City Nature Challenge 2017

Hi Everyone!

Wanted to let you all know that City Nature Challenge is happening again this year, April 14-18, 2017! Much like last year it’s the SF Bay Area (all 9 Bay Area counties) vs. Los Angeles County, but this year we’re also adding 14 other cities across the US! You can see the full list of cities here: http://www.calacademy.org/citizen-science/city-nature-challenge. We expect the competition to be fierce with so many cities joining in this year!

I’ve tagged you in this journal post (or in the comments) because you’re either: (1) a top observer from last year’s City Nature Challenge, and/or (2) a top observer in the SF Bay Area or one (or more!) of its counties over the last year or so. We’re really hoping you’ll participate in this year’s City Nature Challenge – while we know getting observations from as many people as we can is important, we also know that it’s top iNat observers like you that will really push us ahead in the number of observations made and especially the number of species found in the Bay Area!

The easiest way to join in is to just make as many observations of as many species as possible in any of the nine counties that touch SF Bay during April 14-18. Helping with IDs will also increase our species number, so that’s a great way to help out as well. And of course, spread the word! City Nature Challenge 2017: San Francisco Bay Area iNaturalist project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2017-san-francisco-bay-area

The details: the CNC runs from 12:01 AM on Friday, 4/14 to 11:59 PM on Tuesday, 4/18. All observations from all nine Bay Area counties (Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Mateo, SF) counts. We're announcing results on Saturday, 4/22, so try to get all your observations uploaded by then! Also, the more observations we can get identified down to species by then, the higher our species number will be.

NHMLA has made a leaderboard page - it should be dynamic and will shuffle the order of the cities based on who has made the most observations: https://nhm.org/nature/citizen-science/city-nature-challenge-2017-leaderboard

We’ve also been brainstorming (thanks @kueda!) about places around the Bay that would be really great to have people go to during the City Nature Challenge – places that have high diversity and/or unique species. You can see the list here (first sheet, “Places”), and please feel free to add other places you think should be on the list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Aeg_ELc0h9IiHNN7N3rKkp1JZRtIk-8p275rcl_Eqx4/edit?usp=sharing

Rebecca (@rebeccafay) and I (@kestrel) are planning to lead some trips to a few of those places that you’re welcome to join us for! On the Google spreadsheet linked above, see the second sheet (“TRIPS!”) and add your name if you’d like to join us on one or more of these expeditions. Also, if you’re willing to lead a trip to one of the places listed (or any other Bay Area place!) please add the place, the date, your name as the leader, and potential taxa/species of interest to the Google spreadsheet. And then others can sign up to join you!

We’ll also be adding bigger, public events to our Academy bioblitz page (http://www.calacademy.org/citizen-science/bioblitzes), and you’re welcome to join those events as well. If your organization will be holding an event in the April 14-18 window that people could come to and make iNaturalist observations for the City Nature Challenge, please let me know and we’ll add it to this page and it will be promoted via the Academy’s social media accounts.

Please feel free to brainstorm other ideas, ask questions, etc. in the comments – and definitely add others to this journal post via tagging them in the comments!

