For the City Nature Challenge BioBlitz, I took a walk across campus from my dorm on Redstone to Centennial Woods. Along the way I stopped at places like the redstone pines, the garden outside Jeffords Hall, and the Davis green to observe different species.
My experience using iNaturalist was great. The app was super easy to use and I liked how it automatically uploaded my observations to the City Nature Challenge and my lab group so I did not have to worry about doing it each time. The recommended species were also super helpful for identifying species I wasn’t 100% sure about.
In total, I identified 12 different species of trees, flowers, birds, and animals. Some of my favorites were the chipping sparrow I saw in Centennial Woods and the tulips I saw in the Jeffords garden. Some of the species I identified are pictured below.
What I find most interesting about the reports coming in from other cities across the globe is the sheer number of people participating and the number of observations they are making. There are almost 100,000 people making observations and the top city has over 110,000 observations. I think that it is so cool that people worldwide are coming together to appreciate nature in their own backyards.