City Nature Challenge 2020: Omaha Metro's Journal

Welcome to City Nature Challenge 2020: Omaha Metro! We are so excited for this years event! Here in Omaha we have great biodiversity that can be observed through our communities such as backyards, parks, areas to walk, etc. While we won’t be hosting in-person events on the weekend of City Nature Challenge we will be posting journals everyday leading up to remind you of our exciting event as well as activities and what our Special Partners, throughout the Metro, are doing to help spread this fun and exciting experience. The dates for observations are April 24th- 27th and we encourage them to be done while adhering to safe and healthy protocols. Be sure to check back tomorrow for some more information and your first activity!!

Welcome 2020 City Nature Challenge: Omaha Metro participants!! We are so excited to kick off our daily posts starting today leading all the way up to our event dates, April 24th-27th.

We challenge you today to encourage your friends and family in the area to join City Nature Challenge 2020: Omaha Metro! Pick 5 people you know in the area to get INaturalist and onto our project. While these are confusing times, we can embrace the healing power of nature and encourage the collaborative aspect of CNC.

We can’t wait to see all the new people who join our project! Thank you all for your participation, check back tomorrow for a fun Friday activity that will get you all using your INaturalist app!

Happy Friday, FIND-day!! This frosted Friday is the perfect day to observe how different organisms are handling such a change in temperature. With warmer temperatures the past week, spring had sprung with many different plants beginning to sprout. Today’s activity is to see if you can locate a plant that has begun to sprout in the mists of this Midwest frost. Take a picture of your chosen plant using INaturalist & post!

Remember, we encourage all of you to follow Nebraska public health guidelines provided by our local government health officials, as they are changing in real-time. Individual safety and public health are our utmost priority. We encourage social distancing if you all are out in your community, and encourage pictures from home if plants are able to be viewed from your windows.

We cannot wait to see which plants you all are finding on this frosty Friday find-day!!!

Today, we wanted to share a quote that makes us think of City Nature Challenge:

“One should pay attention to even the smallest crawling creature for these too may have a valuable lesson to teach us” - Black Elk

Having the opportunity to observe amazing organisms of all shapes, sizes, and colors in the Omaha Metro area allows us to really connect with living creatures that we may not notice on a day to day basis. All organisms in nature play a role in the ecosystem and we love being able to connect with them through this event.

Today, take a moment and think about a smaller organism that tends to go unnoticed day to day. Think of it's importance and appreciate the role it plays! Happy Saturday Everyone!

Happy Sunday Everyone! For today's activity we want you to find a space where you can hear one of the best sounds of nature... bird calls!

Whether you want to social distance outside or feel more comfortable listening outside your home windows, let’s see how many bird calls you can hear! Comment on this journal post with how many bird calls you heard today.

To go one step further, if you know or can identify the call of the birds you hear, let us know! Have a fun Sunday everyone!

Got a case of the Monday blues? Let nature make you feel better. Let's kick off this week with an outdoor walk! On your walks notice the different kinds of trees that are around you. Notice the differences and similarities between them. Are they starting to bloom yet?

For a modification you can do an indoor walk to each window of your home to see what different aspects of nature you can see. If you can't see any trees, what cool living creatures are there to be seen?

As always, when going outside please remember to adhere to Nebraska health and safety guidelines. Be sure to social distance! Have an amazing Monday everyone!!

While you may not observe a beaver itself, for todays activity we want you to find a habitat where beavers would like to live. This can look like a stream, pond, river, or lake! You can also find any smaller body of water to mimic what kind of habitat a beaver may like.

See what organisms you can find in this habitat. Beavers are a keystone species that create homes for lots of different plants and animals. See which ones you may be able to find that would benefit from a few beavers living there.

Use INaturalist to make observations! If you feel more comfortable to social distance in your home try to come up with some different plants and animals that benefit from beavers. Maybe even look out your windows and see if you can see any of those organisms you thought of! Let us know in the comments.

Check back tomorrow for another fun activity!!!

We are just 15 days away from City Nature Challenge 2020!

Here is an uplifting quote to get everyone inspired:

"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."- John Muir

There are many positives that come from being in nature. If you are able to spend time outside today, enjoy it and embrace all those positives!

Be sure to check back tomorrow for our daily post!

For today’s activity we are going to focus on one of the smaller organisms in this area... the ant!!

Go on a walk outside and see if you can spot any ant mounds. Observe and appreciate how amazing they are! As always please continue to follow health and safety guidelines when outside observing.

City Nature Challenge 2020 is coming up fast, spread the word to friends and family to participate in this years event. Check back tomorrow for Friday’s activity!!

Happy Friday everyone! For todays activity we wanted to share a fun fact about a species found in Nebraska: the western fox snake.

The western fox snake has an interesting defense adaptation. When feeling threatened, it will coil and vibrate it’s tail against fallen leaves or branches to mimic the sound of a rattlesnake. Western fox snakes are a non-venomous species so, tricking their predator to think they are more dangerous is an amazing adaptation!

Have you ever seen a western fox snake? Comment if you have!