@tiwane @leftcoastnaturalist @sea-kangaroo @direbecca @cae1 @robberfly @metsa @suzm @mrchasse @nelruzam @damontighe @loarie @gyrrlfalcon @kerrywininger @leslie_flint @bayareafamiliesoutside @cydno @alisakim @sarahleach @sciencebabe @tomv @bjoelle @christina19 @esppim @bill19 @raulagrait @wbsimey @boschniakia @shaunmichael @bluebird101 @tedbarone @globetrot @brettstevenson @leptonia @ianvanwert @saltydida @peekay122 @ryderdiaz @bollyanna @amybird @adrained @libbing_life @aschlosser @rgb @tomborden @bjarni @marionanthonisen @mazer @hfabian @kmarie333 @dpom @catchang @anudibranchmom @avocat @truthseqr @kevinhintsa @jmaughn @lenaz @richardwasson @lgottlieb @wildmarin @pdvmushroom @dgreenberger @joelle @reallifeecology @philwarren @dave-barry @ross2 @utopia4sharing @icosahedron @darinjm7 @matty @evelynch @rhislop @kalibardo @th0th @rockybajada @cjs041 @anaxyrus @thefruithunter @constance @lemurdillo @suzrj @ericsimons @oddirt @geodani @c_michael_hogan @newtpatrol @alexshepard @shellbell @mikewitkowski @alan_rockefeller @coffearobusta42 @isaj @ergunnison @jamie9 @misserika @laceypantalones @stephen_sikes @rudyard @americannaturalist90 @paloma @calopteryx @ocean_beach_goth @rappman @ashley_w @alejandrobrambila @michaelvoeltz @xizitro33 @deekyn @lynnmurphy @terrydad2 @melaniekyrajohn @mmcmasters @npdoty @jennifer_w @jasonar @lorri-gong @harmoge @nmcnear @marabethg @abr @refb @djrawlinson @ajwacaser @syntheticperson @danielgeorge @kathycuneo @marinmaverick @ewrubel @johndumbacher @thesunisbig @wendy_h @molly_l @protecthabitat @naturechris @allisonpeters @janet_d @mirone @eric_h @parkranger9 @ejhensel @feather @nrios13 @aimeearmstrong @tkoffel @ichihuahua @brandon-bredo @jason00 @acruz @wtg1940 @bsanchez20 @superjgrover @cvvigil @brook @julieecho @wildlife_seeker @eccentric_entomophile @miketroll @lillora @hasfitz5 @sharondulava @antnat @tarantulalover @kathy17 @seanp @sunfishmoonlight @aliashraf @james35 @eddiebug @edoswalt @arielcherbowsky @glmory @cizauskas @pmdenn @dmontijo @deejay @pocketmouse @merav @lazarus @brycestauble @mcclellanranch @paranger @datnatureguy @megansixt @marisa_a @bobcat88 @joe_cutler @susiebennett @sleepypenguin @temminicki @monigeek @kewright @wooac @juliebwalters @cdbrewer @giraffe @fher @j-southworth @amy_mautz @dominique-sevi @vladthegreen @a2lau @farinosa @kschnei @treeluvr @serpophaga @allenratzlaff @cole7 @pbrastow @phytofield @ycarnice @rademacherdan

Publicado el marzo 16, 2017 06:56 TARDE por kestrel kestrel

Comentarios

@kestrel, this is super exciting! A few things:

What time does the this end on the 18th? midnight in each time zone? noon?
When will the numbers be tabulated, as sometimes it takes a day or two for everyone to upload their observations made during this time.
Don't forget that we need identifiers to help get things to species and add to our count! Use this link to pull up observations from our project that need identification.

Heres' a quick video tutorial for how to use the Identify page: https://vimeo.com/184882412

Publicado por tiwane hace alrededor de 7 años

Sounds great @kestrel. I will add what I can over that interval from Mount Burdell in Novato and around Point Reyes National Seashore.

Publicado por wildmarin hace alrededor de 7 años

Awesome! Thanks for the heads up!

Publicado por joelle hace alrededor de 7 años

And so the battle begins...............

Publicado por pliffgrieff hace alrededor de 7 años

Good luck to all. Let's make this a fun year of iNatting!

Publicado por silversea_starsong hace alrededor de 7 años

Think about grabbing water samples (1-2mL) when you head out to these locations and I could help screen a bunch of the microscopic organisms. I'll talk with the local Microscopy Society and see if they'd be interested in helping. It probably wont add greatly to our species count since its often times to go beyond Genus for diatoms etc, but can really help boost the overall observations and would just be cool data!

Publicado por damontighe hace alrededor de 7 años

Count me in. It was fun last year.

Publicado por wild-by-nature-db hace alrededor de 7 años

Yay! Thanks everyone - so excited to have you all join in again. @tiwane the time period is 4/14 at 12:00 AM until 4/18 at 11:59 PM! So all day for five days straight.

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

Should be another fun few days !

Publicado por metsa hace alrededor de 7 años

I should also note that the "official" announcing of results will happen on April 22 (Earth Day), so that gives us a few days to really work on IDs to get species numbers up once the City Nature Challenge window has closed.

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

@damontighe - Awesome! We'll be heading to Pillar Point reef and then to Pillar Point harbor on Friday 4/14 - we could definitely grab some water in both of those places - we even have plankton nets we could use to concentrate samples if that would be useful. We should just figure out the best way to get the samples to you.

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

Thanks much! Looking forward to it!

Publicado por direbecca hace alrededor de 7 años

Thank for tagging me! I am so on board and will participate avidly ;)

Publicado por ocean_beach_goth hace alrededor de 7 años

@kestrel I took a look at the spreadsheet of challenge areas: I can definitely commit to observing one day in the sand dunes from ocean beach to sloat, and another day at the Marin Headlands. I am familiar with the area between Rodeo Beach and the old Nike Missile targeting station at the top of the hill, so can spend a day there observing.

