Diario del proyecto City Nature Challenge 2024: Brazos Valley, TX

Well, there's less than twelve hours left in this year's City Nature Challenge. I want to thank EVERYONE who contributed anything to the cause! We had another record-breaking year. Our stats over the years have been:

2021 2022 2023 2024 2024 Leader
Observations 1,178 2,808 3,246 5,422 Laura Sare (487)
Species 518 816 1,147 1,438 Dwight Bohlmeyer (286)
Observers 96 139 134 226

Identifications 383 Michelle Abney (1,383)

As of this evening, we have 67.2% research grade. Two-thirds is a good percentage for iNat, particularly in the first week.

The most-observed species was Salt Marsh Moth, with 59 observations, nearly all caterpillars. I doubt any of us missed seeing this one, even if we didn't "observe" it. Numbers for large groups are:

Insects 562 (39.6%)
Plants 536 (37.7%)
Birds 134 (9.4%)
Fungi & Lichens 69 (4.9%)

I'm not going to be posting daily, but I will be posting for at least a week or two, as results come in from CNC Central and the Texas cities. Subscribe to the project to get notification of updates.;

See you next year!
Bruce

Happy Star Wars Day, All!

We have one day and a little more to finish uploading and identifying for the 2024 Brazos Valley City Nature Challenge! Technically, the Home Office isn't going to harvest our results until 9:00 AM our local time on Monday the 6th, but they said it could be "a little earlier," so don't wait until the very last minute. If you wait too long, it won't give the rest of us time to confirm the identification, either. The Home Office says they should have preliminary numbers for us by some time on the 7th, but it will take awhile before we have final numbers, particularly for all of the Texas cities.

I've been concentrating on the observations, species, and observers, but for this last phase, I should mention the top observer. We've had 377 observers contribute, not all from our area. Michelle Abney is top of the list. She just hit an unassailable 1,000 identifications! I went through all the observations over the past several days, but didn't check all the research-grade ones, and didn't have a clue about a lot of the plants.

As always, thanks to everyone who made any sort of contribution to the cause. No matter how great or small, every contribution has been valuable and has helped to make this another record-smashing year!

Bruce

We've pretty much plateaued at the number of observations (5,485) and species (1,428), both of which are amazing! I've spent the day doing identifications. We're at 43.3% research grade, up from 37.2% yesterday. I'd like to hit at least 50% by Sunday night. There are still of "Unknowns" to be sorted out, so any help you can give is still welcome.

Bruce

Our numbers are pretty stable right now. I think we've added a couple observations and species since yesterday, but I don't expect a huge increase over the next few days. At this point, we're concentrating on increasing our proportion of research quality observations, currently at 37.2%.

I've been scrolling through the observations today, looking for "interesting" ones. Shardintx found Agrobacterium (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212366403), which has to be our first observation of any bacterium. Ian Meloni found a Slowinski's Cornsnake (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212677457). Obviously, I need to update my snake taxonomy! swilk-2 found an American Bittern at Old Country Club Lake (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/212013430) that's apparently still there. Blakeelzi contributed a bunch of fishes, which we always have trouble getting. We have a great representation of minor insect orders. I didn't have a chance to look for a silverfish in the house (I'll find one very soon, I'm sure), but Newt Knorpp came through (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/210907664).

There are still a lot of plants that are questionably wild. If your observations are of cultivated plants, please mark "Organism is wild" "no." Thanks.

Bruce

Hello Everyone,

I am deeply grateful for the incredible participation you all have shown during the City Nature Challenge observation days! Your contributions have provided us with a remarkable yearly snapshot of the biodiversity in our area. The numbers this year are truly astounding, and I am eagerly anticipating how they will evolve in the coming days as the ID verification process continues.

It's a good time to start identifying some species as the weather looks rainy!

Remember, to help identify, you do not have to know everything! For Example, suggesting an ID of a mushroom photo to the mushroom group from the unknown is helpful!

This data is essential to the conservation community; thank you to everyone participating and helping out!

Thank you for your time,

Laurie L Brown aka bugnerd
City Of College Station Parks and Recreation Supervisor of Lick Creek Park

The observations continue to trickle in and the identifications continue to arrive. We added nearly 100 observations today. Laura Sare bumped me from the top spot with 440 observations. Again, I'm happy to cede top spot, particularly to such a worthy "opponent." Our species count is currently at 1,418, just a few over last night's 1,409. That number is going to vary, probably staying in that neighborhood, as IDs are refined and changed over the next few days. Yesterday's post should have read "by 218 observers," not "species" (it's late when I write these, okay?); that's also up slightly today, to 220. I haven't looked closely, but one species that got added today that almost got missed was Chuck-will's-widow, recorded by call in Robertson County. Thank you, shardintx! On the identification front, 1,875, or 34.4%, have reached research grade. There's still plenty of work to be done there.

