The 2021 City Nature Challenge results are in: 419 cities from 44 countries participated this year! Colorado joined over 52,700 other people around the globe during the 10-day challenge and collectively, we recorded 1,270,767 observations of over 45,300 species!

Due to ongoing concerns over Covid-19, the 2021 CNC event was not a competition but rather focused on the collaborative goal of connecting people with nature. In that spirit, this journal post will present combined highlights from the two Colorado areas that participated this year: the Denver-Boulder Metro Area and the Colorado Springs Area.

And since this is the State Parks NatureFinder project, I also wanted to highlight the CNC observations made within Colorado State Parks! Check out some of the species stats and photos below!

• Most-observed plants: Common Starlily and Prairie Bluebells
• Most-observed birds: Red-winged Blackbird, Red-tailed Hawk, and American White Pelican
• Most-observed herps: Gopher Snake and Prairie Lizard
• Most-observed mammals: Mule Deer and White-tailed Deer
• Most-observed arthropods: 9-way tie with 1 observation each!

Snow’s Aphideater (Eupeodes snowi), Cheyenne Mountain State Park, observed by adriscoll on April 30, 2021

Simpson’s Hedgehog Cactus (Pediocactus simpsonii), Castlewood Canyon State Park, observed by Bob Lagier (frwildflowers) on May 1, 2021

Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer ssp. sayi), Eldorado Canyon State Park, observed by thorheyerdahl on May 1, 2021

Prairie Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla nuttalliana), Castlewood Canyon State Park, observed by Suzanne Dingwell (suzanne11) on May 1, 2021

Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius), Barr Lake State Park, observed by lsimuns on April 30, 2021