Results for City Nature Challenge 2020!
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_willsTop Identifiers
@sadawolk - @srall - @wayne_fidler - @allisonbf - @elharo - @susanhewittWe 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!
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Being that I am a mollusk person, I was very surprised and happy to find a shell of the Thick-lipped Drill on my favorite little beach on Randall's Island in Manhattan:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/44013496
On iNat this species has been found four times on the outer coast in NYC – in Queens, in Brooklyn, and in two places on Staten Island – but this is the first time anyone has found it right in the heart of the City.
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Insect-wise (although the long CNC weekend was too cold for a lot of insects) I was thrilled to find the Privet Leafhopper for the first time:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43477196
I have to thank @ginsengandsoon (who did not take part in CNC this year) for turning me on to a lot of small insects, including various cool small hoppers last year! Matt is the person who has the only other iNat records (two of them) of the Privet Leafhopper in NYC: one was from the Hallet's Nature Preserve in Central Park, and one was in Queens in the Socrates Sculpture Park.
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I also noticed some galls on a small oak tree on the East River Walk. I thought maybe they were created by the Mealy Oak Gall Wasp, but it now seems they were probably created by the Oak Rough Bulletgall Wasp, which seems a lot more likely geographically, and in terms of host species.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43718796
The row of trees was put in several years ago, and I suppose this gall wasp may have travelled in with the trees, which I assume came from a nursery outside the city.
I had to hook my cane up into the tree to knock a few galls off a small twig, as I did not have a stepladder with me!
Wow. Just wow.
I know we weren't supposed to be competitive this year, and I wasn't, but when I noticed a few days ago that I held the lead in the https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2020-staten-island I was dumbfounded. After all, I only uploaded my first Observation to iNaturalist on March 18!
The other leaders here keep me humble; my numbers are nothing close to theirs. (@susanhewitt do you ever sleep??)
To my fellow Staten Islanders I say, "Where were you?" The weather that weekend wasn't the best, but Saturday was lovely and on Monday I discovered the pleasure of getting out on a slightly chilly, overcast day for a socially-distanced walk in a quiet park. I'm already watching the weather forecast for a misty (but not heavily rainy) day when I can get to the park where @mreala, who was one Observation and one Species behind me, made his Observations. I don't know how, but I've never been there.
While we had the benefit of an early spring, we were at a big disadvantage from the dismal weather and of not having transportation other than feet or bikes for many of us. I was somewhat competitive I admit. Love the fabulous city participation numbers and all those new observers. I never considered a stepladder as a part of the observation kit. I like most NYers have a light aluminum folding one. Staten Island is normally a favorite hunting ground. That said, off to Google Maps to see how far it is to Arthur Kill by bike.
Yes, it was not a competition this year, but I was proud to come in 3rd worldwide in terms of number of observations I made (2,576) :
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2020?tab=observers
The second place person (who had only 10% more observations than I did) is the curator of the Moscow University Herbarium and the head of the Flora of Russia project.
The first place was taken by what I assume is a group account with about 5,000 observations, none of which had any photos or any sound recordings at all, both of which seem more than a bit "borderline" to me as far as iNat goes?
Here is what they say about themselves:
"EcoRecord is the Local Environmental Record Centre (LERC) for Birmingham [UK] and the Black Country. ecorecord.org.uk" ... These records come from many sources, ranging from professional ecologists to amateur expert naturalists to other wildlife enthusiasts."
@susanhewitt Awesome finds! Thanks for letting us know about them!
I did a little more observation sorting and if you only look at Verifiable observations (those are ones that are eligible for Research Grade: have evidence (photo or sound), are geotagged and timestamped, and are NOT captive/cultivated), then you are #2 for the WHOLE City Nature Challenge, Susan! Congrats!! Here's a link to those observations. GREAT OBSERVING!
@irag I definitely missed doing a five borough tour like I usually would for CNC. This year I stayed close to home, so 100% of my CNC observations were from Queens.
@karen5lund We always need more Staten Island action! Usually Greenbelt Conservancy and Freshkills Park Alliance do events for CNC and last year there were a few iNat meet-ups, too. Someday we'll be able to do these things again!
Reed's Willow Basket Swamp Park is doable for me if I can get on the Staten Island Ferry. There are very few observations there and only by these people @pavelp , @mayarose94 and @mayacrow . Is it recommended? High Rock Park is nearby too. I think I've been there twice. I couldn't go sooner than three weeks though.
Thanks Kelly. And @srall (Sara) in New Jersey is 4th in the world by that same metric! Last year Sara was the one who managed to pull Staten Island up into the heavy-hitters realm within NYC.
If it hadn't been for the Covid pandemic I would have visited Staten Island with Sara and others during this CNC, and that would have been really great all round. Hope to do that another time now.
My Monday walk in Great Kills GNRA was chosen because there were no Observations there.
I am close enough to High Rock Park (and, by extension, other parts of the Greenbelt) to walk, but unfortunately it requires walking on a road with no sidewalks, little shoulder, and the Egbertville Ravine too close for comfort. I am reluctant to take a bus at this time, which is my usual mode of transportation. (Aside to @irag : High Rock, Basket Willow Swamp and several other locations--such as Latourette Park--comprise the larger Greenbelt.)
I was so sad not to be able to come into Staten Island (and Randall Island) this year! I was so looking forward to meeting up with @susanhewitt and leading two meet-ups. Philly pointed out that Bucks County was in their territory, and their parks are all open so I went there instead.
@irag yes, I think Reeds is worth visiting, and a bike would be a good way as the parking is a bit limited (you can enter on Annefiled Ct. next to the biggest ruined mansion under construction I've ever seen. Do be aware the area and access are extremely hilly so it might take a bit longer to get to than it looks on paper. Clove Lakes always got lots of observations in previous years' blitzes. I was surprised by Eibs Pond, it had more diversity than I expected. And I'd recommend the Greenbelt Nature Center area. I did the east half of Deer Park, and it's more dry woods than wetland so would have different species, though it's not exactly old-growth. If your bike can handle trails you could probably take the Greenbelt through the park to get to most of those other parks as well.
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