Diario del proyecto City Nature Challenge 2023 Louisville Metro

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PLEASE SIGN UP FOR THIS PROJECT. (Weblink below)

JOIN US FOR THE 2024 iNaturalist City Nature Challenge Bioblitz! Together, let’s find the WILD plants (including weeds but not plants planted on purpose), animals (insects included!) and fungi like mushrooms in our yards, lawns, sidewalk cracks, creeks, parks and other natural areas and document their existence with your phone cameras as photos that you upload to iNaturalist using their phone app. That way YOU can find out what they are AND scientists can use the information about where and when certain species appear.
First download the iNaturalist app and REGISTER with iNaturalist at iNaturalist.org. You can also register using a computer.
Try it out BEFORE April 26, if you want, by taking a photo of any plant or animal and uploading it to iNaturalist.
Then join our Louisville Project at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-louisville-metro
Any photos you upload between April 26 and 29, 2024 within the boundaries of Jefferson County, KY will automatically be included in this project. This app will auto-identify your entry OR you can also suggest a name. Others on iNaturalist will either agree with you or make other species suggestions for you to consider.
So, what’s out there in your neighborhood? Let’s join the other nearly 500 cities around the world participating in the City Nature Challenge during the same four-day period and show everyone what species live here. It’s a Bioblitz, so let’s have fun!

Also, look for us on Facebook and Instagram!

I will be making more journal entries with various details in the weeks ahead. Once you join the project, you will be alerted.

Happy New Year!
Margaret Carreiro
Project Administrator for the Louisville CNC 2024

Hi, Folks-

I will provide a summary of our finds here in the next days, but in the meantime, if you use Facebook, I have been posting on our very own Facebook page. Just go to the website below and scroll down to see summaries I made using CANVA.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091257433696

More coming!
Margaret Carreiro
margaridamaria on iNaturalist

We now have all the BIOBLITZ information for all 482 cities in 46 nations that participated from around the world. Here are some Highlights from the iNaturalist CNC Organizers of this 4-day global event! The City Nature Challenge started in 2016 with just TWO cities- San Francisco and Los Angeles. Look at how it has grown! I'll be providing findings from Louisville, Lexington and Frankfort over the next few days as I examine the Excel Spreadsheet I was sent . Stay tuned!

Meantime, here are some highlights.

Total # of observations: 1,870,763
Total # of observers: 66,394
Total # of species documented: 57,227+, including 2,570 rare/endangered/threatened species
Most observed species: Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Number of participating countries: 46
Number of participating cities: 482

Go here to see Global Summary and Leaderboards for Cities
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023

Go here if you want to scroll through photos of the nearly 2600 Endangered and Threatened species found in cities from around the world. This shows us that CITIES DO HARBOR RARE, ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES and Conservation in Cities should be an important concern for local authorities and citizens.

8000 people observed 2600 RARE, ENDANGERED OR THREATENED species IN CITIES. MANY ARE BIRDS. You should see all the AFRICAN PENGUINS!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&project_id=city-nature-challenge-2023&quality_grade=research&threatened&verifiable=any

Also, a reminder that City Nature Challenge Louisville Metro as its own Facebook page. I will be posting visuals there- I cannot do that here. You can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091257433696
CNC-Louisville Metro 2023 is also on Instagram. Just use that title to find it.

I will be posting other Louisville highlights here over the next week. And on our Facebook page.

Hope you had fun even if the weather was blustery and cool during the Bioblitz.

Enjoy the spring!
Margaret Carreiro
Administrator of iNaturalist CNC Louisville Metro

Good News! If you have any photos of species taken from April 28 to May 1 that you did not get a chance to upload to this CNC Louisville Metro Bioblitz, you can still do so until 9 am. May 8.

Hi, everybody!

I sure hope you had a chance to go out and take photos or make audio files of the other species around us from last Friday to Monday, and that you had a good time despite the uninspiring blustery weather we had.

May 8 at 9 a.m. will be the final day to upload photos and audio files taken from April 28 to May 1 (11:59 p.m.) within Jefferson County (Louisville) so they count for this iNaturalist Global Bioblitz involving 485 cities!
We'll have another week to work on identifying species to get as many as we can to Research Grade correctly. Once brought to research grade this citizen science dataset becomes available for scientists to use. This is a distinction between the iNaturalist app and others that simply identify species for you.

