City Nature Challenge 2024: San Diego County's Journal

In anticipation of the CNC, Anza-Borrego Foundation will be hosting a webinar that explores what citizen science is and how everyone can make an impact on our knowledge and conservation of local biodiversity!

From Spectator to Scientist: Making Science Accessible to All (Virtual Webinar)
Date: Thursday, April 4th, 2024
Time:  6:00 – 7:30PM

Have you ever been interested in advancing scientific knowledge but you’re not technically a “scientist?” You’re in luck! There are many ways for anyone in the community to engage in the scientific process and assist major research. Join us for a webinar about participatory science and the City Nature Challenge!

https://theabf.org/events/from-spectator-to-scientist-making-science-accessible-to-all-virtual-webinar/

Also, one way you can participate in the City Nature Challenge is by joining the Anza-Borrego Desert BioBlitz! Learn more here: https://theabf.org/events/anza-borrego-desert-bioblitz/

This is a basic, thorough iNaturalist tutorial showing how to make observations using both an Android and an iPhone, as well as how to load and identify observations on a computer. Co-produced by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the California Academy of Sciences and edited by Joan Septembre, CNC organizer from Abbotsford, BC, Canada. (time: 28:39)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcLYIjIm-4c

The San Diego Tracking Team is one of our collaborating organizations who will be helping our community identify scat and other wildlife signs at various City Nature Challenge events.

Learn more about the SDTT here: https://www.sdtt.org/mission-vision-diversity-strategies.html.

Want to become a tracker? Join the Tracking Team by attending the training session on April 13: https://www.sdtt.org/wildlife-tracksign-survey-training-registration.html.

You'll be able to use your new skills when you participate in the City Nature Challenge!

This year, challenge yourself during the City Nature Challenge!

If you've never participated before, your goal may be to observe a certain number of species.

If you've never made identifications, this may be a fun new way to participate in this event. We made over 20,000 observations in the county last year, and our goal is to make at least 25,000 this year! That's a lot of identifications we'll need help with. (And we need to do that before May 6,2024!).

This video provides great instructions for how to make iNaturalist observations and identifications: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcLYIjIm-4c .

Are you already an iNaturalist whiz? Maybe your goal could be to help five people learn how to use the app!

Whatever your challenge is, we're cheering you on!

Did you know that you can make City Nature Challenge observations of wild organisms in and around your home?

It's easy! With this short guide, you'll know exactly how to find and document wild organisms wherever you are: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oOdAdOlO3CIBSCZ_15-lyYw71w-dorKl/view.

So from April 26–29, get out (or stay in!) and explore!

How can you turn your everyday observations of nature into valuable scientific data?

Aside from giving you a fresh lens, so to speak, within which to view and understand the nature around us, iNaturalist is a tool that lets us share biodiversity information with researchers around the world.

This information can be used to help answer and address important and sometimes complex questions for all of us related to issues like ecosystem conservation and environmental justice.

Join the Green Team at SDSU's Love Library, where you may not solve all the world's problems, but you'll learn all about iNaturalist and how the biodiversity data you collect with the app is used by researchers.

When: Thursday, April 25, 2024 from noon to 2 PM
Where: Love Library, SDSU
Learn more: https://libguides.sdsu.edu/c.php?g=1381362&p=10215099

In 2023, San Diego County's most-observed species during the City Nature Challenge was of blue dicks (Dipterostemon capitatus), and the second-most observed species was red bush monkeyflower (Diplacus puniceus).

And while every single observation and identification counts, we want to recognize our to our top observers and identifiers from last year as well, and give them a special shout out!

Our county's top five observers were:

1. rowshan_art (1531)
2. mikethebirder (694)
3. mhrains (667)
4. miramatt (615)
5. smfang (511)

Our top identifyers were:

1. jrebman (8003)
2. fjgregory (1189)
3. dromaius_antirrhopus (823)
4. naturemomma_31 (683)
5. gtsueng (413)

Check out all of our our county's observations from last year here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023-san-diego-county.

You can see how the observations are broken down by species, as well as other statistics including who our top observers and identifiers were.

Will you be on this year's list?

Are you a night owl, or do you have an owl that keeps you up at night?

This may be the perfect chance for you to make one of the first observations for our county's City Nature Challenge this year!

Beginning at 12:01 AM April 26 and until 11:59 PM April 29, all observations you make using iNaturalist in San Diego County count toward our CNC tally!

Here are a few other things to remember:

You and your friends don't have to join this project or add your observations to this project to have your observations show up on our project page. You just need to make the observations and upload them to iNaturalist!

All observations MUST BE MADE between April 26 & April 29 (but we'll have through midnight on May 5 to make identifications).

Have fun and be sure to check this project website to see how our county is doing!

City Nature Challenge 2024 Starts Today! The San Diego Natural History Museum's Canyoneer crew has some recommendations for trails in the county suitable for people with mobility limitations.

-Mission Bay Trail: If you're in for a long roll, this completely paved 6.3-mile route (out and back) is sure to offer some spectacular shorebird sightings. Trail Map: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/de-anza-cover-to-tecolote-creek

-Mast Park, Santee: Take a stroll along this nicely graded gravel trail for some stunning views of the San Diego River. Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/HGU9bwtGvgyLQNM57

-San Diego River Park: Check out this urban oasis! Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/joqq7xNYAvqya8daA

-Walker Reserve Trail & Lakeside Bike Trail: Get out and explore the Walker Preserve Trail in Lakeside and you're sure to find some excellent wildlife observations. Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YJaGiQ5CieT1HwX89

-Lindo Lake, Lakeside: With this mix of paved and gravel trails, your loop around the lake is sure to be memorable! Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/T5YTe6MpTSFC3DcCA

-Mission Valley River Trail & San Diego River Bike Trail: If you're biking, rolling, or strolling, this is a great trail for you! Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7g4c1NuyFFNkNvGo9

We hope you will check out these great sites or join one of the many wonderful events this weekend. Check out the link here to find an event near you: https://www.sdnhm.org/education/community-science/city-nature-challenge/city-nature-challenge-events.

We're off to a great start to this year's City Nature Challenge in San Diego County.

On the first day, we had over 1000 species observed and nearly 3500 observations.

We're lucky to live in such a biodiverse part of the world, where there are opportunities to see something fascinating wherever we are in the county!

One of our top marine observers, @tidepooltales, submitted great cockscomb nudibranch (Antiopella barbarensis), warty shag-rug nudibranch (Aeolidia loui), and red-banded transparent shrimp (Heptacarpus sitchensis) observations yesterday! Check out the images: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209948251, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209948320, and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/209948268.

Our top plant species observed thus far is lemonade berry (Rhus integrifolia).

Southwestern shortface (Dufourea australis) is leading the animal observation tally.

And we're running a bit low on our fungi and lichen observations and identifications, but we have three more days for them to catch up (any mycologists out there who can chip in?).

We hope to see you out there making observations and having fun this weekend!