City Nature Challenge
For this year’s City Nature Challenge iNaturalist BioBlitz, I travelled around campus and into Centennial Woods in search of wildlife. While entering Centennial Woods, the forest was full of birdsong and new leaves were beginning to develop in much of the understory. Through iNaturalist, I captured several sparrows, European Starlings, and heard various Chickadee and Woodpecker calls. Approaching the bank of the brook, I discovered several water striders and some small fish hiding in the shadows.
Overall, I captured 13 different species, ranging from wildlife to understory growth. After participation in the City Nature Challenge in Burlington, Vermont, I can see now why cities like Cape Town collect so much more data. At this time in late April, trees and plants are just beginning to leaf out in Vermont, and birds are beginning to return from their winter migration locations, as opposed to more southern cities where spring is already in full bloom.
