Plan your days for the Challenge

Bear in mind that you can make observations anywhere -- trees and weeds on your block, bugs and spiders in your building, pigeons anywhere. Your little neighborhood park has hundreds, actually thousands, of organisms just waiting to be photographed.

Remember that you can, and should, photograph multiple examples of the same species -- this dandelion, that other dandelion, and the one next to it. Plus that one over there, and that one too. You don't necessarily have to aim to find as many species as possible, although that is a plus, if you happen to be good at that kind of thing.

Don't concern yourself about whether or not you know what something is. The ID is not important right now. Just take good clear photographs and move on to the next organism -- the IDs can be added later. If you photograph trees, do try to show the overall shape, the bark, the twigs and leaves, if any are out yet.

Please though, when you photograph anything that is not wild, do remember to mark it as Cultivated, aka Not Wild.

Also bear in mind that we are just as interested in saltwater and freshwater species as we are in terrestrial species. And we care about lichens and fungi as much as we do about birds and wildflowers. It's all good.

Happy hunting everyone -- this year let's all try to push NYC up into the top five cities worldwide, and let's try to make sure that Manhattan wins the Battle of the Boroughs!

Posted on April 6, 2019 12:04 AM by susanhewitt