Nature Overheard: Street Safari's Journal

Good morning,

We are so pleased to be able to share the highlights and results from our month-long biodiversity hunt!

Street Safari, delivered in partnership with Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, was designed to celebrate International Walk to School Month. This activity is part of the Nature Overheard programme and aimed to enhance our understanding of the biodiversity found near roads in the UK and to engage a broader audience in biological recording.

243 unique participants joined in with Street Safari, both creating and verifying records. These included both familiar faces from within the iNaturalist community and beginners coming together to record their observations of wildlife for the first time. We hope to see those of you that joined iNaturalist as a result of this project to continue to record the nature you encounter in your everyday lives now that the project is over.

Our collective efforts resulted in a whopping 1016 records of wildlife, covering an impressive 443 unique species of plants, birds, mammals, mollusc, arachnids, insects and fungi. We are very grateful to you for your observations and verifications, which will all have contributed to an understanding of biodiversity across the UK.

We are very excited to announce the winners of our competition. Congratulations to Lisa Phipps for emerging as the individual winner with the most observations and a special shout-out to Lawrence Sheriff School for engaging the greatest number of participants in the project. We are in the process of organising your book token prizes to be sent to you and we hope that you’ll use them to further explore the natural world, perhaps with some new books about the fascinating wildlife you've encountered during October.

Street Safari has been a fun way for us to explore the wildlife that often goes unnoticed in our daily routines. Well done to all of you that have taken part in this community science project, and we hope you will continue your journey in discovering the natural world around you.

Please visit the Nature Overheard page to see what other activities are available for you to take part in, and to sign up for our Community Science newsletter if you haven’t already done so.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/monitor-and-encourage-nature/nature-overheard.html

All the best
Abigail

Good afternoon Street Safari team,

Happy Friday! We’ve officially completed 4 weeks of Street Safari 🎉

This week we put our botanist hats on and recorded all the plants we could find near roads. Together, we recorded over 140, covering at least 80 species – that’s super impressive! Plants were recorded much more than any other wildlife this week, totalling more than all the observations of birds, fungi, mammals, invertebrates, and molluscs put together.

Ivy (Hedera helix) was the most common plant found this week. Ivy starts to flower at the end of summer when other plants stop flowering, providing a handy food source for pollinators such as hoverflies, bees, and wasps throughout autumn.

Although the weekly challenges have come to an end, there are still four whole days left of street safari. We’d love to try and reach 800 observations by the end of the project, so let’s try and record as many different types of wildlife as we can over the next few days. So, whether you haven’t yet made an observation, or you’ve been busy snapping away all month – we want to see as many observations as we can from you. Maybe you can find something you haven’t seen before.

Remember, if you haven’t yet made an observation, you can read the guide to making observations on the iNaturalist website. If anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to send us a message and we can answer your questions to make sure your observations count.

Next week we will be wrapping up the project and letting you know the grand totals, and then we will be looking to see who has won our competition.

Have a great weekend!

All the best
Abigail

We’ve arrived at the fourth week of Street Safari! A big well done to those that have kept busy submitting observations through October and for those of you that have just recently signed up to the project, there’s still time left to make some observations.

A reminder that by getting involved in Street Safari, there is a chance to win prizes for yourself and for a nominated school. To be eligible you must join the iNaturalist project and submit your observations. A reminder of the full terms and conditions are here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/monitor-and-encourage-nature/nature-overheard/street-safari.html

Last week, we focussed on birds and together identified 17 species. The most common species seen over the last week were the Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus) and the Carrion Crow (Corvus corone). We even had a record of a Red Kite (Milvus milvus) from Oxfordshire! The rest of last week’s findings include 69 other species covering insects, molluscs, plants, arachnids, mammals, fungi and lichen. Great work!

For the last full week of Street Safari (21st-29th October) we want you to find as many plants as you can.

Plants are often found thriving near roads, in gardens and along streets. Become a botanist for the week and spot as many species as you can. As you explore, try and find plants that are still flowering, but also remember that leaves alone can be used for identification, particularly for trees. Whilst it’s half term you might find yourself walking some different streets to usual – can you notice anything that you don’t usually see? So whether you’re on your way to the park, shops, work, or simply out for a stroll, keep an eye out for any green you can find!

