Hello everyone! I’m hoping you all knew about the City Nature Challenge that took place around the world during April 30th – May 3rd. If you didn’t, no worries because I’m here to fill you in. This annual international event helps to motivate people to get outside and explore their area’s biodiversity. It is a friendly competition between cities to see who can observe the most amount of species in their area. The 2020 collective results found that there were over 815,000 observations made, over 32,000 species found and more than 41,000 participants. All you have to do to participate is go out and find wildlife, then take a picture of it and then share your observations through websites like iNaturalist.
My experience using iNaturalist was really interesting and educational! I was able to see observations from my lab group which has recorded over 100 species; I also saw that Burlington/Winooski has reached over 400 species recorded.
What I also found very cool about the City Nature Challenge is that it was able to connect people from all over the globe. Over 400 cities participated this year. It was really interesting to see observations made from people on the other side of the world. Wildlife observations were made from every climate type (tropical, dry, temperate, continental, polar). For example, I saw that an Arabian Sand Boa was spotted on Dubai’s inaturalist page which would obviously not be spotted in Vermont.
I decided to explore the Burlington waterfront because I thought it was a great example of urbanization and the natural world integration. The waterfront is a beautiful attraction for tourists and locals and is a great place to catch the sunset. Lake Champlain is of great ecological importance for wildlife and fisheries. Freshwater fish like sturgeons and Lake trout inhabit this watershed. You are likely to spot duck species and Ring-billed gulls. My most memorable observation, on the way down to the waterfront, was a male cardinal. It is said that cardinals are a “visitor from heaven” so I always get excited when I see one.
Link to the City Nature Challenge website: https://citynaturechallenge.org/
Link to the Burlington/Winooski City Nature Challenge website: https://www.citynaturecelebrationvt.org/