Publicado por ocean_beach_goth hace alrededor de 7 años

@ocean_beach_goth Perfect! Thanks so much for joining in - I look forward to seeing what you find!

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

Yes! BRING IT ON!!!

Publicado por nelruzam hace alrededor de 7 años

Will try to make it. In India now sans my USA April calendar

Publicado por c_michael_hogan hace alrededor de 7 años

Ooh exciting! I can't wait :D

Publicado por izaj hace alrededor de 7 años

@kestrel - I could pick up samples from Cal Academy on 4/16 or if you want to send them home with @Kueda I could pick them up in Oakland, which is closer for me. You probably don't need to concentrate. I find that just taking a microcentrifuge tube and scrapping a rock and getting a little bit of a sediment layer from tidepools, lakes, ponds, etc. nets a pretty good diversity.

Publicado por damontighe hace alrededor de 7 años

I notice that you don't have the Vaca Mountains listed in your places list. That is some of the best chaparral habitat around and would give you species like California Thrasher and Bell's Sparrow that you missed last year. Also a chance to see California striped racer.

Publicado por vermfly hace alrededor de 7 años

Hope maybe to search Mount Diablo State Park and Briones Regional Park . Last year I had computer problems .

Publicado por kevinhintsa hace alrededor de 7 años

@vermfly Definitely add it to our list! The list should definitely be community-curated, since I definitely don't know ALL the best spots for diversity & unique species in the Bay Area. Everyone, please feel free! And everyone, let us know if you want to join one of our trips or have people join you in going somewhere else! :)

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

@kestrel I think I'll run a trip for the Central Valley Bird Club up to Mix and Gates Canyon that weekend. I'm the field trip coordinator for the CVBC and I wanted to add another April trip anyway. There's always a chance to find something unusual like Gray Flycatcher or Black-chinned Sparrow.

Publicado por vermfly hace alrededor de 7 años

Looking at my schedule I see that I have a Wild Birds Unlimited -Pleasant Hill bird walk in the morning for Big Break Regional Shoreline and Trail on April 15 . Contact Wild Birds Unlimited in Pleasant Hill for details . @mmarchiano , @billwho , @rhislop .

Publicado por kevinhintsa hace alrededor de 7 años

Wonderful! Happy to spread the word through CalNat and I hope to personally join a field trip!!

Publicado por brook hace alrededor de 7 años

My wife just reminded me that the Sunday that weekend is Easter. Geez. Bad timing.

Publicado por vermfly hace alrededor de 7 años

@lotusmorning @ncullen @doreensca it's also Native Plant Week starting April 15. It would be great to do a hike from Rock Spring to Potrero Meadow and Barth's Retreat one of those days, maybe include some insect netting?
I'll do my best to rack up the observations and species, and ID what I can!

Publicado por boschniakia hace alrededor de 7 años

aw dam it, it's today. I added the observation from yesterday instead. Should of waited.

Publicado por bluebird101 hace alrededor de 7 años

hope there's still some mushrooms at point reyes to observers

Publicado por bluebird101 hace alrededor de 7 años

I've got some ideas I'm thinking about for trips. Is there any downloadable fliers or anything for the event as a whole?

Publicado por adrained hace alrededor de 7 años

Nice! This should be fun. If any folks want to get together in the north bay area, I'm down.

Publicado por coffearobusta42 hace alrededor de 7 años

i am down if it's in the weekend

Publicado por bluebird101 hace alrededor de 7 años

Hey @adrained I'm pulling a few things together - I'll add a link to a Google folder here with some resources, hopefully in the next couple of days.

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

...so this sounds fun. Count me in.

Publicado por stephen_sikes hace alrededor de 7 años

@adrained and anyone else - I'll be adding resources to this Google Drive folder as I make them: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-Dsww9M03tpSUlmUVBqUTN1MUU?usp=sharing

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

@kestrel, do you guys have a spreadsheet of trips we think people should do and who's planning on doing them? If not, shall I start one?

Publicado por kueda hace alrededor de 7 años

@kueda, yes! It's linked in the journal post above, and now here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Aeg_ELc0h9IiHNN7N3rKkp1JZRtIk-8p275rcl_Eqx4/edit?usp=sharing

I added columns next to places for people to sign up that they'll go there & make observations during the CNC. The second sheet is for organizing trips if folks want company to places.

