Each year, Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust, EcoRecord and the Birmingham Museums Trust enter Birmingham and the Black Country into the City Nature Challenge, a global wildlife-spotting challenge to see which city is wildest. And wow, this year's challenge has really been a wild and wonderful experience!

Over just 4 days in April, 285 wildlife enthusiasts across the region used the free iNaturalist app to help us record 13,978 observations of an incredible 1,434 species! Those fantastic results placed us 4^th in the UK (out of 28 city regions) for number of observations and 3^rd in the UK for number of species spotted – well done and thank you to all who took part!

It’s also important to note that this local effort is part of something much bigger. We were part of 750 city areas worldwide who collectively generated almost three million records during the challenge! And your records have done more than just move us up a global wildlife-spotting leaderboard, they have provided us with a valuable snapshot of the wide variety of wildlife that lives across our urban landscape.

From Mandarin ducks to morel mushrooms, and wild orchids to legless lizards, the wealth of wildlife spotted throughout the challenge has been incredible! Scroll through the gallery below to see some of our favourite spots from across the weekend.

With City Nature Challenge events having been held all across Birmingham and the Black Country, it’s been delightful to see so many people and organisations from across the region getting involved, and it really helped to make this a standout year! Since joining the City Nature Challenge in 2020, this year saw more people than ever before taking part and we significantly increased the number of records supported by photos or sound, helping us to exceed our target for research-grade (verified) observations by 6%. Overall, we achieved our second highest totals for observations and species - an outstanding collective effort and a powerful example of what we can achieve together for nature.

Rachele Poli, EcoRecord's Biodiversity Data and Evidence Officer, said: "The amazing results we've seen for this year's City Nature Challenge reflect the hard work and enthusiasm of our staff at EcoRecord and Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust to organise, promote and deliver events. And of course, we have to thank every single person who took part for helping to contribute to the huge amount important wildlife data which has been generated!"

But don’t forget, you can help us to record wildlife all year round! The iNaturalist app is a brilliant entry into citizen science and is totally free to use! The app can help you to identify any wild species you can photograph, whether it be plant, animal, fungus or lichen, and your records help us to monitor the state of wildlife across our region. You can join the iNaturalist project for Birmingham and the Black Country and check out what's already been spotted via the link in the comments. 

Download the iNaturalist app from the App Store or Google Play.

So get out, get spotting wildlife, and join us for next year’s City Nature Challenge!