic Mustards 
Ostrich Fern 
Goutweed 
Painted Turtle 
Least Chipmunk 
Canadian Goose
I was most excited to catch pictures of the animal species because they are always moving and it is hard to get a good enough picture to be able to identify them. Using the iNaturalist app was much easier than I had expected it to be, the only problem I ran into was losing cell service so suggestions could not be pulled up.
I couldn’t let the bioblitz go on without making a trip down to the Redstone Quarry though, so I visited on Sunday and was already excited about the knowledge I had accumulated from one day using iNaturalist. The first thing I saw when I entered the the quarry was that the pathway was lined with garlic mustards, so I did a quick iNaturalist identification to be sure and then took a bite. I was pleased to taste the same garlicky flavor from yesterday and began munching on it throughout my adventure. I was happy to see lots of flowers throughout the quarry and the landscape reminded me of when I first saw it in September last semester.
Apple 
Virginia Saxifrage 
Forget-Me-Nots
I have loved looking through iNaturalist at what other people in NR002 are identifying and where they are visiting to make these identifications, but I haven’t spent too much time looking at other cities around the world. When I first visited the explore section of the website, I was blown away at the animal species that had been recently posted. Looking more into that specific observer, I figured out that they are identifying from Northern Spain and they have posted an amazing assortment of plant and animal species in the past couple days. These species include Giraffes, Mongooses, Camels, Calla Lilies, Bottlebrushes, and Aloe. It is surprising how different the experience of someone living in Northern Spain has compared to me living in New England just based off the species that they see in their daily lives.
All images: McDougall A. (May 1-2, 2021)