Which city in the world has the most nature? More importantly, which city’s residents are most engaged in that nature? Of course, the answer is the Boulder-Denver Area (Broomfield included!), but we need your help to prove it! Join the City Nature Challenge, and help the Boulder-Denver Metro Area compete against over 150 cities around the world to see which can document the most nature in only 4 days!

Participating is easy! Just download the free iNaturalist app, join the Boulder-Denver Metro Area Project, then get outside and start taking pictures of the nature around you! Observe any plants, animals, or bugs in state parks, open spaces, city parks, your backyard, or even cracks in the pavement. It’s all city nature! Just no pets or house plants, please. Post your observations to the iNaturalist app April 24-27, and the community of naturalists will help identify them! If you’re unable to go out and make observations, you can still help by identifying observations, April 28 - May 3. This is incredibly important because we can only count observations that are identified to the species level!

In last year’s City Nature Challenge, 159 cities together made over 963,000 observations. Over 31,000 species were identified, 1,100 of which were endangered, threatened, or rare! While this is a “competition” between cities, everyone is a winner in the end because with each observation we all learn more about the nature around us. We hope you'll participate in City Nature Challenge this year, not only to help Denver (and Broomfield!) win, but also to help increase scientific knowledge of the urban-nature interface. Thank you, and may the best city win!

Participate in Broomfield's annual Broomfield Trail Adventure BioBlitz on Saturday, June 1 from 8-10 a.m. by learning about our local flora and fauna in this friendly competition to find as many species as possible in celebration of National Trails Day! Trained naturalists and supplies will be made available to assist with app navigation and species identification at different booths across the 1.3-mile walking trail loop starting at Flatirons Station (170 E Flatiron Crossing Drive). Join the hunt for Broomfield's wildlife species by posting observations to Broomfield Trail Adventure BioBlitz 2019. This event is free to attend and no registration is needed! All ages are welcome, adult supervision is required. For more information about Broomfield Trail Adventure, visit Broomfield.org/TrailAdventure.

Interested in volunteering as a BioBlitz Naturalist? Please contact Ellie Lanaghan at elanaghan@broomfield.org

Which city in the world has the most nature? More importantly, which city’s residents are most engaged in that nature? Of course, the answer is the Boulder-Denver Area (Broomfield included!), but we need your help to prove it! Join the City Nature Challenge, and help the Boulder-Denver Metro Area compete against over 60 cities around the world to see which can document the most nature in only 4 days!

Participating is easy! Just download the free iNaturalist app, join the Boulder-Denver Metro Area Project, then get outside and start taking pictures of the nature around you! Observe any plants, animals, or bugs in state parks, open spaces, city parks, your backyard, or even cracks in the pavement. It’s all city nature! Just no pets or house plants, please. Post your observations to the iNaturalist app April 26-29, and the community of naturalists will help identify them! If you’re unable to go out and make observations, you can still help by identifying observations, April 30 - May 5. This is incredibly important because we can only count observations that are identified to the species level!

In last year’s City Nature Challenge, 68 cities together made over 440,000 observations. Over 8,600 species were identified, 599 of which were endangered, threatened, or rare! While this is a “competition” between cities, everyone is a winner in the end because with each observation we all learn more about the nature around us. We hope you'll participate in City Nature Challenge this year, not only to help Denver (and Broomfield!) win, but also to help increase scientific knowledge of the urban-nature interface. Thank you, and may the best city win!

Broomfield held its first-ever BioBlitz at Quail Creek and Plaster Reservoir all day on Friday June 15 and Saturday June 16.

We had 16 fantastic participants attend the challenge last weekend. They made 182 observations, and found 100 different species! It is truly amazing what wonders we can find here in Broomfield. Congratulations to rwinick for making the most observations (66) and identifying the most species (54). WOW!

To view all of the observations made at the BioBlitz click here to view the main page of the project. We hope to see even more of you at this event next year!

Photo of Cinnamon Teal at Quail Creek by Chris Petrizzo June 16, 2018.

A bioblitz is a communal citizen-science effort to record as many species within a designated location and time period as possible. Broomfield's 2018 BioBlitz will be held at Quail Creek and Plaster Reservoir all day on Friday June 15 and Saturday June 16.