I got an email from CNC Central today that there were more than 2.1 MILLION observations worldwide this year! They are also looking for "interesting" observations for the annual infographic. They define "interesting" as (among other things) new finds, rare species, observations with a story behind them, "really cool" photos, or amazing species interactions. Last year, I submitted the beetle on this year's banner, a species that had only been reported 3 times prior in all of iNat. As you're doing your identifications, help me by popping any "interesting" observations in the comments. They don't have to be world-worthy. Maybe we can just start a thread of our favorite observations?

Bruce

Well, the observation phase is over. You can still upload observations, so long as they have a time-stamp during the four-day observation period. Right now, we stand at 5,367 observations of 1,409 species by 218 species. To be honest, I never dreamed we'd reach these levels! Thanks to all who participated and contributed. You are all amazing!

I got an email today from Craig Hensley at TPWD. He's one of the coordinators of the friendly competition among Texas cities. He didn't have numbers, but he said that San Antonio was at that time 3rd among 700+ cities GLOBALLY!! Whether this was in number of observations or species, he didn't say.

As we enter the identification phase, there is still a place for everyone. If you have a specialty, you can help take observations in that area to research grade. If you aren't comfortable with species-level identification, you can help the "experts" by putting initial identifications on unknowns. All you need to be able to do is tell a bobwhite from a box turtle! The best way to find these is to click on "Identify" in the top menu, then type in one of the counties* in the location box. (I haven't figured out how to do all six at once.) Since they come up most recent first, the CNC ones should be first, but as the week progresses, you can use the "Filters" button to insert a date range. You can either look at everything, which will let you see the unknowns, or you can put something (birds, grasses, reptiles, etc.) in the species box (or use the "Filters" button.

I'm doing Brazos County and all species. I see an unknown that looks like a mushroom to me. I click on the observation, click on "Add ID," type in "fungi," select "Fungi and Lichens" (as I don't trust myself to go any further), and click done. Now someone who knows mushrooms, maybe not even in Texas or the US, will find it, which they wouldn't if it had been left at "unknown." A little farther down, I see one identified as "Silverleaf Nightshade, Solanum olaeagnifolium." I know that one and agree with the ID, so I can click on "Agree" without even opening the observation. Instant Research Grade! I also see a bird labelled Hudsonian Godwit, Limosa haemastica." It's a photoscoped picture and a bit blurry, but it's unmistakable, so, again, I can just click "Agree." I did open it, and, unfortunately, it was taken today, so it missed the Challenge. Oh, well. Still a great observation.

*Five of the six counties will come up in the dropdown menu when you start typing them into the box. There are many, many "Madison Counties" in the US, so Texas won't show up in the drop-down list. If you want to do that one, you have to actually type in "Madison County, Texas" to bring it up.

Bruce

Bruce

Well, there are two and a half hours left in the observation phase. Too many observations left to upload them all tonight? Not to worry! As long as they are time-stamped during the four-day observation period, you can continue to upload them throughout the identification phase that starts at midnight tonight and runs through midnight on the 5th. (We may have till as late as 9:00 am on the 6th, but they could also harvest the Central Time Zone data early, so don't wait until the very, very last minute, please.)

Stats as of 9:30 pm on Monday evening are: 4,754 observations of 1,308 species by 209 observers. All three are records, and this is more than I could have ever hoped for. I've said it before, and I mean it--YOU PEOPLE ARE AWESOME!! I have a confession to make. I had a chance to run for the Piratic Flycatcher in Houston today, so I took it and only got a couple of observations for the challenge in my yard. I currently still lead in number of observations, with 382. 17 people had 100 or more observations.
Dwight Bohlmeyer pulled ahead in number of species with 247 to my 228. Couldn't lose to a nicer guy! And he maintains his absurd ratio of only 1.04 observations/species. 10 people had 100 or more species. (suesue1949 missed it by one species!)

So, a few stats. Of the 1,308 species, 524 (40.3% are plants), 473 (36.4%) are insects, 124 (9.5%) are birds, 58 (4.5%) are fungi and lichens, and the rest are various other groups. 1,303 (27.4%) are already at research grade. Salt Marsh Moth caterpillars maintain their lead as most observed species, with 43 observations. These guys have definitely earned their spot, too, what with all of them dying to get photographed on the roads! One moth and six plants had 20 or more observations; 73 species had 10 or more. Salt Marsh Moth was the most-observed animal, insect, and lepidopteran. Marsh Pink was the most-observed plant (23). Emerald Flower Scarab was the most-observed beetle (19). Variegated Fritillary was the most-observed butterfly (18). Northern Cardinal was the most observed bird (16). Fox squirrel was mammal (12), Eastern Pondhawk was odonate (also 12), Common Box Turtle was herp (11), Western Mosquito Fish was fish (5), and Green-spored Parasol seems to be mushroom (3).

