Until yesterday I’d completely forgotten about the City Nature Challenge…oops! This is a global event that began on Friday, and continues through tomorrow (Monday) – so there’s still time to participate if you are interested.
The idea is to get out in nature, take notice of plants and animals, and photograph them if you can. The app iNaturalist can be uploaded for free onto your mobile phone, or you can access the site on your computer, which you can link to here. Your photos can then be uploaded to iNaturalist, where the IDs are confirmed and they are added to the data set. There are over 70 cities participating in the challenge, so it’s likely there is one near you. Once you have the app loaded to your mobile (or computer), just click on Projects and you should see the City Nature Challenge in the list, which you can join from there.
I did go out walking in Carver Park Reserve yesterday with my friend, naturalist Laurel, and her father, after Laurel had given us some pointers on working with iNaturalist. We walked about a mile, and I walked another
1.5 miles or so on my own after the three of us parted. We did see and hear quite a bit. We heard Song Sparrows, Sandhill Cranes, Osprey, and a pair of Barred Owls duetting. We photographed Red-winged Blackbirds, Duckweed floating on the ponds, and this lovely blooming Hepatica (photo to the left), just to name a few.
After I wandered off on my own, I mainly heard frogs, quite a few frogs in fact, including a Bullfrog. I also spotted a pair of Trumpeter Swans, several Bald Eagles circling overhead, numerous Canada Geese, and two busy Muskrats on Crosby
Lake, one on each side of the dock. Here is a photo of one as it swam past where I was standing:
At one point, as I was walking slowly along the trail, looking around me – up, down, and to all sides – I noticed some movement on the path in front of me. It was a little Wolf Spider (at least, that’s what I think it is, I’m certainly no spider expert!), scurrying across from one side of the trail to the other. It paused long enough for me to catch a quick photo.
I will be out wandering in Carver Park again this afternoon, as today is my raptor care day for the park’s resident raptors. I’m also scheduled to help out with a full moon walk tonight, which I’m very excited about – I haven’t gone on a full moon hike in quite some time! I’ll post the results of those two walks tomorrow.
As for the snakes, still no luck! Maybe today will be the day…