Hi there, members of the inaugural Memphis Area City Nature Challenge!

Two years later, and Memphis-Shelby County is back at it, competing in the City Nature Challenge (CNC) 2024 (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-memphis-shelby-county)!

Overton Park Conservancy leads the way this year, coordinating with partners Memphis Botanic Garden, T.O. Fuller State Park, University of Memphis – Meeman Biological Station, Memphis River Parks Partnership, and Wolf River Conservancy to offer multiple opportunities to engage in the global event as a local community (https://overtonpark.org/citynaturechallenge/). Check out the events below, and I hope you'll come on out for some fun!

Of course, any observation of nature 1) made in Shelby County, TN, between Friday, April 26 - Monday, April 29, and 2) uploaded to the iNaturalist platform by May 5, will automatically be added to the project and count toward our stats for the global competition, the results for which will be determined May 6 (https://www.citynaturechallenge.org/live).

If you're around town, I hope you'll find the best ways for yourself to participate in the CNC, but most of all, I hope you'll find a little moment for yourself to connect with what's wild both around you and in you! Cheers to all that's wild in Memphis-Shelby County!

EVENTS:

Friday, April 26

iNaturalist Training at Memphis Botanic Garden, 9:00 AM – noon (drop in at the top of the hour at 9, 10, 11, or 12)
Join MBG staff as they walk you through how to use iNaturalist to take photos, upload your observations, and submit them for identification.

Birds and Bugs at Shelby Farms Park, 4:00 – 5:30 PM
Join Overton Park Conservancy staff for a slow walk near the Shelby Farms Community Gardens to look for migratory birds and interesting insects. Meet on the gravel road that crosses Gardener Road west of Shelby Farms Park.

Saturday, April 27

Nature 101 Walks at Overton Park, 9:00 AM – noon
Overton Park Conservancy’s naturalist-led group walks will introduce you to birds, insects, fungi, plants, and mammals, and this month we’ll focus on recording what we see. Register here for one of the seven walks offered: https://overtonpark.org/nature101/.

BioBlitz at Memphis Botanic Garden, 12:00 – 4:00 PM
Help MBG document plants and animals in their native Woodlands, participate in children’s activities to learn about native wildlife, and join native plant curator and horticulturist Anne Ballentine in the Pollinator Garden from 12-12:30 and 1-1:30 pm to discover what’s popping up in the garden! More details here: https://membg.org/events/city-nature-challenge/.

Moth Party at T.O. Fuller State Park Interpretive Center, 8:00 – 9:30 PM
The T.O. Fuller rangers are breaking out the moth lights so we can add some after-dark critters to our challenge! This event is free with registration: https://tnstateparks.com/parks/event_details/t-o-fuller/#/?event=city-nature-challenge-moth-party.

Sunday, April 28

BioBlitz and Nature Walk at Wolf River Greenway – Epping Way, hourly at 9:00 and 10:00 AM
Join the Wolf River Conservancy team at Epping Way to see what species call the river and lake area home (https://www.wolfriver.org/events/city-nature-challenge-bioblitz-at-epping-way).

Cicadas, Butterflies, and Flowers at T.O. Fuller Wildlife Habitat Area, 12:00 – 3:00 PM
The focus is on insects and plants at this walk that launches from T.O. Fuller State Park’s Interpretive Center. Register here: https://tnstateparks.com/parks/event_details/t-o-fuller/#/?event=cicadas-butterflies-and-flowers.

Monday, April 29

Nature Walk with Harry Babb at the River Garden, 12:00 – 1:00 PM
Join native landscaper Harry Babb on a free guided nature walk to learn more about the flora and fauna at the riverfront. Meet at Fourth Cup (green container with Memphis River Parks logo) and enjoy a serene stroll around the park (https://memphisriverparks.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events#/events/4215).

How DID we represent our home back in 2022? I'm so glad you asked!!

Here's a little reminder of how this effort adds up AND a great reason both to celebrate and to challenge yourselves with another round! Yes, let's go Team Greater Memphis!

Recap on City Nature Challenge 2022 Results

Global Totals
Observations: 1,694,877
Observers: 67,220
Species documented: 50,176+, including more than 2,244 rare/endangered/threatened species
Number of participating countries: 47
Number of participating cities: 445
(https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022/journal/65711-city-nature-challenge-2022-results)

Greater Memphis Area Totals
Observations: 1,841
Observers: 124
Species documented: 747
(https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-greater-memphis-metro-area)

In the global project, our observation total compared to that of Ithaca, NY, and Central Ohio, nationally, and České Budějovice, Czech Republic, and Almería, Spain, internationally.

Our species count ranked between Fairfield & Westchester County, CT, and Piedmont, NC, in the US, while we held steady just behind Innsbruck, Austria (shout-out to my mom’s hometown!), and ahead of Weskus, South Africa, globally.

In terms of our number of observers, we ranked between Milwaukee Metro, WI, and O‘ahu, HI, across the US. Internationally, we held our own in a class with Liverpool City Region, United Kingdom, and Berlin, Germany!

Ultimately, La Paz, Bolivia, with their impeccably organized and admirably enthusiastic effort, logged the most observations by the most observers compared to any other locality in the world. While the Global Project (participants without an established project in their hometown) registered the most species across the globe, City of Cape Town, South Africa, took the title for most species documented in a single contiguous locality. Hong Kong hovered close behind.

Nationally, Dallas/Fort Worth came to play, logging the most observations in the US. Houston/Galveston, with Dallas/Fort Worth close behind, documented the most species in the US. San Francisco Bay Area engaged the most observers, but Washington DC Metro Area showed up in nearly as many numbers as the leader (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022). All around, it was a record-breaking year, and 2024 will smash more records with your help!

