Diario del proyecto City Nature Challenge 2019: The Wasatch

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the City Nature Challenge! Thanks to you, we blew past 3,000 observations and are on our way to identifying 600 different species living with us along the Wasatch. We've already had a report of one iNaturalist first record (a species never before documented on iNat) and other exciting finds are sure to emerge as we continue identifying your observations.

We have until Sunday, May 5, to upload and identify observations for the final count. So go ahead and upload any observations you haven't gotten around to posting yet and help us make identifications. The more observations we get ID'd, the higher our species count will be.

If you want to help ID but you're new to making identifications, please head to the Getting Started page and click on the "Identifying Observations" tab to learn about how to make the most helpful IDs. http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

Check back here in the coming days for more news. We'll be posting exciting observations we discover as we comb through all the data you gathered. And on Monday, May 6, we'll receive the final international totals and analysis of the impact of our efforts.

What an amazing four days of exploring the natural world! Thank you!

The 2019 Utah CNC partners have been hosting some wonderful BioBlitz events all weekend! There are three remaining events for this last evening of the challenge. If you are nearby, come join in the fun!

Salt Lake County:
Monday, April 29, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
​Join the Salt Lake County Library in their family BioBlitz event at the Taylorsville Library.

Monday, April 29, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
​Salt Lake City Parks & Public Lands is hosting an evening City Nature Challenge BioBlitz at Wasatch Hollow Park (1631 E 1700 S.). See more information here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e044ca9a72aaafd0-family1

Utah County:
Monday, April 29, 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
The Jordan River Commission will be at Intel Park (6800 N Saratoga Rd.) in Saratoga Springs for a family BioBlitz event.

It's the final day of the City Nature Challenge 2019. Take some time today - during lunch, after school, after dinner - to make your final observations for the Challenge and let's break 3000 for Team Wasatch!

Keep your eye out for more beautiful painted ladies. Your observations have captured their unusually large migration this year. They were reported in the millions in southern California in March. The superbloom gave their caterpillars plenty to eat. Right now, painted ladies are tied with mallard ducks (the perennial winner) as the most observed species by the Wasatch Team.

Thanks to everyone who has been making observations and to all who have been helping with identifications.

Get outside and do some science!

Team Wasatch had a great day yesterday! You made 1184 observations of 289 species. Get outside today and keep those totals climbing. You can enjoy a bioblitz and guided nature walks at the Swaner Ecocenter and Preserve in Summit County from 8:30 to 10:30 this morning. It's going to be a beautiful day wherever you are to explore the nature near you!

Mallard duck is in the lead again as the most observed species in the Wasatch City Nature Challenge. It was at the top of the list in 2017 and 2018, too. The common dandelion is in second, as it has been for the past two year, but painted ladies are making a surprisingly strong showing in third!

A few highlights from yesterday:

A beaver swimming in the Provo River: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23567512

A garter snake in Ogden: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23430313

Mosquito fish in Salt Lake City: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23574461

A gorgeous anise swallowtail in Cache County: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23485733

A sandhill crane in Box Elder County: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23429256

Yellow-headed blackbirds in Davis County: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23248005

Can't wait to see what you observe today!

Welcome to Day 2 of the City Nature Challenge 2019! Today is a great day to grab your family and friends and go to a bioblitz. The Natural History Museum of Utah has teamed up with wonderful partners to offer bioblitzes in Salt Lake, Cache, Box Elder, Weber, and Davis Counties today. You can find all the details here: www.nhmu.utah.edu/challenge .

Of course, you can make observations wherever you go today to keep our totals climbing. Today is going to be huge! Here are a couple of great observations from yesterday for inspiration:

And adorable robin: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23298305

A lazuli bunting: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23274272

A hitchhiking spotless ladybug: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/23238446

Thank you to all NHMU's partners on the Wasatch Team: Hartland Community for Youth and Families, The Jordan River Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Stokes Nature Center, Utah Open Lands, The Nature Conservancy, Ogden Nature Center, and Swaner Preserve and Ecocenter.

Get outside and do some science!

It's a bit of a blustery day, but Team Wasatch is off to a great start with 65 species documented in the first twelve hours of the City Nature Challenge 2019. Remember, any observation you make in Cache, Box Elder, Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Summit, and Utah county will automatically be counted in the project. We're excited to see your observations of the amazing wild plants and animals in your community come rolling in!

There are free City Nature Challenge events happening all weekend. Find one near you, grab your friends and family, get outside, and do some science! Here's a list of the events in all seven participating counties: nhmu.utah.edu/challenge

Go Team Wasatch!

Now is the time to introduce your friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors to iNaturalist and encourage them to join the City Nature Challenge!

The Wasatch Team is bigger and better than ever in 2019. We're excited to welcome two new counties (Box Elder and Cache) to the crew of five that participated last year (Davis, Salt Lake, Summit, Utah, and Weber). Any iNaturalist observation you make in these seven counties between April 26 and April 29 will count in the City Nature Challenge.

Thanks to the wonderful new partners who have joined the team, there are free City Nature Challenge events happening Friday through Monday. Check the Natural History Museum of Utah website to find an event near you: nhmu.utah.edu/challenge If you can't make it to an event, get out and document the nature in your own neighborhood.

In 2018 we recorded 3670 observations of 628 species. We can’t wait to see how many observations and species you contribute in 2019!