The identification phase begins...and there's still time to upload observations from April 26-29!

Hi all, thanks again for your wonderful contributions to our City Nature Challenge project. I didn't realize it last night, but it looks like the CNC organizers are still allowing observations made between April 26 and 29 to be uploaded - our species tally is now at just under 900!!

We know that some of you still have observations to upload, so this is good news. Please just make sure to follow the honor system and only upload photos taken during the official observation period of April 26 - 29.

We had quite a number of moth and insect observations come in last night from iNaturalist user @rayray - these are definitely worth a look. I had no idea the diversity of moths that we have in this area. Here are just a few that I found especially charismatic:

Straight-lined plagodis moth

Yellow-veined geometer moth

Arched hooktip moth

@rayray, maybe next year you can teach some of us how you attract and document all these nighttime visitors!

On to the identification phase
We are now in the Identification phase of the project - that means we need your expertise to help positively identify our more than 3,000 observations. If you have a specific area of expertise - birds, fungi, insects, etc., you can visit our project page and use the filters to show you just the observations in your desired categories. Then, you can look at individual observations and either agree with the observer's identification, or suggest an alternate ID.

If anyone would like to help identify observations but isn't sure how to do so, please respond to this post so I can help you.

Our goal is to get as many of our observations as we can to "research grade" status. In some cases, it may not be possible to narrow an observation all the way down to the species level - but it is still helpful to narrow things down as much as possible. For example, if someone has an observation that is still tagged as "unknown", and you know it is a plant, you can simply suggest the ID "Plants". That will cue some of our plant experts to weigh in.

Typically, in my experience, birds and mammals are confirmed the fastest, followed by plants, followed by everything else. We will need extra help ID'ing the "everything else" - so if you know anyone with expertise, please invite them to our project, and to iNaturalist if they aren't already on the app!

One way to get an ID on your observation faster is to look at the iNaturalist page for the suspected species, and tag the top observers and identifiers. To tag someone, simply make a comment on the post with your question, and tag them using the @ symbol, followed by the username (i.e. @chiforager).

Identifying may not be quite as exciting as making observations, but it is an essential part of our project and a great way to contribute! Thanks in advance for your assistance with this phase,

• Sarah (@chiforager) and Chase (@hexagonaria)

P.S.: I'm tagging all project contributors with at least one research-grade observation here, so that everyone knows about the ID phase.

@kellyfuerstenberg, @suehallam, @mcjamjam, @sarah190, @mary_vrp, @doc1790, @sarah4035, @wachta, @tiffanybwood, @william_dornbos, @magnerin, @rrn, @makeupbykristi, @chiforager, @audrey327, @evitols, @rayray, @teetee-mcgee, @amlisi, @k10d, @ezt, @kwg555, @sarahwall99, @hexagonaria, @unbridleddiscoveries, @kausha, @lis220, @jennywebs, @jonathan42300, @salix_scott, @nanbarto, @lukas3291, @cwyse, @scmayo, @aquarius98, @arachphotobia, @snakebird15, @ipsumo, @billiam, @yxlin, @arobey63, @emschumann, @dwtrapnell, @cecilydyer, @khopemartin, @abugail, @rileyghostie, @blovelandsennett, @hodag, @maddog1066, @flowergirl1515, @cescabis, @johnoverhiserjr, @wesley_j, @son_of_wasps, @jessbu, @jenkatja, @eikenella, @bafinnan, @ecowill, @bobby23, @melissaandjim, @kathrond, @the3foragers, @codylimber, @taah, @themicrocosmos, @mee910, @sam2044, @dirtwizzard, @danab, @fleischosapien, @mkromidas, @carina69337, @labdean, @abbyks, @davidreik, @jmmusser, @sushi_lovers_vt, @jlazor, @seanmorley15, @alextrouern-trend, @cat2953, @shin_alpha, @jessie92, @nofahz, @ketki7, @tim221, @sodistractable, @august2fly, @mollyzahn, @wawa77, @jill71333, @barb_lr, @calaise, @sara_fagan, @alexnovarro, @cichlidmike, @bonniezac, @clshafer, @jeffhoyt01, @cswood, @jacobsona727, @christinarnini, @corrief, @brandonhenry27, @irish_folds, @lucyhardee, @jmhtex, @corpdronemetal, @atdest, @silvercats, @shannon17352, @reeconn, @seanstoessel, @rebeccagelernter, @penzy98, @ajfeld, @kimberlymj, @okapimykapi, @samsmithonearth, @riley05401, @albert384, @jackie24, @tacimat, @kathryn_langlois, @mrbirder98, @condrus, @kristofz, @jmvanel, @mswomley, @gage98, @ellalavender, @mkollen, @sycamore_lover, @rferdinand, @elleryneiderer, @alex_lin-moore, @bellemarematt, @ericpo1, @dami_203, @uvm1978, @dbenoit888, @jongorham, @apocynaceaenow, @breezy1125, @jonathan, @jscanio, @watchmewatchthem, @charliebrowncb5

Posted on 30 April, 2024 21:45 by chiforager