Diario del proyecto City Nature Challenge 2020: New York City

Just wanted to send some reminders about projects/events/surveys you can participate in over the next few weeks!

You still have time - TWO MORE DAYS - to participate in Sea Grant's Great Lakes BioBlitz . All states that border the Great Lakes are involved and there are some educator resources connected to it. Here is New York's project page.

The next Socially Distant BioBlitz is this weekend - May 24. You have to join the project to participate. Check it out here.

Our next Community/Citizen Science Happy Hour is next week on Wednesday May 27. Sign up at our Eventbrite page. We work on online citizen science projects together for an hour. It's a good time!

If you want to help with a study about NYC Parks during the pandemic and you live in NYC, you can fill out this survey.

The results are in for 2020! Thank you to everyone who participated in the City Nature Challenge around the world!

Recall that in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers of the 2020 City Nature Challenge decided to remove the competitive aspect of the Challenge and focus instead on working together for one global result. Over 41,000 people in 244 cities across the globe spent a weekend alone, but working together, to celebrate urban nature. Together, we made 815,258 observations of over 32,600 species. We hope that you all found the time you spent observing relaxing and restorative. The global organizers at a California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of LA created an awesome infographic with these results and some other interesting finds. Check it out here: CNC 2020 Infographic PDF.

We didn’t think it would happen again this year, but it turns out that the week that included City Nature Challenge was once again the peak week of activity on iNaturalist! Check out the observation frequency graph here.

Since all NYC events were cancelled and we were under stay-at-home orders, we clearly could not reach the observation levels we have in the past. However, a few people were able to get out safely for some fresh air and observing during the Challenge and we actually almost doubled our observation total from 2017 (NYC’s first year participating) and found about 200 more species than we did in 2017. Visit this umbrella project to see how all the years compare – City Nature Challenge New York City.

The most observed species globally was the Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale. Here are the Top 20 Most Observed Species for New York City:

A few other interesting figures for NYC:

• Over the 4 days of the Challenge, we gained 76 new NYC iNaturalist observers - welcome to the community!
• We also potentially added 33 new to iNaturalist species reported for NYC. This number may change as more observations get identified.

Congrats to our top observers! I know you can see these names in the leaderboards, but I want to give them a shout out here, too:

Top Observers

@susanhewitt - @irag - @klodonnell - @jafu6 -
@nycnatureobserver - @lisabrundage

Top Species Finders

@susanhewitt - @nycnatureobserver - @irag - @klodonnell - @steven-cyclist - @matthew_wills

Top Identifiers

@sadawolk - @srall - @wayne_fidler - @allisonbf - @elharo - @susanhewitt

We should also recognize the top observer and species finder in each borough. They are:
Brooklyn: @lisabrundage (obs) and @matthew_wills (spp)
Bronx: @irag (both)
Queens: @klodonnell (both)
Staten Island: @karen5lund (both)
Manhattan: @susanhewitt (both)

And for more borough comparisons, here are the top five species observed in each borough:

We had a double borough sighting of Bald Eagles this year during CNC! One in Flushing observed by @steven-cyclist (observation link) and one in Manhattan observed by @dawnvla (observation link). If you found anything you were particularly excited about, leave a link in the comments below!

Thank you to everyone who was able to celebrate urban nature with us!

While we wait for the results of the City Nature Challenge to be announced on Monday evening, I found a couple of other ongoing projects that you can check out!

Sea Grant is conducting a Great Lakes BioBlitz right now! All states that border the Great Lakes are involved and there are some educator resources connected to it. Here is New York's project page, which is administered by @chickadee09. It started April 22 and goes through May 20. Since that time included the CNC, you'll see some familiar faces in the leaderboards right now :-)

The other project happening now is the May EcoQuest for the NYC EcoFlora Project . This month is all about posting your old photos to iNaturalist. Click here for more info. This project is administered by @danielatha.