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

Dur, sorry. One day I will learn to read.

Publicado por kueda hace alrededor de 7 años

You really need to find some people into species fishing and get them using iNaturalist. I bet that could really bump the totals. You only had three species of fish go research grade last year.

Publicado por vermfly hace alrededor de 7 años

I have tried species fishing around the Bay. I observed zero species. I need to learn how to fish...

Publicado por kueda hace alrededor de 7 años

@rangerjames - Can we get some fishing observations from you April 14-18th? Maybe we could have a guys fishing night sometime that week?

Publicado por damontighe hace alrededor de 7 años

I see some people with a lot of fish observations in the area. Both @anudibranchmom and @marisa_a seem to have a lot of fish sightings from around the Bay.

Publicado por vermfly hace alrededor de 7 años

Regarding fish...docks and piers are good places to look in peoples buckets. Hoop netting for crab is fairly easy and you sometimes pull up other stuff. In Southern California, I used to go to the commercial fish docks at San Pedro and watch the seiners and gillnetters offload catch. Need to learn where the commercial fishing ports are around here. (Hyde Street Harbor?) It would be sweet if we could do a beach seine.
In sweetwater, Crawdad traps and minnow traps might yield something. Spring should be good for crappie and bass. May have to take a trip to Lake Sonoma.

Publicado por coffearobusta42 hace alrededor de 7 años

@kueda thanks for fleshing out the spreadsheet! I also added myself to making obs in GGP, and on the sand dunes on Ocean Beach.

Publicado por ocean_beach_goth hace alrededor de 7 años

I'm getting really stoked for this event. Is anyone free Monday the 17th to check out the Solano County chaparral area in the Vaca Mountains? I'm going to take the day off to hit that area early because Bell's Sparrow and California Thrasher weren't found on the challenge last year.

Publicado por vermfly hace alrededor de 7 años

Hey all, us folks at CalNature are wondering if bay area iNat people would want to get together Friday night in the east bay to have an identification party - we can provide some guides and people can bring some food and drink, or we can meet at a cafe or some other gathering place and power through the observations to get a higher species count. Anyone interested?

Publicado por tiwane hace alrededor de 7 años

How funny @tiwane, @rebeccafay and I were just talking about holding an ID party at the Academy on Wednesday night! So we're definitely interested in it, we should just figure out if SF or East Bay, Wednesday or Friday works best for folks? Or we could keep both and there could be 2 ID parties!

Publicado por kestrel hace alrededor de 7 años

@kestrel - getting to CAS can be a long haul for us east bay folk, so we can host one out here. We're gonna contact a cafe or two in Oakland and get back with date and location info to everyone!

Publicado por tiwane hace alrededor de 7 años

I might be persuaded out to an ID party, but Friday is the first day of the challenge--would it be better to do Monday or Tuesday night, since a lot of observations will probably come in over the weekend?

Publicado por boschniakia hace casi 7 años

@boschniakia - we're looking at Friday 4/21, which is the night before final numbers are announced. I agree, 4/14 would make little sense.

Publicado por tiwane hace casi 7 años

So it looks like we'll keep our ID party for Wednesday, 4/19 at the Academy in SF, followed by the CalNature ID party on Friday, 4/21 in Oakland.

With two ID parties before the final results being announced on Saturday, 4/22, we should hopefully get IDs on everything (or everything possible, that is)!

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

Hey everyone,

Here's a folder of resources that may be useful in spreading the word about the City Nature Challenge:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-Dsww9M03tpSUlmUVBqUTN1MUU

It includes a couple variations of an iNat how-to, as well as a folder with media/social media resources that you're welcome to use. Feel free to use anything if you need hand-outs for volunteers or just want to send out a tweet or two about the CNC!

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

@coffearobusta42 I think checking out areas where people are fishing is a cool idea. Maybe the day I go to Solano I'll swing through Benecia and see what people are pulling up at the pier.

Publicado por vermfly hace casi 7 años

Hey y'all - I'm thrilled to be included in this, and then super bummed that I'll be gone for a work trip 4/15-4/26 so will hardly be able to participate. :-( If there are any particular sites in the South Bay that are of interest, let me know, and I'll do what I can on 4/14.

