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City Nature Challenge at the Halfway Point

The event continues until midnight on Monday May 2.

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

The first two days of the City Nature Challenge are complete and so far we have over 400 species reported from over 2,500 observations. I’m sure many observers (like me) have taken quite a few photos that they haven’t had time to post to iNaturalist yet, so the numbers for the first two days will increase, and we still have two days to go. Participants have until 9am on May 9 to upload their photos, so please don’t think you can’t participate because you won’t have time. Try to take a few photos of each organism so it is easier for the iNaturalist AI and for other participants to identify.

Eurasian Collared-Dove
Eurasian Collared-Dove I photographed in my yard on April 30. It may take a few days before I get a chance to upload this and other photos to the project, but I have until May 9 at 9 am to do so. Photo by Bob Lefebvre.

You can take photos of any living thing – birds, other animals, plants, even bacteria if you are able to! Good quality photos are important, but for many birds and animals the photos only have to be good enough to identify, which is often easy even with distant or blurry photos, so don’t hesitate to capture a bird’s photo because you can’t get a perfect shot. Common species like House Sparrows and dandelions should be recorded as well as more “interesting” species.

centipede
A centipede I photographed in my yard yesterday using my phone. Based on the iNaturalist Artificial Intelligence I believe it is a Brown Centipede, but if it is another species the worldwide network of iNaturalist users will correct me. Photo by Bob Lefebvre

This is a planet-wide event with hundreds of cities taking part. There are forty-two Canadian municipalities participating this year. Of course every city has a different set of species, but we can “compete” to see how many people take part, how many observations we make, and how many species we record – even if it’s not a level playing field. In Calgary we have taken pride in leading the country in the number of observations we have made during past CNC’s.

Calgary City Nature Challenge 2022
Calgary’s stats from the iNaturalist project page.

This year, we have a little work to do to catch up to Toronto for total observations. The stats at the top of the page are for the whole country. (See the iNaturalist project page for Canada.)

City Nature Challenge Canada
The Canadian cities with the most observations as of Sunday morning, May 1, 2022.

You might also like to see how the worldwide challenge is going – some incredible numbers from La Paz, Hong Kong, and (as always) Cape Town. See the page here for a complete list of cities and their progress.

In case you have any questions about how the challenge works, here is a quick FAQ from the City Nature Challenge main website.

Please get out and help to log the biodiversity of the Calgary area!

Calgary City Nature Challenge Results

Posted by Bob Lefebvre

Back in April, Calgarians participated for the second time in the City Nature Challenge. This year, with better weather and the addition of participants in Cochrane, Airdie, Okotoks, and Chestermere, we exceeded all of the 2019 results. This was despite the inability, due to Covid-19, of having organized field trips with many observers. Participants were more or less on their own, but nevetheless 248 observers submitted 5,557 observations, from which 759 species have so far been identified.

Downy Woodpecker
A Downy Woodpecker I photographed on April 24, 2020 for the City Nature Challenge.
Calgary, photo by Bob Lefebvre

You can view the Project Page on iNaturalist to see all the local observations. Some highlights include a bobcat with prey, a raccoon seen downtown, and a moose in Fish Creek Park. There were 110 bird species reported, including uncommon species like Steller’s Jay, Turkey Vulture, and Wild Turkey (the local celebrity Ramsay Turkey).

You can explore all of the bird reports here.

Calgary was one of eleven Canadian Cities that took part in the Challenge, and led them all in number of particpants, number of species reported, and number of observations made.

There were 244 cities worldwide which took part in 2020. See the Project Page on iNaturalist to view all the results. The most observations made was 34,474 in Cape Town, South Africa. San Francisco had the most people making observations with 2,678. The highest number of species reported was 2,937 in Houston-Galveston. In all, over 33,000 species were reported.

City Nature Challenge 2020

Congratulations to Matthew Wallace for his efforts in organizing and promoting the Calgary City Nature Challenge. I look forward to next year’s event!

Furry Friday: Tracks

One of the best things about winter is seeing all the animal tracks in the snow. It’s fun to go out after a light snowfall, when you can see signs of all the mammals that have passed. Sometimes there are bird tracks and wing-prints too.

Hare tracks
Hare Tracks, November 2018. Photo by Rodney Nicholson.

These are likely the tracks of a White-tailed Jackrabbit. It was travelling from right to left, the opposite direction of the “arrow” the tracks make.

So far we haven’t had much snow this winter, but we should still get plenty of opportunities in the new year to see all kinds of animal tracks.

Furry Friday: Praying For Spring

Richardson’s Ground Squirrels are beginning to come out of hibernation, right on schedule. But with the record snowfalls we’ve had, and more on the way, it must be a nasty shock for them. All photos were taken by Tony LePrieur just outside Calgary in early March.

Richardson's Ground Squirrel

Richardson's Ground Squirrel

 

68 Street Wetlands and Carburn Park with the FFCPP

The Friends of Fish Creek Provincial Park Society’s birding course groups went to the 68 Street wetlands (east of Elliston Lake, just off 17 Avenue SE) during the week of October 23-29. Max Ortiz Aguilar took a few photos on the outing with the Sunday morning group.

Trumpeter Swan, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Trumpeter Swans, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Canada Geese, 68 Street SE Wetlands, October 29, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

The following week the groups went to Carburn Park, on the Bow River in the community of Riverbend.

Likely Cackling Goose (left rear) with Canada Geese, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Note its small size, short neck, dark breast where it joins the black of the neck, and very small bill. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Bufflehead group, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Common Goldeneye group, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Coyote, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Killdeer, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Mallard drake, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Red-breasted Mergansers, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Note the much thinner bill on this species compared to that of a Common Merganser. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

Tundra Swan, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

White-breasted Nuthatch, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

White-tailed Deer, Carburn Park, November 5, 2017. Photo by Max Ortiz Aguilar.

To see more of Max’s photos, see his Flickr page.

The friends of Fish Creek are now taking registrations for the winter birding course, which runs from January 8, 2018 to the end of March. Register here.

 

Furry Friday: Summer Mammals by Tony LePrieur

Some mammals of Calgary and area, photographed this summer by Tony LePrieur. To see more of Tony’s photos, visit his Flickr page.

The first three photos are of a family of Coyotes at a den in the city.

Coyote, Calgary, July 9, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Coyote, Calgary, July 9, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Coyote, Calgary, July 9, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

American Pika, Kananaskis, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

American Pika, Kananaskis, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

American Pika, Kananaskis, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

White-tailed Jackrabbit, Queen’s Park Cemetery, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

American Mink, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

American Mink, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

American Mink, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

American Mink, Fish Creek Park, June 18, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Northern Flying Squirrel in bird nest box, SW Calgary, June 25, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

 

Furry Friday: Baby Pika

Tony LePrieur was photographing Pikas in the Highwood pass when he saw a juvenile moving around mostly under the rocks (as opposed to the adults who bound over the tops).

Adult Pika, Highwood Pass, July 14, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Juvenile Pika, Highwood Pass, July 14, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Juvenile Pika, Highwood Pass, July 14, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Juvenile Pika, Highwood Pass, July 14, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Here are some more photos of Pikas that Tony took last year.

You can see more of Tony’s photos on his Flickr site here.

Wild Horses – Mothers and Foals

Tony LePrieur photographed these wild horses west of Sundre. He was trying to get a photo of a dam with a foal to give to his mother on Mother’s Day, and he succeeded!

Wild Horses, west of Sundre, May 13, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Wild Horses, west of Sundre, May 13, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Wild Horses, west of Sundre, May 13, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.

Wild Horses, west of Sundre, May 13, 2017. Photo by Tony LePrieur.