You heard it everyone, Walter wants to win this thing!
The City Nature Challenge began last Friday (April 25th), inviting people from all over the world go explore their surroundings and record the different species of trees, plants and animals they encounter. Sadly it rained all weekend in Vermont, so we stayed in the lookout here in campus. Today, however, is sunny and warm, so we headed over to centennial woods.
Thanks to iNaturalist, we were able to identify several trees and plants we hadn’t recognized before. Being able to document and save our observations has also been really helpful for learning and keeping track of what we find.
Some of the trees and plants we encountered included: Water Birch — a first for me, and its bark especially caught my attention — Yellow Cedar, Honeysuckle, a beautiful yellow-flowered plant called Border Forsythia, Balsam Fir, and some Wild Garlic Mustard as well.
Seeing the iNaturalist website filled with reports from all over the world is incredibly inspiring. It’s hopeful to see how many people care about nature, taking the time to explore, observe, and share their local environments. This project really brings people together and motivates us to learn more about the natural world — and to care for it.
