What is the City Nature Challenge?

Four days dedicated to documenting all the living things that share our planet, especially those near where we live.

This community science event started in 2016 as a rivalry between two cities: Los Angeles and San Francisco. Each year since more cities have joined in the fun with the 2021 event drawing participation from 419 communities around the globe. Last year was the first year that Winnipeg took part.

The City Nature Challenge is an opportunity for iNaturalist observers and identifiers to work together to build skills and knowledge in the community. Last year's challenge saw 2,432 observations of 423 species contributed by 63 observers in the Winnipeg region.

Are there things you would like to see happen as part of our CNC activity in the Winnipeg region? Would you like to help out with the coming event? Do you know other people or organizations that might be willing to participate in 2022? Feel free to reach out in the comments or message @marykrieger with questions, comments, ideas and concerns. If you know of someone who would like to start a City Nature Challenge in another location in Canada, encourage them to reach out to davidd@cwf-fcf.org at the Canadian Wildlife Federation.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Further reading:

City Nature Challenge at the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) https://cwf-fcf.org/en/explore/inaturalist/cnc/

City Nature Challenge website https://citynaturechallenge.org/

Posted on 29 de agosto de 2021, 01:48 PM by marykrieger marykrieger

Comentários

I know its a long way away - but that means we can move slowly and still get there :) @friesen5000 , @seraphinpoudrier , @jpage, @cbrant_cwf , @davidderocco, @k_a_m , @exploringlee , @gbudyk, @ppoul, @woodhaunt, @stephenpetersen, @richardjbuist , @iamstig @rkuzina , @kirstynleighe , @carolannvermeer ,@jimduck , @ashleighwestphal , @mamestraconfigurata, @mkkennedy , @wowokayyes ,@gpohl

Publicado por marykrieger mais de 2 anos antes

I try, but there is not much around these days!

Publicado por mamestraconfigurata mais de 2 anos antes

@mamestraconfigurata keep your powder dry - this is for next April! In some places and times, the City Nature Challenge includes other events where people can come and learn how to make observations - or learn to identify - things that we did not attempt to do last April. In other locations, organizations that have similar interests sometimes promote the challenge and encourage their members to take part. In my experience last event, it needs a nice long lead time to encourage things like that to happen - hence the early start :)

Publicado por marykrieger mais de 2 anos antes

Cool! Are you planning to run a place where people can come to learn! Either physical or electronic, I would like to help out - at least with moths (and local birds). And I have repacked my powder!

Publicado por mamestraconfigurata mais de 2 anos antes

Looking forward to it, Mary!

Publicado por kirstynleighe mais de 2 anos antes

Sounds like fun, @marykrieger! For the purposes of this exercise, how far out of the city can we be, and still have observations count towards this activity? (E.g. are some of the parks just outside of the perimeter fair game?)

Publicado por woodhaunt mais de 2 anos antes

@woodhaunt absolutely - you can see the area shaded on the map on the project page - it includes both Birds Hill Park and Beaudry - basically a big square area around the city :)

Publicado por marykrieger mais de 2 anos antes

Fabulous! We're down, @marykrieger: we'll "be there" with bells on!

Publicado por woodhaunt mais de 2 anos antes

Thanks @marykrieger for taking the leadership and investing so much time in this !
I participated last year, and have learned a few things but I’m still unsure about others, even after reading all the info.
I have noticed that some participants waited after the four days to enter observations, which is possible. So if the challenge for entering a lot of observations is important for you, consider doing this (take pictures or sounds during the 4 days, enter them here during the week), correct ?
On what should we focus during the 4 days ? Probably not making sure Winnipeg finishes first, correct? Be outside, enjoy, observe, share ? What else : look for unusual beings ? Have lots of observations? Document various areas of Winnipeg? Am I missing something?
Thanks again, and looking forward to see every participant’s findings.

Publicado por seraphinpoudrier mais de 2 anos antes

@woodhaunt, bells ? So we recognize one another as we are wandering?
Or bells for the bears?
I understand that bells are not the best way to keep bears away. Here is one article, written by a bear. Something to consider !
https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/do-bear-bells-really-work/
We met 2 bears in the Whiteshell this week. Our bell was at home. But our discussion was loud enough to scare them away.

Publicado por seraphinpoudrier mais de 2 anos antes

@seraphinpoudrier You summed it up very well --- Be outside, enjoy, observe, share!

Publicado por marykrieger mais de 2 anos antes

@seraphinpoudrier, thanks for the article about bear bells. (My brother-in-law jokes that bear bells are like a dinner bell for bears: "come and get it!") The last bear we encountered at close range was in the Whiteshell as well, and -- like you guys -- our bells weren't ringing (ours happened to be on mute). The spray was handy, however, but not necessary: he backed off pretty quickly. No spray handy during this close encounter the other day https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/93447624, but again, none required.

Bringing things back around to the CNC... @marykrieger, we're very much looking forward to contributing to the project -- go Team Winnipeg!

Publicado por woodhaunt mais de 2 anos antes

Was great fun, looking forward to next April!

Publicado por carolannvermeer mais de 2 anos antes

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