~ Stacie

Publicado por newtpatrol hace casi 7 años

Trying to find out what outings may occur in the North Bay (Sonoma, Marin, Napa Counties) on saturday Apr 15

Publicado por c_michael_hogan hace casi 7 años

Hi @c_michael_hogan - on 4/15, we'll be hosting a bioblitz on Ring Mountain in Marin Co., you're welcome to join! You can also check out this spreadsheet to see where others are planning on going in the North Bay and reach out to see when they're planning to go and if you can join: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Aeg_ELc0h9IiHNN7N3rKkp1JZRtIk-8p275rcl_Eqx4/edit#gid=1333502718

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

Hey @newtpatrol - too bad you'll be gone for a lot of it! We'll be doing a day in coastal San Mateo Co. on Friday 4/14 that you're welcome to join: Pillar Point Reef - Pillar Point Harbor - lunch - Burleigh-Murray State Park. You can also see other South Bay sites that we're hoping people can make it to here - scroll across to see all of the Bay Area counties: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Aeg_ELc0h9IiHNN7N3rKkp1JZRtIk-8p275rcl_Eqx4/edit#gid=1333502718

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

Hi @kestrel . thanks for the invite to ring mountain. i may elect ring mtn. @icosahedron and i were also trying to arrange a Paulin Creek outing sometime during the challenge. what do you think, John? we could do Paulin on the following monday, since its a shorter drive. Does @wildmarin know about the ring mtn outing. todd and i have discussed the archaeology there, which adds an interest dimension.

Publicado por c_michael_hogan hace casi 7 años

I plan to join the Ring Mountain bio blitz on 4/15 if it's still going in the afternoon. I am leading a hike unrelated to the the City Challenge for some clients in the morning at Point Reyes. I will for sure try to get them into logging observations during the hike. MIchael, I hope to see you there! I also plan to take half a day at least and cover Mount Burdell as much as I can.

Publicado por wildmarin hace casi 7 años

... on Friday 4/14

Publicado por wildmarin hace casi 7 años

@kestrel what time/room for the ID party at CalAcademy in SF? I will be there!

Publicado por ocean_beach_goth hace casi 7 años

@c_michael_hogan & @wildmarin - here's the info on the Ring Mountain bioblitz: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/ring-mountain-bioblitz

We'll likely only be up there in the morning, heading back down to the Marin Country Day School around noon to upload our observations.

@ocean_beach_goth - I'll post it ASAP! I'm guessing we'll start around 5:30 and go until 8 or so, but we should have all the details hopefully figured out today.

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

I wish I could do the Ring Mountain event but I'm leading a bird walk that morning back in Sacramento. What is everyone doing on Friday the 14th? I'm planning to hit Mix Canyon and Blue Ridge in Solano County before working my way around the the Fairfield/Benecia/Vallejo area. I'll probably spend some time around the fishing wharfs to take pictures of what the fishermen are catching. Anyone up for exploring Solano County?

Publicado por vermfly hace casi 7 años

Thanks for the info @kestrel. Oh, well, I will have to miss that one since I won't be done until around 1 pm in Point Reyes. I may as well as stay out there, save some gas, and blitz some hotspots from Limantour Estero to Sky Trail to Tomales Bay. If anyone wants to join me in the afternoon, feel free to message me on iNat. @c_michael_hogan, hope to run into you over the blitz weekend. Any chance you'll be around Novato on Friday 4/14?

Publicado por wildmarin hace casi 7 años

I live at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park so I plan on iNatting here at Sugarloaf, Hood Mt, Annadel, and maybe other spots in Sonoma county over the weekend. Let me know if you want to join. -Bill

Publicado por coffearobusta42 hace casi 7 años

@coffearobusta42 Awesome! I'll be busy running all over the Bay Area during the City Nature Challenge, but I live in the Glen Ellen area and was really hoping someone would go make observations in Sugarloaf/Hood and Annadel! Since all I'll probably have time to do in Sonoma County are the things I find in my backyard. :)

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

How about the mechanics of this great enterprise. Do observations need to be posted by midnight apr 18 PDT to be credited? How does one tag the observation to make sure Bay Area Counties get the observation counted? Does observation need to achieve research grade to get counted? If so, does research grade need to be achieved by midnight april 18 to be counted? Does one need to register somewhere prior to observations in order for one's observations to count? If not, why cant someone just harvest hundreds of random observations made in the Bay Area counties to throw into the pool?!

