If you take a look at the species distribution of this project so far, you might notice the abundance of gray squirrels in the center of Boston and Cambridge, but the lack of other squirrel species. The same can be seen when walking through an urban green area such as Boston Commons are Harvard Yard. Only gray squirrels are visibly inhabiting these city centers. Do you know why this data gap is occurring?

While Eastern gray squirrels are habitat generalists, meaning they can survive in a wide variety of location, the five other squirrel species in this quest have more specific habitat needs; they need denser tree cover, undergrowth, and other natural features that are not available in cities.

If you are up for a challenge, try to observe a non-gray squirrel in an urban center. Take note of the plant life in the area compared to the human developments. This will provide important information about what habitat qualities are necessary for our cities to support natural life. Based on your observations, do you think Boston is taking non-human species into consideration when planning these developments?

Are you having trouble making observations? Would you like to meet fellow nature enthusiasts? You should attend a guided observation event. Several researchers and organizations are hosting City Nature Challenge (CNC) walks and we want you to attend! You will work with other naturalists and citizen scientists to take quality observations and learn how to identify local species.

A Walk through Central Woodland

• When: Saturday, April 28, 1:00pm-3:00pm
• Where: Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 125 Arborway, Boston, MA
• Description: Join us for a walk through Central Woodland, one of the Arboretum’s minimally maintained natural areas, and learn about the history and ecology of these often-overlooked “urban wilds”. We’ll see traces of New England history and glimpses of the future among remnant native plants and encroaching invaders.

Learn more about this and other CNC events at:
www.zoonewengland.org/protect/here-in-new-england/boston-area-city-nature-challenge/calendar-of-events

The #CityNatureChallenge got off to a wonderful sprinting start yesterday!

The Great Squirrel Hunt has had 47 observations made featuring two species, and all that included a picture are at research grade! Representatives all the way from Stow, to Lexington, Byfield, Waltham, and the franklin park zoo are contributing to our hunt!

Eastern gray squirrels are making up the majority of our observations, so show some love to Northern and Southern flying squirrels, woodchucks, and American Red Squirrels if you can!

There are still plenty of hotspots needing coverage- Boston Common would be a great place to find some quick observations that haven't been made yet!

Our project hotspots are in Braintree, Brookline and Waltham- keep up the good work!

The first eastern chipmunk was found by user MarkChandler, and the first Eastern Gray squirrel by Willvd. We are still waiting for our first observations of our other four species- some location tips can be found here: http://www.zoonewengland.org/protect/here-in-new-england/boston-area-city-nature-challenge/data-quests

With the wonderful weather, the Boston area CNC gained over 5,000 total observations yesterday!

How did The Great Squirrel Hunt do? 38 observers added 54 observations, making our total count across the 2018 City Nature Challenge 101 observations so far! Our most observed species is, unsurprisingly, the Eastern Gray Squirrel. Shoutout to user @lvfree for this fun shot: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11664417 and to @dalien for this beauty: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11700199

Yesterday was also exciting for another reason: American Red Squirrel sightings! Congrats to @bmvig, who just edged out @marthaslone for the first observation. In total, six observers in the Boston area made six research grade observations of red squirrels. Keep up the the great work! Will you be the first to find an American Red Squirrel in your town?

Or, will you be the very first to find a Northern Flying Squirrel, Southern Flying Squirrel, or Woodchuck this Boston CNC? There are only 2 observations of Northern Flying Squirrels in the GSH ever, so any observations you can make are incredibly important.

We could also use more helping hands down through Wellesley, Dedham, and Braintree, as well as up in the Salem and Essex areas, so keep your eyes open if you'll be over those ways!

Don't let the gray weather keep you blue! There's still plenty of time for observations before the end of this City Nature Challenge! For identification tips and information on the other five data quests run by the Boston CNC, go to: http://www.zoonewengland.org/protect/here-in-new-england/boston-area-city-nature-challenge/data-quests

Boston, in 9th place, now has 12,920 observations and 1,176 species in the 2018 City Nature Challenge!

Yesterday we added 63 total new observations to The Great Squirrel Hunt during the 3rd day of the Boston city nature challenge. That included 45 Eastern Grey Squirrels, 14 Eastern Chipmunks, and 4 American Red Squirrels. There are still no observations of Woodchucks, Southern Flying Squirrels, or Northern Flying Squirrels during the CNC. Will you be the first to spot one?

Shout out to iNaturalist users @grakk , @csingler , and @ellenloftis for adding the only three photographed observations of an American Red Squirrel! Also a shout out to akilee for this amazing Eastern Chipmunk picture: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11774541

Observations stretched all the way from Swampscott, Tewksbury, Roxbury, Bolton, and everywhere in between! Waltham and Somerville continue to be hot spots, but we could use more observations from the Newton, Wellesley, and the Framingham areas!

Thank you to @hitchco and @markchandler for adding 3 observations each yesterday to the project! @maractwin continues to hold his place at the top of the observer list with 138 observations, 2 during the 2018 City Nature Challenge!

Keep up the good work Boston!

On the last day of competition, Boston remains amongst the top 10 cities with 13,611 observations and identifying 1,213 species!

Congratulations to @ams6thgrade for remaining in first place with 460 observations and @markchandler for remaining in first place identifying 123 species!

The Eastern Gray squirrel remains amongst the top 5 most observed species at 140, adding great numbers to the Great Squirrel Hunt! There had been 63 total observations to the hunt yesterday, 45 of which were eastern Gray Squirrels, 14 of which were Eastern Chipmunks and 4 of which were American Red Squirrels. Shout out to @grakk for spotting an American Red in Tewksbury and @csingler for spotting an American Red in Bolton to add to the count!

There have yet to be any observations of woodchucks, southern flying squirrels and northern flying squirrels. @jonathan_glover made an awesome observation of a southern flying squirrel back on April 4th, will he be able to make another one for this years City Nature Challenge?

Congratulation to @maractwin for being on the top of the leaderboard with 138 observations and identifying 5 species for The Great Squirrel Hunt. He leads by 79 observations!

As the last day of the City Nature Challenge comes to a close, will Boston remain amongst the top 10 cities?
-MD