I'll do some more analyses as the identifications start rolling in. Did I mention how awesome all y'all are? I truly appreciate all the effort everyone has contributed to this project.

Bruce

Couldn't resist. When I finished that last post, I had to check the numbers. We're at 1,202 species and counting!

Much of the fun of iNaturalist is contributing to projects, such as the City Nature Challenge, but there are hundreds of other projects out there to which you can contribute, and you probably already are without knowing it. Entering observations gives implicit permission for "umbrella" projects, like the City Nature Challenge, to harvest those observations. (That was in the fine print you didn't read when you joined iNat.)
Umbrella projects are the most common types of projects and are used for things like park lists, bio-blitzes, faunal inventories, and the like. "Traditional" projects, which are less common nowadays, are more complex and require special permission to set up, have additional features, and can be opted into and out of. I'll mention one of those later on.

So, why should you participate in an umbrella project? Well, you can follow it, and you can get notification of events and journal posts, like this one. You can follow it and see what others have contributed. To find projects, go to "Community" in the top menu and select "Projects." You can search by keywords. "Brazos" brings up 63, "texas" brings up 1,700, and "birds" brings up 7,458! If you took the TMN training in the last couple years, you can search "txmnbv ento" to find the project I set up to track your entomology homework! You may already see projects such as "Birds of Texas" or "Plants of Texas" sprouting up in the projects list for your observations.

So, what are some local projects you might be interested in? How about:
Ants of Brazos County
Brazos County Managed Pollinator Host Plants
Butterflies in the Brazos
Madison County, Texas, Flora and Fauna (broke 1,000 species today--yippee!!)
Rio Brazos Turtles
TAMU-ENRTA Property Inventory
Texas A&M University Campus Biodiversity

There have also been set up 13 Park Biota projects to aid in the Bird City Application for the City of College Station. The parks are: Bee Creek, Brison, Brothers Pond, Gabbard, Hensel, John Crompton, Lemon Tree, Lick Creek, Schob (Nature Center), Southwood Community Center and Bachman, Stephen C. Beachy Central, Veterans, and Wolf Pen Creek. Observations in these parks form a database that will support the City's application. You don't have to tag your observations--they've already been added. Retroactively! There is also a catch-all Biota of College Station project with 62, 315 observations of 4,251 species by 2,457 observers!

What about some of those 1,700 Texas-based projects? How about:
Alligators of Texas
Beetles of Texas
Birds of the Texas State Parks
Cacti of Texas
Crayfishes of Texas
Fire Ants of Texas
Fungi of Texas
Herps of Texas
Insects of Texas
Moths of Texas
Native Texas Organisms
Natural Bird Hybrids of Texas
Oaks of Texas
Plants of Texas
Raptors of Texas
Roadkills of Texas
Terrestrial Mollusks of Texas
Texas Endemic Species
Texas Invasives
Texas Milkweeds and Monarchs
Texas National Wildlife Refuges
Texas Nature Tracker Projects
Texas Odonata
Texas Seasahells
Texas Wildflower Watch
and 1,675 others!

I mentioned a "traditional" project that you should consider joining. Do you know those Great Texas Wildlife Trail maps you see at the State Parks and such? They were last updated around 2018 and some are older than that. TPWD has ONE QUARTER-TIME PERSON to update 9 maps, nearly 400 loops, and several thousand sites! They've asked Master Naturalists to help, but anybody can join and "play." They are also trying to include all flora and fauna of the sites, not just birds and butterflies. You do need to join this project. It is "GTWT Adopt-a-Loop." When adding observations to the project, you need to scroll down on the right side to "Observation Fields, type in "Place of Observation (site number)" or enough for it to auto-fill, then enter the site number. Our site numbers are:
PPWW 008 Lick Creek Park
PPWW 009 D.A. “Andy” Anderson Arboretum
PPWW 011 Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History
PPWW 012 Lake Bryan
PPWW 013A Apache Pass (removed, no public access)
PPWW 013B Frances Nabours Griffin Bird Sanctuary, Wilson Ledbetter Park
PPWW 014 Rosebud City Lake (removed, no public access)
[PPWW is the "Prairies and Pineywoods West" map] Other site numbers can be found at the interactive online map at https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wildlife/wildlife-trails/ If you observed in any of these sites during the Challenge, please consider joining AAL and adding your observations. This project does NOT harvest retroactively, but you can use batch edit to add multiple observations from a given trip or retroactively.

Hope you'll consider adding additional value to your observations using multiple projects.
Bruce