Herons, beavers and coyotes are just some of the animals locals might see – and hopefully photograph – at Richmond Nature Park this weekend.
The City Nature Challenge is back again this year, and Richmond Virtual School teacher Neill Mccallum is hoping Richmond residents of all ages come to observe and document plants, animals and fungi and upload them to the mobile app iNaturalist.
The City Nature Challenge, which takes place in 400 cities across the globe – mainly in Canada and the U.S. - was originally started by San Francisco’s California Academy of Sciences and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Country.
The goal of the event is to connect people with nature and each other.
“One of the great ways to study nature and biodiversity is by connecting with scientists and local community members. So last year, we had almost 100 people participate and we made close to 2,000 observations, which is the most we have ever had (over the past four years),” said Mccallum, who takes his whole family along to the event.
In addition to the nature park, many places in Richmond, such as Iona Beach, Garry Point Park – or even your own backyard - are ideal for finding a large diversity of species and micro-organisms.
The most fun part of joining the annual challenge is that you never know what species you will find in the end, noted Mccallum.
“There are chances that some people have found species they didn’t know have lived in that area in the last 30 years.”
Mccallum has been trying to get local fishermen to take up the nature challenge because of their proximity to the ocean.
“Last year, we observed a few seals and a few different types of fish. So, that’s a great asset of Richmond since some places don’t have as much access to the shoreline,” said Mccallum.
The City Nature Challenge runs from April 29 to May 2 and participants can upload their observations to the free iNaturalist app. Participants can make and upload their observations to the app whenever it’s convenient between Friday, April 29 and Monday, May 2.
The final results will be announced on May 9.
For more information, go to https://citynaturechallenge.org/.