I love the idea of posting old photos. During these stay-at-home times, I've been working on that for my own pre-smartphone photos during the Citizen/Community Science Virtual Happy Hours I've been hosting (the next one is May 13, RSVP at this Eventbrite link). There's a great interview that iNaturalist posted about posting old photos on the iNaturalist blog here: https://www.inaturalist.org/blog/17268-an-interview-with-gcwarbler

ETA: @srall let me know about the Socially Distant BioBlitz which happens every 3 weeks. The next one is tomorrow (May 3). Check it out here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/socially-distant-bioblitz-5-3-2020

Stay tuned for CNC global results on Monday!

We didn't think it was going to happen this year, but despite the pandemic, we actually reached peak activity on iNaturalist this weekend! Check it out here: https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/observation_weeks

This amazing accomplishment means that there is TONS of identifying that has to be done! Join us Wednesday, April 29 at 5pm EDT for Virtual ID Party! No taxonomic experience required. If you can tell a plant from an animal, you can contribute. RSVP at this Eventbrite listing .

Special thanks to our current Top Ten Identifiers for this project who have already given us a lot of IDs! @sadawolk, @allisonbf, @wayne_fidler, @matthew_wills, @elevine, @elharo, @susanhewitt, @astrobirder, @srall, @conboy

Wow! Over half a million CNC observations have been made across the globe! Today is the last day to make observations for NYC (but remember you have until May 4 9am to upload them). I've copied all my usual warnings below. Don't forget to join us for our Virtual ID Party on Wednesday! RSVP at the Eventbrite listing .

I trust that those of you going out are doing so safely, but it makes me feel better to remind everyone to please be aware of NYC guidelines banning gatherings of any size and requiring social distancing of at least 6 ft from others. You should also wear some form of face covering if you go out (more info from the Department of Health here). The Department of Health also recommends the following if you are trying to manage your stress by going outside: "If you are not sick, go outside and get exercise, but remember to practice good hygiene and physical distancing. Walking, running, and bicycling are good examples of activities that do not require close contact with others or shared equipment." Source: April 4, 2020 Coronavirus Factsheet. If you do go outside and want to make an iNaturalist observation, please just take the photo and do the rest of the uploading at home. This way you won't be as distracted by entering information into the app and can remain aware of your surroundings and any people that might be approaching. Please stay safe out there.

It's Day 3 of CNC! Have you seen the global totals? Remember that all the cities are working together this year towards one global total. You and over 26,000 people around the world have contributed observations to our celebration of urban nature! See the current results here: https://citynaturechallenge.org/collective-results-2020/

Looks like it's going to be rainy and chilly here in NYC today. I'll copy all of my at-home options for participation below.

Things you can do from inside your home:

1) Look for observations to split: @srall gave me this idea when I saw her comments on some observations - you can ID the other species in the observations and encourage the users who made them to split them into multiple observations for the different species.

2) April 29 Zoom Virtual ID Party: The other thing you can do is sign up for our Virtual ID Party on April 29. Details at the Eventbrite listing .

3) Stay-at-Home Scavenger Hunt Below we have a Scavenger Hunt for all the things you can try to find from home. Let's appreciate the nature we can see and hear from our windows while we stay safely inside and physically distant from other people. Remember that all the cities are working together this year towards one global result and that no single city is going to be declared the winner. There is no need to drive up our observation numbers through the roof!

Stay-at-Home Scavenger Hunt

Look inside your house for:
-- an insect or spider. Bathrooms are great places to look. Also, try to think about places you might forget about when you clean like under the sink or up on the ceiling. Look in your light fixtures, too. Check out this awesome guide to indoor insects from the Never Home Alone project: Common Insects and Other Arthropods Found in Homes
-- a mold on old bread or fruit (no judgement, it happens to us all)
-- a pest (gnats, scales, etc.) on a house plant (Remember that house plants themselves (and also pets) are generally not appropriate to post on iNaturalist. If you do, you must mark them as captive/cultivated.)

