City Nature Challenge 2018: Denver Metro Area's Journal

It's just over a week until City Nature Challenge starts!! We've put together a little guide to help those of you new to iNaturalist. We recommend you play around with the app before the City Nature Challenge so that when that Mountain Bluebird lands on a branch nearby, you'll know exactly what to do!

UPDATE: Skip step 4! You no longer need to add anything for the "Projects" details. Yay, one less thing for you to worry about!

For more information, you can also visit: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

Want to get involved with the City Nature Challenge, but don't know where to start? Come to one of our Denver events to learn about iNaturalist, meet other people participating in the Challenge, and contribute your own observations!

Barr Lake State Park BioBlitz
Saturday, April 28    9:00am-3:00pm     Barr Lake Nature Center
Come anytime between 9:00am and 3:00pm to help us find and record as much nature as we can in only 6 hours! Staff and volunteers will be there to help you use iNaturalist, make great observations, and identify what you find. Come to the Nature Center and look for the CPW tent!

Chatfield State Park BioBlitz
Saturday, April 28    9:00am-3:00pm     Platte River Parking Lot
Come at 9:00am to join volunteer naturalist and bird expert Joey Kellner of the Audubon Society for a guided bird walk, or show up any time between 9:00am and 3:00pm to help us record as much nature as we can before the bioblitz ends! The Platte River Parking Lot is located on the east side of the South Platte River near the concrete restrooms. The park road on the west side is closed for construction, please enter from the east side of the park.

Bluff Lake Nature Center Family Nature Day
Saturday, April 28    8:00am-10:00am    3400 Havana Way, Denver
Come to this family friendly event geared towards kids at the Bluff Lake Nature Center! Kids can borrow Adventure Backpacks filled with the essential gear to record and observe nature, meet some real live raptors and birds handled by Nature's Educators, make their own all-natural bird-feeders at the craft station, and practice using spotting scopes and guide books with bird specialists!

If you can't attend an event, head out on your own, or with a group of friends, to make observations anywhere in the Denver area! Biodiversity is all around us, you just have to look for it!

Do you wish you could identify the butterflies, birds, and shrubs you find without having to carry three different guide books? If so, then it's your lucky day! We've created iNaturalist Guides for many of the plant, animal and bug species that can be found in the Denver Metro Area. There is a series of 7 Guides, each focused on a different category of plants, animals, or bugs. It's a lot of species because Denver is so diverse, but you can filter them based on attributes such as color and family group.

To locate these Guides on a smartphone, tap the Menu icon in the iNaturalist App then select Guides from the menu. Search for "Denver metro area" and look for the Guides with the green City Nature Challenge logo. Select the Guide you want and start identifying!

City Nature Challenge starts tomorrow, so get ready to start observing! All observations are good observations, but there are certain things you can do to make your observations great! A great observation doesn't have the most artistic, Instagram-worthy photos; it has photos that make it easy for others to identify what you find. Below are some tips to help you make your observations the best they can be!

Plants

• Take photos from multiple angles and of all parts of the plant (flower, leaves, leaf arrangement, bark, needles, etc)
• Take a photo of the whole plant to show it's general shape and growth pattern
• Include a pencil, coin, shoe or hand for scale
• Place your hand or a piece of paper behind the plant to help your camera focus
• Avoid dappled light. Full sun or full shade make it easier to distinguish colors and patterns
• For fungi, take a photo of what it is growing on (tree trunk, leaf litter, grass, etc.)
• Do not pick flowers. Leave them for others to enjoy!

Animals

• Use your phone's built-in camera to take photos (not within the iNaturalist App), then add them into iNat after you're done. This will be faster, so you can get more photos before the critter gets away
• Take one photo as soon as you see the animals, then take more as you approach. If the animal runs away at least you have one picture
• Take photos from multiple angles if you can
• Try to capture details such as facial marking and wing patterns
• If you have binoculars or a scope, you can try taking a photo through those lenses
• Remain a safe distance from animals and do not handle them
• Do not use food or calls to attract animals

Bugs

• Approach slowly to avoid startling the bug into flying or hopping away
• Take photos from as many angles as possible to include all identifying markers and shapes
• For moths and butterflies, try to photograph both the top and underside of wings, which can look very different and have identifying markers
• Include a photo of the plant or habitat the bug was found on. Some bugs prefer certain plants
• Do not handle any bugs you are unfamiliar with

Another way you can make it easier for people to identify your observation is by always including something as the identification, even if it's just "Bird" or "Plant". Identifiers will search for certain categories they have knowledge in and they will use keywords like "Reptiles". But if you leave your ID section blank, they will never find your observation!