City Nature Challenge 2019: Chicago Wilderness Region's Boletim

That's right! It's almost time to hit the trails and start observing species across the Chicago Wilderness Region! Despite a wet and chilly forecast (oh, hi April) the die-hards and new nature fans will be out snapping pictures of wild plants and animals. Let's see how many species we can capture for scientists, land managers, naturalists and future generations!
There are 22 organized events over four days (April 26-29) or head out on your own. Happy City Nature Challenge, everyone!
Even list: https://citynaturechallenge.godaddysites.com
More CNC info: http://www.fotfp.org/volunteer/city-nature-challenge

At 10:45am, @benb 's turtle in Cary, IL, is the first herp observed in the Chicago Wilderness City Nature Challenge. Way to go Ben!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23151815

Happy April, Chicago Wilderness crew! Sunny and a high of 62 one day, winter storm watch the next. We're unphased by you slushy snow... there are unrecorded species out there! If the cool, wet spring climate has got you down, you're not alone. This project is tracking all the North American chilly, continental cities participating in the City Nature Challenge. Check us out with over 1,500 observations!
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2019-north-american-dfa-dfb-climates

@rensweiler submitted Canadian Burnet (Sanguisorba canadensis), the first threatened or endangered species observed in the 2019 Chicago Wilderness City Nature Challenge! Citizen scientists assisting researchers to map the abundance and distribution of our T/E species is an essential tool for making decisions about land management, biodiversity, additional protections and planning to adapt to a changing climate. Yay for all you citizen-scientist naturalists!

Snow, SHMOW, we embrace you, frozen precipitation! Thank you to everyone who stayed out and hosted CNC events despite the weather.

Chicago Wilderness stats as of Saturday at 8pm:

@evan8 with 158 identifications, followed closely by @sam727 with 150
@slucci leads with 87 species, followed by @janebaldwin and @susankirt with 71
@whimbrelbirder leads with 238 observations, followed by @penelopeburrus with 200 (dynamic duo!)

Prairie Trillium is the leading species with 48 observations followed by Mayapple, Virginia Bluebells, Garlic Mustard and Cut-leaved Toothwort

70% of all observations are plants
29% of all observations are already to research grade
63 out of 685 species are threatened or endangered (we see you @psweet)
30 T/E species are already identified to research grade

Also, we have pulled ahead of Minneapolis and Halifax, NS. You are doing important work, snow people. Way to go!

Mammals to keep an eye out for tomorrow: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/compare?s=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%3D

Birds to keep an eye out for tomorrow: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/compare?s=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

Some common and not so common plants to keep an eye out for today:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/compare?s=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%3D%3D

City Nature Challenge is winding down after a whirlwind of botanizing, birding, log flipping and walking. But it's not over yet! Your observations made between April 26-April 29th can be added up until May 5th to be counted in CNC.

The next step is to start making IDs on Chicago Wilderness observations that are still awaiting verification. If you are confident in your ID skills, please help us out by confirming these IDs by May 5th.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2019-chicago-wilderness-region&quality_grade=needs_id&view=species

A different view of the same Needs ID list: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2019-chicago-wilderness-region&quality_grade=needs_id

Fun fact: As of Monday night at 9 pm CT, the global City Nature Challenge project has logged over 724,000 citizen science observations and confirmed over 25,400 species in four days. Hooray for all you citizen scientists!