Hi folks,
I finally finished putting together the summary for our efforts during this year's CNC. It's viewable and downloadable from the the link below:
Thank you for all the beautiful, interesting, and wild observations of life y'all uploaded - and for all the equally important work the identifiers have done by adding IDs. Hope to see your usernames next year!
Wow! I'm super impressed by how many folks have already uploaded observations from this year's CNC - y'all are amazing! Keep in mind that we have until May 7th to finish uploading any remaining observations (remember, they have to have been made between April 28 - May 1) and then identify them.
Here is a video tutorial from iNaturalist on how to add identifications to other folks' observations:
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials#identify
If you want a direct link to identifying this year's observations, here you go!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?project_id=city-nature-challenge-2023-lower-rio-grande-valley
Remember, you can filter which observations you want to identify by taxa. For example, if you feel comfortable helping identify birds you would simply select "birds" in the "search species" in the upper left corner of the screen. I have almost finished uploading my observations (will finish today) and then I will exclusively work on adding identifications.
For more info on how the identification system works, please see the iNaturalist help section:
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/help#identification
If you have specific questions for me, please message me via iNaturalist; hit the envelope symbol in the upper right corner next to "upload".
The CNC 2023 is underway! I started off by doing a little late-night/early morning observing (and it appears I wasn't the only one). Good luck on your observations! May you find fun plants and wildlife and enjoy exploring the life that shares the Rio Grande Valley with us.
This will be my 6th year participating in the CNC, and over those years I've developed a participation pattern that helps me keep structure to my observations. With this year's CNC fast-approaching, I thought it might be useful to offer some ideas on how you might participate. Here are 6 (in honor of it being our 6th time in the Rio Grande Valley).
Close-to-home observations.
This can be literal or more figuratively close-to-home. For me, I often start and/or finish my CNC observations right around my home. Whether you live in a house or an apartment/condo, I encourage you to observe the organisms living nearby - you might be surprised by how much you can find! If you live near a walking path or city park, those would also be great places to check out!
Local nature center / wildlife refuge observations.
Another place I frequent for CNC observations is my local nature center, Quinta Mazatlan. These sort of sites often have pretty high biodiversity, and thus are pretty easy to rack up observations. Adding observations from these sites can also be particularly useful for their staff, as it helps them better understand what organisms are readily found at their location.
Canal and roadside observations.
Exploring the "messy edges" can result in some really cool finds that we might otherwise pass by. Every CNC I try to drive out along country roads to look for wildflowers (and the animals using them) and have been surprised by some of the cool plants I've gotten to see. If there is a walking path that parallels a canal, that also can yield some pretty cool plants and animals.
After dark observations.
While I don't focus my attention making night observations, I do typically spend an evening or two (after dark) looking through my yard for toads, spiders, etc. If you have a black light set-up, or even just a bright porch light, you can easily photograph insects attracted to them.
Explore new or infrequently visited spots.
I find it difficult to get outside my regular nature routine sometimes, and that the CNC is a good time/way to get out to spots I either have never been or only infrequently visit. For example, I usually include a half-day jaunt to Starr County to look for different plant species than I typically see in Hidalgo County.
Participate how you want to!
If you want to upload hundreds of observations, that's great! But don't feel pressured to add observations if you're busy, tired, or simply don't feel like adding more. I believe the CNC should be fun :)
Let me know if you have thoughts on how you're planning to participate in the comments!
Hi there! Thanks for visiting the CNC 2023: Lower Rio Grande Valley project. I hope you will consider joining the project (simply click the "Join" button on the main page, upper right corner) so that you will receive alerts when new journal posts are added. While its not required to have your observations counted during the CNC, it helps you know which ones you've made are contributing to the project and gives us organizers have an early idea of how many folks intend to participate!
This is the 6th year the Lower Rio Grande Valley has participated in the CNC. There have been 43,235 observations added to iNaturalist during the region's CNCs in total, which accounts for roughly 11.5% of all observations in the area. Put another way, for every eleven observations made in Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy counties, one was added during the CNC. Impressive numbers! You can learn more about how those observations contribute to science at the following blog post: https://cuefornature.wordpress.com/2021/03/27/scientific-use-of-inaturalist/
If you are unfamiliar with iNaturalist, please visit the "What is it" and "How can I use it" pages:
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/what+is+it
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/how+can+i+use+it
They also have a "Getting Started" page to learn how iNaturalist's observation system works:
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started
The City Nature Challenge website has useful Frequently Asked Questions page:
https://citynaturechallenge.org/cnc-faqs-page/
If you have other questions about the City Nature Challenge 2023: Lower Rio Grande Valley, please post it in the comments or message @bcfl14. Stayed tuned for more updates as we get closer to the start date!
