This year more of you than ever took part in the 3rd global City Nature Challenge, looking out for wildlife from your windows, gardens and on daily exercise. It was amazing to see so many people across the UK and beyond connect with each other digitally whilst getting their daily dose of nature during lockdown. Over the 4 days more than 5,000 people across the UK submitted over 70,000 wildlife observations by downloading the free iNaturalist app, joining an online community of amateur wildlife recorders and contributing your sightings to long term monitoring schemes.
From amazing encounters with familiar species to tales of the unexpected here are five of the Festival of Nature’s favourite lockdown wildlife discoveries which have been gathered using the iNaturalist app:
1. Seal of approval
This juvenile grey seal (spotted by @ellie_payyne) popped up in the middle of an urban park in east Bristol feasting on a dinner of Avon Carp having swum upriver through the deserted city centre.
2. Outiside the box
This Box bug Gonocerus acuteangulatus (spotted by @andrewunderscore) in Kings Heath Park in Birmingham is thought to be the first record for this species in the midlands. The species was historically very rare and known only from Box Hill in Surrey, where it feeds on Box trees, this bug is expanding its range and now occurs widely in the south-east of England and beyond. It is exploiting different food plants, and has been found on hawthorn, buckthorn, yew and plum trees.
3. Dead ringer for a stinger
The bog hoverfly Sericomyia silentis is usually found hanging around the wetlands of the North East so this was a surprise turnout in an urban garden in the South West (spotted by @josiepiehands). This harmless fly puts off would be predators with its bee-like appearance.
4. Miner emergence
This male ashy mining bee emerging alongside several fellow males for the first time since it was deposited as an egg inside its underground nest chamber (spotted by @mol.ep). Ashy mining bees are known to close the entrance to their nest cavity when they’re finished foraging for the day and also when it rains or if they are disturbed.
Keep connected and keep noticing nature
Want to keep recording? The fun didn’t stop with City Nature Challenge! You can keep uploading your sightings to the free iNaturalist app and we hope you have been inspired to keep connecting with nature nearby during lockdown (and beyond).
Share your stories of nature in lockdown with us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter @festofnature