If you can help with identifications this week, your help will be most appreciated!
Our work on identifications this week may change the species number you see today, as some species are downgraded to genus or family taxonomic levels. But others may go from Order or Family levels and be identified down to species by some of us and curators and other experts who help. I am contacting the known leaderboard experts for a particular species that may be in doubt and asking them if they can ID them from the photos provided.

If you haven't checked our status on number of species, observations, observers, and identifiers, go here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023-louisville-metro
Click on those words to see who and which are in the lead.

Click on the word Stats and you will see three rings. Click on the colors in each of those rings to see more details about, say, birds, insects, plants.

On the ring labeled: Observations, click on the yellow sector of the ring, and you will see all the as yet UNIDENTIFIED observations. Then if you can help ID them, please help!

Two weeks from now we will get all the biodiversity summary data comparing all the cities and we'll see how Louisville stands compared to other cities our size from around the world!

IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHERE LOUISVILLE STANDS IN COMPARISON WITH LEXINGTON AND FRANKFORT on number of species found, number of observations uploaded and number of observers, go here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/kentucky-city-nature-challenge-2023-cities

Hope you are enjoying the slightly warmer weather. Talk to you soon!

Margaret Carreiro
(margaridamaria)
Administrator of the CNC for Louisville Metro

While people can explore and take photos of plants, animals, and fungi ANYWHERE in Jefferson County for Louisville's iNaturalist City Nature Challenge Bioblitz (even plants growing out of sidewalk cracks!), our sponsors and other friends have graciously offered to take us on guided hikes in some of our county's natural areas! You'll have time to take photos of species along the way and then upload them to iNaturalist by May 2.

YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING HIKES:
Friday, April 28, 2023. 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Jefferson County Forest. Coral Ridge Loop Trail. Hike with Naturalists Lynn Horrar, Ruth Meers, and Margaret Carreiro. Focus is all wildlife, insects, wildflowers, and fungi. GPS: 38.08543, -85.75397
Sponsored by Wild Ones Louisville

Description: This hike is a bit more rugged than any of our other hikes or events. So here is more info than we've provided for our other hikes and walks. Coral Ridge Loop Trail is 2.7 miles long and a moderately challenging route because of the hills. It will likely take us 2+ hours since we will be stopping to take photos. There is a cut-through on the trail that makes it about 2 miles that we may choose to take depending on the group. Bring water, sturdy shoes/boots, and snacks. Insect/Tick Repellent recommended.

Saturday, April 29.
10 a.m.-noon. Hike at Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve. Focus on wildflowers and wildlife. Meet at the Louisville Nature Center (3745 Illinois Ave, Louisville). This is a ticketed event. LNC members FREE.
SIGN UP HERE: https://www.louisvillenaturecenter.org/camps-and-events/city-nature-challenge-inaturalist-bioblitz
Sponsored by the Louisville Nature Center

11:30- 1 p.m. Hike in the Parklands of Floyds Fork with Ranger Naturalist. Erin Kinnetz. Meet at the PNC Achievement Center in Beckley Creek Park for a short info session followed by a hike nearby to capture pictures of as many species as you can!
https://theparklands.org/event/inaturalist-city-nature-challenge-bioblitz/

3:00-5:00 p.m. Hike in Iroquois Park with naturalist Jacob Crider. Focus on wildflowers and birds. Meet at the Iroquois Park amphitheater parking lot by the gazebo.
Sponsored by the Louisville Audubon Society

Sunday, April 30.
9:00 to 11:00 a.m. Hike in Cherokee Park with naturalist and expert birder Major Waltman. Focus on birds. Meeting Place is the intersection of Maple Rd. and the scenic loop. For more information and for registering free for this hike, go to this website: https://www.olmstedparks.org/events/event/interpretive-bird-hike-cherokee-park/
Sponsored by the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy

10:00 a.m. -12:00 noon. Hike in Waverly Park with naturalist Ruth Meers. Focus on wildflowers and mushrooms. Meeting place is the Playground parking lot.

2:00-4:00 p.m. Hike in Cherokee Park with ecologist Professor Margaret Carreiro. Focus on wildflowers. Meet at Hogan Fountain.
Sponsored by Wild Ones Louisville

2:00-4:00 p.m. Hike in Shawnee Park with Rev. Lee Payne, Jr., President of Louisville Audubon Society. Focus- all wildlife and plants but birds for sure! Meet at the Boat Ramp.

Sponsored by the Louisville Audubon Society

Hi, everyone!