Then, look out your window and find some of these:
-- a bird flyover
-- an animal noise to record (bird calls, squirrels, raccoons)
-- a street tree
-- an animal in a street tree
-- a visitor to a nearby fire escape or roof
-- something growing or living on your window sill
-- an insect that visits your window at night (leave your light on and see what lands on your closed window)
-- a visitor that comes to retrieve a nut or seeds that you leave outside on your window ledge (It should go without saying, but please don't allow wildlife inside)

Any observations you make need to happen between April 24-27. If you are concerned about geoprivacy with all of your observations happening where you live, remember that you can change your observation geoprivacy settings from "open" to "obscured" so that the observation appears in a box that covers a large area rather than as one pinpointed to your address.

There is one other way you can participate in the City Nature Challenge from the safety of your home - help us identify observations! Between April 27 and May 4 at 9am, the whole iNaturalist community is working hard to help add and confirm IDs to get the species numbers up for the Challenge. We'll be having a Virtual ID Party via Zoom on April 29 at 5pm. Please sign up at this Eventbrite RSVP link .

We know there are still people going out into our parks and we ask you to please be aware of NYC guidelines banning gatherings of any size and requiring social distancing of at least 6 ft from others. You should also wear some form of face covering if you go out (more info from the Department of Health here). The Department of Health also recommends the following if you are trying to manage your stress by going outside: "If you are not sick, go outside and get exercise, but remember to practice good hygiene and physical distancing. Walking, running, and bicycling are good examples of activities that do not require close contact with others or shared equipment." Source: April 4, 2020 Coronavirus Factsheet. If you do go outside and want to make an iNaturalist observation, please just take the photo and do the rest of the uploading at home. This way you won't be as distracted by entering information into the app and can remain aware of your surroundings and any people that might be approaching. Please stay safe out there.

It's Day 2, everyone, and the weather is much nicer. Please be aware of your surroundings if you do choose to go outside and follow NYC guidelines to stay safe (avoid using public transportation, wear a mask, keep at least 6 ft. of distance between you and others, etc.). Click here for more info .

I have two more things you can do from inside your home!

1) Look for observations to split: @srall gave me this idea when I saw her comments on some observations - you can ID the other species in the observations and encourage the users who made them to split them into multiple observations for the different species.

2) April 29 Zoom Virtual ID Party: The other thing you can do is sign up for our Virtual ID Party on April 29. Details at the Eventbrite listing .

I'm copying the Stay-at-Home Scavenger Hunt post here so you can see our list of suggestions for at-home observations.

Copied from the previous post - Below we have a Scavenger Hunt for all the things you can try to find from home. Let's appreciate the nature we can see and hear from our windows while we stay safely inside and physically distant from other people. Remember that all the cities are working together this year towards one global result and that no single city is going to be declared the winner. There is no need to drive up our observation numbers through the roof!

Stay-at-Home Scavenger Hunt

Look inside your house for:
-- an insect or spider. Bathrooms are great places to look. Also, try to think about places you might forget about when you clean like under the sink or up on the ceiling. Look in your light fixtures, too. Check out this awesome guide to indoor insects from the Never Home Alone project: Common Insects and Other Arthropods Found in Homes
-- a mold on old bread or fruit (no judgement, it happens to us all)
-- a pest (gnats, scales, etc.) on a house plant (Remember that house plants themselves (and also pets) are generally not appropriate to post on iNaturalist. If you do, you must mark them as captive/cultivated.)

Then, look out your window and find some of these:
-- a bird flyover
-- an animal noise to record (bird calls, squirrels, raccoons)
-- a street tree
-- an animal in a street tree
-- a visitor to a nearby fire escape or roof
-- something growing or living on your window sill
-- an insect that visits your window at night (leave your light on and see what lands on your closed window)
-- a visitor that comes to retrieve a nut or seeds that you leave outside on your window ledge (It should go without saying, but please don't allow wildlife inside)

Thanks to @srall, @javiehweg, and @aberkov for helping to brainstorm this list! If anyone has more suggestions, leave them in the comments here and I'll edit this post! Thanks!

Any observations you make need to happen between April 24-27. If you are concerned about geoprivacy with all of your observations happening where you live, remember that you can change your observation geoprivacy settings from "open" to "obscured" so that the observation appears in a box that covers a large area rather than as one pinpointed to your address.