To get you started, here are a few common plants that you might encounter this week:

• Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
• Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
• Ivy (Hedera helix)
• Common Nettle (Urtica dioica)
• English Oak (Quercus robur)
• Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)

Remember, every observation counts, so if you see any other wildlife during the week, don’t hesitate to take a photo and make an observation.

We love to hear your stories and see your pictures! Share your plant-hunting adventures with us on social media using the hashtag #NatureOverheard.

Have a great week!
Abigail

Hello, wildlife enthusiasts!

Welcome to those of you that have recently signed up to Street Safari, and well done to those that have been busy submitting their observations over the last fortnight.

Last week, we focussed on invertebrates and together identified at least 25 species. This number will likely increase as verifiers in the iNaturalist community work to improve some of the trickier identifications. The most common species we saw over the last week were the White-lipped Snail (Cepaea hortensis) and the Kentish Snail (Monacha cantiana). Invertebrates weren’t the only group being spotted near roads this week, as together we spotted another 75 species encompassing plants, birds, fungi, lichen and mammals!

As we dive into our third week of Street Safari (14th-20th October) we’re turning our attention to the skies and all things avian. Next week’s challenge is… Birds!

Birds are some of the most fascinating and accessible wildlife species in urban and suburban areas. They’re often seen near roads, singing from the trees or hopping alongside you. We invite you to become an ornithologist for a week and spot as many different bird species as you can. Whether you’re on your way to school, work, or simply out for a stroll, keep an eye (and ear) out for our feathered friends.

To submit your observation to the project, you can take a photo of any birds you see, or you can even use the “Record sound” function within the iNaturalist app to record observations of birds that you can hear but can’t photograph. Verifiers in the iNaturalist community will then listen to the sounds and identify what bird species are making them. If you’re new to iNaturalist or haven’t yet made an observation, you can read the guide to making observations on the iNaturalist website. If anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to send us an email and we can answer your questions to make sure your observations count.

To get you started, here are a few common species you might encounter this week:

• Magpie (Pica pica)
• Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
• Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
• Domestic Pigeon (Columba livia domestica)
• European Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
• Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)

Remember, every observation counts, so if you see any other fascinating creatures during the week, don’t hesitate to document them as well.

We love to hear your stories and see your pictures! Share your bird-watching adventures with us on social media using the hashtag #NatureOverheard.

Have a great wildlife filled week!

Abigail

Thank you for joining the Street Safari project run by the Community Science team at the Natural History Museum.

We will be posting a journal entry once a week to celebrate highlights, and to announce a fun challenge for the week ahead.

As a reminder - this October, to celebrate International Walk to School month, we are collaborating with Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, and inviting people across the UK to snap photos of wildlife they see near roads on the way to and from school, work, even the shops. There’s a chance to win prizes for yourself and for a nominated school – sign up for competition entry and read the full terms and conditions here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/monitor-and-encourage-nature/nature-overheard/street-safari.html

Over the last week, we've seen some of you already busy recording your observations of wildlife. Together, we’ve identified at least 50 species already! This number will increase as verifiers in the iNaturalist community work to improve some of the more tricky identifications we’ve seen. Not many things have been seen more than once, which means we are capturing a great diversity of wildlife with this project already. If you’re new to iNaturalist or haven’t yet made an observation, you can read the guide to making observations on the iNaturalist website: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started. If anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to send us a message and we can help you out to make sure your observations count.

Over the next week of Street Safari (7th-13th October) we want to set you a challenge to focus on…. Invertebrates! During this week, try and see how many different types you can find – you’ll be amazed once you realise just how many creatures fall under this category. Better still, a lot of them will stay still and pose for a photograph – perfect for an iNaturalist observation.

Invertebrates are any animal without a backbone. Some of the things you might spot include spiders, snails, earthworms, and any type of insect! Here are some different types that you might spot at this time of the year to give you some inspiration:
• Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)
• Common Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
• Common Carder Bee (Bombus pascuorum)
• Brown-lipped snail (Cepaea nemoralis)
• Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
• Leopard slug (Limax maximus)

Remember you can still record anything you see this week, so don’t ignore any other wildlife you find. If you’re on social media, let us know how many invertebrates you managed to find with #NatureOverheard.

Have a great wildlife-spotting week!

Abigail