Special shout-out to @mmcmasters, @fieldfalcon, @john_erickson, @pjunkins, and @ryanpudwell for uploading the most observations and the most species in the Greater Memphis Metro Area CNC project in 2022. An additional thank you to @ryanpudwell and @srdsmkes for so generously identifying the most observations. It really was a team effort in every respect!

Most Observed Species in Greater Memphis Metro Area CNC 2022
Birds: Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) (17) and Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) (14)
Mammals: Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) (12)
Fish: Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus) (1)
Insects: Horned Passalus Beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus) (12) and Eastern Tent Caterpillar (Malacosoma americana) (11)
Reptiles: Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta) (10) and Plain-bellied Watersnake (Nerodia erythrogaster) (9)
Amphibians: Fowler’s Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) (10) and Green Frog (Lithobates clamitans) (3)
Plants: Butterweed (Packera glabella) (12) and Philadelphia Fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) (11)
Fungi: Mayapple Rust (Allodus podophylli) (3) and the genus Stereum (3)
Protozoans: Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica) (3)

Now, let's get out there and show the world what we've got in 2024, Memphis-Shelby County!

Rooting for the wild of Memphis-Shelby County, now and always,
xx
Bridget (@brirosa)

Calling all Memphis MSA iNaturalist power users! Yes, you!

From Friday, April 29 - Monday, May 2, the light you shine on our local biodiversity here on iNaturalist will be captured on the international stage of the global 2022 City Nature Challenge (CNC) for the first time!

Automatically--as long as you upload it by May 8--every observation you record in the Memphis MSA, from April 29 - May 2, will count toward representing the greater Memphis metro area in one of the largest citizen science events in the world! Let that sink in. This will include observations made in Shelby, Fayette, and Tipton counties in Tennessee; DeSoto, Marshall, Tate, and Tunica counties in Mississippi; and Crittenden county in Arkansas.

As the event encourages "collaboration-meets-friendly-competition," who else here believes we've got a pretty special community of naturalists in the Memphis metro area who can absolutely record more observations, find more species, and engage more people than we (or anyone) could ever expect?

Since the CNC went national in 2017, Nashville, Knox Area, Northeast Tennessee, and Chattanooga all arrived to the game before us. But as Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant would remind us, how we dedicate ourselves outside of the spotlight makes the real difference! It's our turn to tell them, "Welcome to the dark." We're wild here. Let's surprise everyone, including ourselves.

Global results for the City Nature Challenge (CNC) will be shared May 9, 2022. Join this project (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022-greater-memphis-metro-area), if you'd like to receive extra communication about project developments and opportunities.

To kick off the CNC weekend, the phenomenal Overton Park Conservancy will have some iNaturalist (and wildlife) experts available on Friday, April 29 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM at the Old Forest entrance near Rainbow Lake Playground and Overton Bark to encourage participation and chat nature (https://overtonpark.org/2022/04/14/city-nature-challenge-april-29-may-2/), if you would like to visit or know of anyone else who might be interested! Spread the word!

Please comment on this post, and share your own projects, events, interests, or hopes related to local nature that could benefit from participation. Tag a friend! Feel free to introduce yourself. Use this project as an opportunity to reach out and connect with each other to grow our own engagement as a community of local naturalists!

Memphis urban nature needs you to keep noticing it, connecting with it, and connecting others with it! Keep shining as naturalist superstars!

Learn More Here:
CNC FAQs: https://citynaturechallenge.org/cnc-faqs-page/
CNC 2022 Umbrella Project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2022
CNC Videos: https://youtu.be/Cdj0XaTBSwU (English), https://youtu.be/qFoLugn0T5s (Spanish)

@patrick34 @creepyvalentine @mmcmasters @deonva @jefferykarafa @bamaboy @valerie84 @fieldfalcon @ranfrye @hayden127 @chelliebo @merelysebacue @ryanpudwell @martongale @keithpaluso @bjones7777 @maryfhsu @mossbirb @charitys9 @constantina @kermit43 @dylanpderouen @gcsnelling @yumerini @ilovebugssomuch @briannamae @sharrow-sparrow @kago42 @davidhilgeman @ebertar @jrh38654 @hikerman @micoral @rmmccabe @slugthegoblin @balsayonsa @potterybridgman @creaghzy @grahamarkle @luca_tanaka @truelove93 @jjrsr @ebridges @megangeater @smballou @decoda @bigcitynaturegirl @libbyp-h @rollingalong @claidheamdanns @jmaybry @shealytn @beckytrimble @robert_laport @murphy95 @cajustis @kevinfitzpatrick @cleanmemphis @kidge @findthebeauty @fossa1211 @darcinator @linoconnor @mbrode @memphianexplorer @openingofeyes @jennmonsarrat @judsonwilliford @the_plastic_mouse @maggieblake @john_erickson @jmctn @gracemccartha @halmitchell @jtippitt @marilynpickle @darrelbrown @pocahontas7780 @naamon @grizzwolf @thorlovescake @whisper21 @cricketfrog13 @firefly1961 @kidpanda @whoismitch @stephaniegreen @rpigot @foragergirl1 @tdm1 @onagraceoid @halmitchell @brown2cu @kendall28 @bullarja @taylor602 @wettduk @stormheart413 @ksmcc07 @ajtrently @kgregg @madison49 @the_griz @ellenm901 @bethanychatham @shelbs901 @lawson416 @shiraziamadog @tankboy @angie_hollyfield @mrsmiller @romanrushing @dawnhall @mario149 @linden_greenwood @francistillmanjr @joy1031 @michelle_cowan

Reach out to @brirosa (bridget.r.mccall@gmail.com) directly with any questions, concerns, or interests, if that's easier. Get excited for the 2022 City Nature Challenge!