Tomorrow, the fun begins! And while you can take photos of plants, animals and fungi anywhere in Jefferson County and have them count toward this Louisville Metro Bioblitz, you know by now that our Louisville Sponsors have also schedules hikes and events for us over the next 4 days.

On Friday, we have scheduled a walk at the Coral Ridge Loop in Jefferson County Forest. I have been keeping an eye on my weather app and it tells me there is a 39% chance of rain from 10 to 2 p.m.

But I wanted to let you know that unless there is a veritable deluge from the skies, Lynn, Ruth and I (Margaret) will be at our starting point in the Coral Ridge Loop Trail waiting for any of you who can join us. We can judge how bad the rain clouds look at that point and reach a decision. We all know that rain could be intermittent and spotty around the county. So cross your fingers!

Here is the full information for Friday's hike.

Friday, April 28, 2023. 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Jefferson County Forest. Coral Ridge Loop Trail. Focus is all wildlife, insects, wildflowers, and fungi. GPS: 38.08543, -85.75397

Description: This hike is a bit more rugged than any of our other hikes or events. So here is more info than we've provided for our other hikes and walks. Coral Ridge Loop Trail is 2.7 miles long and a moderately challenging route because of the hills. It will likely take us 2+ hours since we will be stopping to take photos. There is a cut-through on the trail that makes it about 2 miles that we may choose to take depending on the group. Bring water, sturdy shoes/boots, and snacks.

Directions:
From I-265 take Exit 6 (W/KY-841 W)

Continue onto KY-841 W (New Cut Rd)

Turn left at the 1st cross street onto National Turnpike
0.5 mi

Turn right onto Fairdale Rd
Pass by Dairy Queen Grill & Chill (on the left in 0.8 mi)
0.8 mi

At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto Mitchell Hill Rd
0.8 mi

Slight left to stay on Mitchell Hill Rd
0.1 mi

Turn left onto Holsclaw Hill Rd
0.6 mi

Turn left onto Jones Hollow Rd (dirt road)
Destination will be on the left
Parking lot is gravel

The Video for the Global City Nature Challenge Bioblitz is ready at last! Here it is! (1 min, 45 secs)

OVER 400 CITIES around the world are participating from April 28 to May. Help us show the world Louisville's Biodiversity during this Global Bioblitz! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltnCggW-Z7c

Tell your family and friends to download the iNaturalist app, then look on the CNC-2023 site for their city. If They live here, they can join the project specific for Louisville here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023-louisville-metro

Here is the Spanish version of this Video https://youtu.be/tkj4PjVfjq8
Questions? Just enter a comment here below.

The Video for the Global City Nature Challenge Bioblitz is ready at last! Here it is! (1 min, 45 secs)

OVER 400 CITIES around the world are participating from April 28 to May. Help us show the world Louisville's Biodiversity during this Global Bioblitz! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltnCggW-Z7c

Tell your family and friends to download the iNaturalist app, then look on the CNC-2023 site for their city. If They live here, they can join the project specific for Louisville here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2023-louisville-metro

Here is the Spanish version of this Video https://youtu.be/tkj4PjVfjq8
Questions? Just enter a comment here.

DID YOU KNOW THAT LOUISVILLE-JEFFERSON COUNTY WILL BE IN A FRIENDLY RIVALRY WITH LEXINGTON AND FRANKFORT DURING THE CITY NATURE CHALLENGE BIOBLITZ THIS YEAR?

Last year, we competed with Lexington and with Madison County for being leaders in number of species observations, number of species and number of participants during the 4-days of iNaturalist City Nature Challenge Bioblitz. You can see how well Louisville did by going to this Leaderboard: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/kentucky-city-nature-challenge-2022-cities

This year, we welcome Frankfort to the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge! Hurray! YOU CAN SEE IN REAL TIME how well Louisville is doing compared to Lexington and Frankfort by joining the 2023 KENTUCKY CITY NATURE CHALLENGE (it's called an Umbrella Project in iNaturalist) and checking the Leaderboard for this project during the Bioblitz from April 28 to May 1, and afterwards for a week as species are confirmed to Research Grade.

Here is where to go to join. I hope you do and have fun seeing how well we are doing!

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/kentucky-city-nature-challenge-2023-cities

Only 9 days to go until the Bioblitz begins!
Hope you are getting excited!

Margaridamaria (Margaret Carreiro)