More than 200 people took part in Chatham-Kent's (CK) inaugural City Nature Challenge BioBlitz.
The event, which is a global initiative organized by the California Academy of Sciences and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, took place from April 24 to May 10. It's an effort to document biodiversity around the world and support conservation efforts.
This is the first year CK participated, and according to global statistics, residents outperformed most other participating Canadian regions of comparable population size.
CK participants made 875 observations and identified 412 different species. One person alone, logged 99 observations on the iNaturalist app, identifying 77 different species.
Barrie, Ontario, which also participated, logged only 278 observations, with 162 species identified.
The most common species observed around Chatham-Kent were the American Robin, the Yellow Trout Lily, the Red-winged Blackbird, and Jack-in-the-Pulpits.
A more detailed list can be found here.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent stated in a media release that it plans to participate in the City Nature Challenge again in 2027. Before that, CK plans to take part in the Nature Conservancy of Canada's Big Backyard BioBlitz between July 27 and August 3 and the Canadian Wildlife Federation's Great Canadian BioBlitz happening from September 18 to October 4.
