Project Update - March 2024
Spring is finally here, but you wouldn’t know it at times with the blisteringly cold winds and snowy conditions we have endured this month. There have been a few sunny days too, tricking us into thinking winter was over, as per usual. Either way, the improved conditions meant that more people were out in the parks, enjoying nature, and contributing to our iNaturalist Project. We also announced our second Erie MetroParks Citizen Science Month Challenge, so that may have contributed to an uptick in users. In fact, we welcomed a few new members to the Erie MetroParks iNaturalist Project, so we are now up to 48 members. Welcome to @gustavgolden, @melabyd, @katiemyer11, @kay_cee, and @andrea3975. If you know of anyone that may be interested, please direct them to our page!
The Citizen Science Month Challenge runs through to April 30th. It challenges park users to submit as many iNaturalist observations as possible. The person that submits the most observations will win a naturalist bundle, which includes a backpack, a pair of binoculars, and some wildlife guides. Three additional winners will be drawn randomly from all that register.
The Project increased from 12105 to 12219 observations (+114), and 1972 to 1979 species (+7), but there were no new observers, remaining at 202 (+0). We are edging towards 2000 species identified in our parks!
Our number of Research Grade observations increased from 8196 to 8292 (+96). This equates to a Research Grade percentage of 67.86% (up from 67.71%).
Of the 114 observations added to the Project this month, observations included 41 birds, 28 amphibians, 20 insects, 9 plants, 5 mammals, 4 reptiles, 2 spiders, 1 mollusc, and 1 fungi.
Of these, there were 59 species recorded. Bald eagle was observed the most (13 occasions), followed by Eastern red-backed salamander (10 occasions). American white pelican, spotted salamander, and unisexual mole salamander were all observed on 7 occasions.
The observations came from 8 observers. The top five observers were @martyndrabik (63), @eriemetroparks (23), @hroni (10), @samantha_smith1 (7), and @ryanli (6).
The top observations of the month include:
Scarlet cup (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202082091)
Eastern skunk cabbage (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201258672)
Spring fishfly (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/204218955)
Vivid metallic ground beetle (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/204269017)
American white pelican (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/201278034)
Thank you to everyone for contributing to the Project.
~ Martyn