There is one other way you can participate in the City Nature Challenge from the safety of your home - help us identify observations! Between April 27 and May 4 at 9am, the whole iNaturalist community is working hard to help add and confirm IDs to get the species numbers up for the Challenge. We'll be having a Virtual ID Party via Zoom on April 29 at 5pm. Please sign up at this Eventbrite RSVP link .

We know there are still people going out into our parks and we ask you to please be aware of NYC guidelines banning gatherings of any size and requiring social distancing of at least 6 ft from others. You should also wear some form of face covering if you go out (more info from the Department of Health here). The Department of Health also recommends the following if you are trying to manage your stress by going outside: "If you are not sick, go outside and get exercise, but remember to practice good hygiene and physical distancing. Walking, running, and bicycling are good examples of activities that do not require close contact with others or shared equipment." Source: April 4, 2020 Coronavirus Factsheet. If you do go outside and want to make an iNaturalist observation, please just take the photo and do the rest of the uploading at home. This way you won't be as distracted by entering information into the app and can remain aware of your surroundings and any people that might be approaching. Please stay safe out there.

City Nature Challenge started today! Our first post was of a mosquito from @lizree - thanks for staying up late!

I think it's rained in NYC the first day of CNC every year we've done this, but that's OK because you can observe things at home! Also, now I feel like it's tradition, so I don't mind it :-) I'm copying the last post here so you can see our list of suggestions for at-home observations.

I can see that some of you are observing outside, so I just want to remind everyone again to be cautious and follow recommendations of the NYC Health Department (avoid using public transportation, wear a mask, keep at least 6 ft. of distance between you and others, etc.). Click here for more info .

Copied from the previous post - Below we have a Scavenger Hunt for all the things you can try to find from home. Let's appreciate the nature we can see and hear from our windows while we stay safely inside and physically distant from other people. Remember that all the cities are working together this year towards one global result and that no single city is going to be declared the winner. There is no need to drive up our observation numbers through the roof!

Stay-at-Home Scavenger Hunt

Look inside your house for:
-- an insect or spider. Bathrooms are great places to look. Also, try to think about places you might forget about when you clean like under the sink or up on the ceiling. Look in your light fixtures, too. Check out this awesome guide to indoor insects from the Never Home Alone project: Common Insects and Other Arthropods Found in Homes
-- a mold on old bread or fruit (no judgement, it happens to us all)
-- a pest (gnats, scales, etc.) on a house plant (Remember that house plants themselves (and also pets) are generally not appropriate to post on iNaturalist. If you do, you must mark them as captive/cultivated.)

Then, look out your window and find some of these:
-- a bird flyover
-- an animal noise to record (bird calls, squirrels, raccoons)
-- a street tree
-- an animal in a street tree
-- a visitor to a nearby fire escape or roof
-- something growing or living on your window sill
-- an insect that visits your window at night (leave your light on and see what lands on your closed window)
-- a visitor that comes to retrieve a nut or seeds that you leave outside on your window ledge (It should go without saying, but please don't allow wildlife inside)

Thanks to @srall, @javiehweg, and @aberkov for helping to brainstorm this list! If anyone has more suggestions, leave them in the comments here and I'll edit this post! Thanks!

Any observations you make need to happen between April 24-27. If you are concerned about geoprivacy with all of your observations happening where you live, remember that you can change your observation geoprivacy settings from "open" to "obscured" so that the observation appears in a box that covers a large area rather than as one pinpointed to your address.

There is one other way you can participate in the City Nature Challenge from the safety of your home - help us identify observations! Between April 27 and May 4 at 9am, the whole iNaturalist community is working hard to help add and confirm IDs to get the species numbers up for the Challenge. We'll be having a Virtual ID Party via Zoom on April 29 at 5pm. Please sign up at this Eventbrite RSVP link .

We know there are still people going out into our parks and we ask you to please be aware of NYC guidelines banning gatherings of any size and requiring social distancing of at least 6 ft from others. You should also wear some form of face covering if you go out (more info from the Department of Health here). The Department of Health also recommends the following if you are trying to manage your stress by going outside: "If you are not sick, go outside and get exercise, but remember to practice good hygiene and physical distancing. Walking, running, and bicycling are good examples of activities that do not require close contact with others or shared equipment." Source: April 4, 2020 Coronavirus Factsheet. If you do go outside and want to make an iNaturalist observation, please just take the photo and do the rest of the uploading at home. This way you won't be as distracted by entering information into the app and can remain aware of your surroundings and any people that might be approaching. Please stay safe out there.

