Το Ημερολόγιο του Van Cortlandt Park Biodiversity Project

Dear iNaturalist Community Member,
Your contributions to our Van Cortlandt Park iNaturalist project have been incredible. We're so grateful for your help in documenting our park's biodiversity. I'm reaching out because we could really use your expertise on a few key projects.

We're currently focused on annotating three areas where your help would make a big difference:

🌸 Flower Phenology Project: We're tracking when flowers bloom to understand how climate change affects our local plants. If you spot any flowers in the park, please add annotations to your observations. This helps us build a clearer picture of seasonal changes.

🍂 Gall Project: Those weird growths on plants? They're super important! We need your help annotating gall observations to better understand the relationship between plants and insects in our park.

🍃 Leaf Miner Project: These tiny insects can tell us a lot about the health of our trees and plants. By annotating leaf miner observations, you'll help us track and respond to any concerning trends.

How you can help:

Take a look at your past observations. If you've captured any flowers, galls, or leaf miners, adding annotations would be a huge help.

If you come across anyone else's unannotated observations in these categories, feel free to add annotations there too. Every little bit counts!

Why it matters:
Your annotations can directly inform our restoration and conservation work. The more accurate data we have, the better decisions we can make to keep Van Cortlandt Park's ecosystems healthy and thriving.

Let's do this!
Your expertise is invaluable. If you need any help with annotations or have questions, just let me know – I'm here to help. Let me know how you do!

You can find these other projects listed under our umbrella network - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/van-cortlandt-park-nature-network

Thanks again for all you do for Van Cortlandt Park. Together, we're keeping our park a vibrant, diverse home for nature that everyone can enjoy.
All the best,

Noel
VCPA Volunteer Coordinator

Let's keep the observations going!

VCP is leading the greenspace observations here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-nyc-green-space-race

The Bronx is leading with observations in the Battle of the Boroughs. But Queens is leading with species!
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-nyc-battle-of-the-boroughs

Have another great day out there! If you are around the Northwest forest today, a group will be out with VCPA, meeting at the Garden site by the stables at 10am.

Looking forward to seeing your observations!

Hello, nature enthusiasts!

We need your help. This year, our goal is to be the first park in New York City to log 5,000 observations in the City Nature Challenge Bioblitz (April 26th-29th). We believe the Bronx can lead this charge, showcasing the rich biodiversity and community spirit of our borough.

To jumpstart our efforts, we invite you to join us at the VCPA Garden at 10 AM this Saturday (4/27) for a group iNaturalist session. It's a fantastic opportunity to meet fellow nature lovers, learn more about local species, and contribute to a great cause. You can make observations in Van Cortlandt park anytime over the Bioblitz weekend and have it count toward the race.

Here’s what you can do:

Join our project: City Nature Challenge 2024: Green Space Race at Van Cortlandt Park.
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-green-space-race-van-cortlandt-park

Make observations: Every plant, insect, and animal you document helps our park and our borough shine.

Share your experiences: Spread the word and encourage friends to participate.

Your observations not only help our park gain recognition but also contribute valuable data for conservation efforts. Let's come together to explore, learn, and lead. Show your Bronx pride and help us reach our 5,000-observation goal!

See you in the park,
The Van Cortlandt Park Alliance Team

Hello everyone!

We've sailed past 40,000 observations in Van Cortlandt Park, a huge thanks to you all!

Now, we're excited to introduce our new "Van Cortlandt Nature Network," an umbrella project on iNaturalist, a great way to track various subproject initiatives that may be of interest.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/van-cortlandt-park-nature-network

What's New:

Dive Deeper: Discover sub-projects covering everything from birds to fungi to introduced species.
Easy Access: Just explore; no need to join each project.
Stay Updated: Watch for new projects popping up under the umbrella page.

Your Input Matters:

Share Ideas: Have a project suggestion? Drop a comment.
Ask Us: Questions about the projects? We're here to help.

Looking Ahead:

City Nature Challenge: Get ready for the challenge in April. Help us lead in the Greenspace Race with your observations! First park to 5k observation wins! Join that project here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2024-green-space-race-van-cortlandt-park

No need to join any project - just using INAT within Van Cortlandt Park automatically goes to each one. Joining the project though is a great way to explore the stats and compete on the leaderboards.

Thank you for your contributions and enthusiasm. Let’s keep exploring together!

Dear Community Members,

This is our inaugural iNaturalist journal post, and we're excited to connect with each of you here! We greatly appreciate the wealth of observations gathered in Van Cortlandt Park. Your contributions are invaluable, and we're exploring ways to further leverage this data and our observer community.

As we step into December, we have three key objectives to enhance our ecological understanding and stewardship of the park:

Focus on Multiflora Rose Observations: Winter presents an ideal opportunity to identify and plan for the removal of the invasive Multiflora rose. With its leaves shed, this species becomes more visible. Our current tally stands at 190 observations, but we believe many more exist. Can we double this count? We're particularly interested in the North West Forest and Woodlawn areas. If you encounter large clusters, please note these in your observations to aid in organizing volunteer removal efforts.

Boost Bird Observations for the Christmas Bird Count: Our bird observation count is nearing a milestone of 2000, with 132 species documented so far. As a critical bird habitat with historical significance, Van Cortlandt Park's avian diversity is vast yet challenging to capture. Let's aim to surpass 2000 bird observations by year's end. Whether you're a seasoned birder or a novice, every sighting counts!

Expand Our Observer Network: Inviting friends and acquaintances, especially those with a knack for birdwatching or a telephoto lens, can significantly enrich our project. Our current count of 39,054 observations and 798 observers is impressive, but imagine the impact of reaching 40,000 observations with over 1,000 observers! Let's work together to achieve these goals.

We encourage you to share your ideas and suggestions in the comments section on how we can further activate and utilize this platform. Your insights are vital to our collective effort in understanding and preserving the natural beauty of Van Cortlandt Park.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone for your dedication and enthusiasm in exploring and documenting our natural world. Your contributions are making a real difference!

Warm regards,

Noel Hefele