Publicado por c_michael_hogan hace casi 7 años

@c_michael_hogan - answers to your questions below:
Do observations need to be posted by midnight apr 18 PDT to be credited? - we're pulling numbers at 9 am on 4/22, so all observations need to be posted by then.

How does one tag the observation to make sure Bay Area Counties get the observation counted? - no need to tag it, the City Nature Challenge is a bioblitz-style project so ANY observations made in the nine bay area counties will show up in our City Nature Challenge project.

Does observation need to achieve research grade to get counted? - nope!

If so, does research grade need to be achieved by midnight april 18 to be counted? - no, but the more observations we have IDs on by 9 am on 4/22, the higher our species count will be.

Does one need to register somewhere prior to observations in order for one's observations to count? - no, but you can join the project if you'd like - that way you'll get our updates as we post them in the project's journal: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2017-san-francisco-bay-area

If not, why cant someone just harvest hundreds of random observations made in the Bay Area counties to throw into the pool?! - well, that's kind of what we're doing - any observations made in the 9 bay area counties between April 14-18 will count toward our totals. So there is a possibility that people will make observations that will count in the City Nature Challenge without realizing that they're participating in the City Nature Challenge. But that's true for all 16 cities that are participating, and by doing it this way, we make it much easier for people to contribute (since they don't have to join a project and then add every observation they make to that project). But the observations DO have to made in the April 14-18 window, we won't accept observations that were made before then.

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

@kestrel and others in Sonoma county area...if there is interest and we keep it low key, I could host a few folks at my place for night-time observations at Sugarloaf.

Publicado por coffearobusta42 hace casi 7 años

I got tagged, but I'm much closer to LA than the Bay Area. I might be on the other team ;)

Publicado por terrydad2 hace casi 7 años

@coffearobusta42 I will also probably be spending a lot of time up at hood that weekend!
Hope to run into you up there. Ill also try to post some of my trailcam data from hood if I can get a chance. Wouldn't be too bad to add a mountain lion or black bear to our list!

-Len

Publicado por nelruzam hace casi 7 años

@terrydad2 It's meant to be discussion for all teams but we've seen little input from any other areas...! I think San Francisco was not too happy with losing last year ;)

Publicado por silversea_starsong hace casi 7 años

@coffearobusta42 I am beyond jealous that you live at Sugarloaf. I could do some nighttime observations either Saturday 4/15 or Sunday 4/16! What are you imagining? Moth lights? Owls? Bats? I'm up for pretty much anything!

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

Is the goal to get the most observations, number of distinct species, endangered/ threatened, and/or geographic coverage?

Publicado por terrydad2 hace casi 7 años

If you ask me the goal is to have fun :)

But if it was like last time then number of observations and number of species were the top 2 categories.

Publicado por silversea_starsong hace casi 7 años

@terrydad2 - we'll be looking at a lot of different metrics, but the main "results" will be total number of observations, species, and people. We'll be highlighting finds of rare/endangered species or other interesting species, we'll also look at which cities found new species for their region (not recorded prior to the CNC), engagement during the CNC vs. the same time last year, etc, etc. But yeah, observations, species, and people will be the biggest metrics.

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

@kestrel @nelruzam and others....Well, I don't have time to setup anything official with my employer and don't want to do anything impactful, invasive, or that requires permitting. I like my job and don't want to jeopardize it. So I think we are safe with moth lighting, searching and listening for owls. There are bats under my eaves during the day, and some old buildings that may house more. Of course, I have no equipment or expertise in any of these. Do we have access to a bat detector? Everyone who comes would essentially be my personal guest.

So Sunday evening would work best for me. Private message me if you are interested in coming to Stern Ranch at Sugarloaf Ridge. This is a portion of the park that is not yet open to the public. I may invite folks from the Sonoma Ecology Center's Cal Naturalist class to come. We'll want to keep this group small.

Len...someday we'll meet. I got our trailcams out it'd be nice to get some of the more elusive mammals.

Publicado por coffearobusta42 hace casi 7 años

I combed the NorthBay birding listserve to pull reports of Mammal Big Days that have been done in our area by Floyd Hayes, Peter Pyle and others. They may help folks plan out where to find mammals.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0HlzeMMl5LjTkdIeDdfUlE3azQ?usp=sharing
https://mammalwatching.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/a-mammal-big-day-in-california/

Publicado por coffearobusta42 hace casi 7 años

That's true. Are any whale watching boats going out this weekend? Someone should check with any boat captains they know who take those trips out. @gyrrlfalcon or @leslie_flint, know anyone?