The City Nature Challenge starts in one week and even though we're all staying home here in NYC, that doesn't mean we can't still participate! Below we have a Scavenger Hunt for all the things you can try to find from home. Let's appreciate the nature we can see and hear from our windows while we stay safely inside and physically distant from other people. Remember that all the cities are working together this year towards one global result and that no single city is going to be declared the winner. There is no need to drive up our observation numbers through the roof!

Stay-at-Home Scavenger Hunt

Look inside your house for:
-- an insect or spider. Bathrooms are great places to look. Also, try to think about places you might forget about when you clean like under the sink or up on the ceiling. Look in your light fixtures, too. Check out this awesome guide to indoor insects from the Never Home Alone project: Common Insects and Other Arthropods Found in Homes
-- a mold on old bread or fruit (no judgement, it happens to us all)
-- a pest (gnats, scales, etc.) on a house plant (Remember that house plants themselves (and also pets) are generally not appropriate to post on iNaturalist. If you do, you must mark them as captive/cultivated.)

Then, look out your window and find some of these:
-- a bird flyover
-- an animal noise to record (bird calls, squirrels, raccoons)
-- a street tree
-- an animal in a street tree
-- a visitor to a nearby fire escape or roof
-- something growing or living on your window sill
-- an insect that visits your window at night (leave your light on and see what lands on your closed window)
-- a visitor that comes to retrieve a nut or seeds that you leave outside on your window ledge (It should go without saying, but please don't allow wildlife inside)

Thanks to @srall, @javiehweg, and @aberkov for helping to brainstorm this list! If anyone has more suggestions, leave them in the comments here and I'll edit this post! Thanks!

Any observations you make need to happen between April 24-27. If you are concerned about geoprivacy with all of your observations happening where you live, remember that you can change your observation geoprivacy settings from "open" to "obscured" so that the observation appears in a box that covers a large area rather than as one pinpointed to your address.

There is one other way you can participate in the City Nature Challenge from the safety of your home - help us identify observations! Between April 27 and May 4 at 9am, the whole iNaturalist community is working hard to help add and confirm IDs to get the species numbers up for the Challenge. We'll be having a Virtual ID Party via Zoom on April 29 at 5pm. Please sign up at this Eventbrite RSVP link .

We know there are still people going out into our parks and we ask you to please be aware of NYC guidelines banning gatherings of any size and requiring social distancing of at least 6 ft from others. You should also wear some form of face covering if you go out (more info from the Department of Health here). The Department of Health also recommends the following if you are trying to manage your stress by going outside: "If you are not sick, go outside and get exercise, but remember to practice good hygiene and physical distancing. Walking, running, and bicycling are good examples of activities that do not require close contact with others or shared equipment." Source: April 4, 2020 Coronavirus Factsheet. If you do go outside and want to make an iNaturalist observation, please just take the photo and do the rest of the uploading at home. This way you won't be as distracted by entering information into the app and can remain aware of your surroundings and any people that might be approaching. Please stay safe out there.

In a few days, I'm going to put together a list of observations you can make for CNC without leaving your home. I thought first I'd see if anyone has any suggestions. Here's my current list of observations you can make out the window or inside the house:

Look for some indoor arthropods (inspired by the Never Home Alone project)

From the window, look/listen for:

• a bird flyover
• an animal noise to record (bird calls, squirrels, raccoons)
• street trees
• animals in street trees
• visitors to nearby fire escapes or roofs
• things growing or living on your window sill

Does anyone have any other ideas?

I know some people have more ability to access the outdoors safely than others, but I really want to focus on something most of us can do safely and so that's why I'm only suggesting things you can observe without leaving your house or apartment. If you do plan on going outside, PLEASE stay aware of your surroundings to maintain proper social distancing.