Experienced naturalists and equipment to borrow will be made available to assist in app navigation and species identification on Friday 4-6 p.m. and Saturday 7-9 a.m. Learn about Broomfield's flora and fauna while trying to identify as many species as possible in this friendly competition!

This event is free to attend and no registration is needed! All ages are welcome, adult supervision is required. Please park at the Quail Creek Park lot (2202 W 138th Ave).

Join the hunt for Broomfield's wildlife species by posting observations to Broomfield BioBlitz 2018 with your iNaturalist account. Go to www.Broomfield.org/iNaturalist for more info!

Which city in the world has the most nature? More importantly, which city’s residents are most engaged in that nature? Of course, the answer is the Denver Area (Broomfield included!), but we need your help to prove it! Join the City Nature Challenge, and help the Denver Metro Area compete against over 60 cities around the world to see which can document the most nature in only 4 days!

Participating is easy! Just download the free iNaturalist app, join the project, then get outside and start taking pictures of the nature around you! Observe any plants, animals, or bugs in state parks, open spaces, city parks, your backyard, or even cracks in the pavement. It’s all city nature! Just no pets or house plants, please. Post your observations to the iNaturalist app April 27-30, and the community of naturalist will help identify them! If you’re unable to go out and make observations, you can still help by identifying observations, May 1-3. This is incredibly important because we can only count observations that are identified to the species level!

In last year’s City Nature Challenge, 16 cities together made over 125,000 observations. Over 8,600 species were identified, 392 of which were endangered, threatened, or rare! While this is a “competition” between cities, everyone is a winner in the end because with each observation we all learn more about the nature around us. We hope you'll participate in City Nature Challenge this year, not only to help Denver (and Broomfield!) win, but also to help increase scientific knowledge of the urban-nature interface. Thank you, and may the best city win!.

Happy First Day of Spring! And with spring comes the annual migration of waterfowl, hummingbirds, raptors, and songbirds back to Colorado. Colorado has over 500 species of birds, and ranks among the top ten states with the biggest bird lists. Lots of land and varied habitats are what allows Colorado to make the cut!

Did you know that nearly half of all Colorado bird species can be found in Broomfield? Broomfield Open Space and Trails goes through great lengths to protect nesting birds and bird habitat. Some of Broomfield's best birding sites include Metzger Farm Open Space, Plaster Reservoir, Broomfield County Commons Open Space, Lac Amora Open Space, and Siena Reservoir. Use the Colorado County Birding Checklist or FREE Audubon Guide App to see how many Broomfield birds you can find.

The naturalists who find and post the most species of birds to Broomfield Naturalists between March 20th and June 21st will be declared this season's winners!

Photo of a Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) by 'gewb' at Metzger Farm Open Space on May 24, 2015.

Congratulations to 'katisonahikd' for winning the February 2018 Broomfield Naturalists Observation of the Month! Her observation of a Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) was the most popular observation on Broomfield Naturalists for February, 2018.

Although widely distributed in woodlands from the Front Range foothills westward, the Northern Goshawk is one of the least frequently seen birds in Colorado. They glide quickly and silently, striking unwary quarry feet first. If detected, these reckless hunters fly at high speeds in pursuit of fleeing prey, maneuvering through the forest using their long tail as a rudder, crashing through brush and even chasing a potential meal into the water if necessary. Northern Goshawks also occasionally stalk prey on foot. They can capture mammals such as snowshoe hares more than twice their weight. Around the nest, goshawks are famously aggressive; get too close and you'll be driven away!

Great find, 'katisonahikd'!

Visit Broomfield Naturalists to vote for the winner this month by clicking ‘fav’ on your favorite observation. Make sure to get outdoors and record the biodiversity around you, then submit your discoveries and you too could be a winner!

Welcome to the iNaturalist project for the city and county of Broomfield!

We are just getting started with this project and we look forward to seeing observations from around the county.

If you're new to iNaturalist please give this page a read: http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started. It's a great tutorial that covers all the basics of getting started with iNaturalist.