Publicado por vermfly hace casi 7 años

@vermfly we hadn't thought of that; busy scrambling on land, although we could do a seawatch

Publicado por leslie_flint hace casi 7 años

@leslie_flint There are so many different angles it is hard to cover them all. Whales and dolphins would only add a couple of species. Probably better to knock out more tidepool creatures, plants, and insects. That's what the big diversity will be.

Publicado por vermfly hace casi 7 años

@silversea_starsong yes fun will be had so long as I get out. :)

Publicado por terrydad2 hace casi 7 años

Should botanical gardens be included? Those would give an artificial look at what us in the city.

Publicado por terrydad2 hace casi 7 años

Planning on Ring Mountain for saturday. @icosahedron and i are thinking of a Paulin Creek outing monday, which is in the santa rosa area. This preserve is being considered to be sold for development by the city, so documeting its ecological value could be purposeful...this was all icosahedrons idea...Let us know if others are interested in Paulin

Publicado por c_michael_hogan hace casi 7 años

Hope to cover part of Redwood Regional Park tomorrow .

Publicado por kevinhintsa hace casi 7 años

Sunday, I am going to try a bay to hills day... if anyone is interested in joining along the way, let me know.

Publicado por adrained hace casi 7 años

And.... it's on! Have fun, everyone

Publicado por wildmarin hace casi 7 años

will intermediate tallies be posted anywhere so that we can track progress of observations?

Publicado por c_michael_hogan hace casi 7 años

@c_michael_hogan and I will be at the Paulin Creek Preserve Monday at 10. This tiny urban sanctuary is close to downtown Santa Rosa: you could see our new place page 'Paulin Creek Preserve' for details.

This area is a part of the much larger Sonoma County holdings on both sides of Chanate Road, the site of the old Sonoma Community Hospital, Mental Health Hospital and county cemetery. About 15 years ago a deal was made with the Sonoma County Land Trust and the City of Santa Rosa to leave a portion undeveloped as a nature preserve. Unfortunately, this was never formalized; and now the developer wanting to replace the Hospital with apartments is bidding to absorb the Preserve into that project. It will be decided by the county supervisors soon; and we understand that they are inclined to agree. Neighbors, and the few citizens even aware of this small treasure are quite upset, but will need support. If you are interested, check out the 'Friends of Paulin Creek'.

I realize that this is small potatoes when considered with all the iconic--and very much larger--destinations to naturalize in during this years nature challenge, but Monday will probably be a rather moody day when a short session might fit very well. My agenda here is to get attention to this land use issue, and to make the Preserve more visible, more tangible by documenting it's biodiversity. We hope to see a few of you there.

Publicado por icosahedron hace casi 7 años
Publicado por vermfly hace casi 7 años

Thanks for the leaderboard link, that is way easier then navigating between all the projects!
Ticked off Lake Merritt this morning and will try to get to some east bay flower displays tomorrow morning. Its so nice to be able to check the project before heading out, so I know I'm going out to find something novel for our numbers.
DFW is killing it!

Publicado por damontighe hace casi 7 años

Doing part of Annadel State Park today

Publicado por c_michael_hogan hace casi 7 años

hfabian and I covered a good part of Redwood Regional Park today .

Publicado por kevinhintsa hace casi 7 años

I'll be doing Mitchell Canyon/Black Point tomorrow.

Publicado por tiwane hace casi 7 años

Hope to cover tomorrow part of Black Diamond Mines after Big Break Regional Park and trail .

Publicado por kevinhintsa hace casi 7 años

I got up to the Vaca Mountains yesterday and ticked off Bell's Sparrow along with a good number of the usuals. I didn't find many fishermen in Benicia but someone did let me take a shot of the white sturgeon they caught. I also added a Yellow-billed Magpie on my way back to Sacramento.

Publicado por vermfly hace casi 7 años

Thanks to everyone taking all these great trips to help up our species count for the City Nature Challenge! Very appreciated. You can see the leaderboard for the CNC here (it will soon be displaying the correct "people" stats, but the observations and species are right): https://nhm.org/nature/citizen-science/city-nature-challenge-2017-leaderboard

Publicado por kestrel hace casi 7 años

I know that insects are everywhere, but if you're really into them, and in the south bay, Santa Teresa park (Stile Ranch entrance, off of Fortini road) was a wonderland of interesting bugs today.

Publicado por newtpatrol hace casi 7 años

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