The sun was shining so we were luck to see plenty of bees and bugs - particularly in the wonderful community garden area.
Thanks to Birmingham Open Spaces Forum and Friends of Handsworth Park for helping us to put on the event!
Today we kicked off our City Nature Challenge activities, with an iNaturalist training session and wildlife walk at Handworth Park!
It was great to see so many people using iNaturalist to record the park's wildlife!
Join us on the 22nd April for a pre-City Nature Challenge event in Handsworth Park!
The workshop will involve a talk introducing you to iNaturalist and CNC, followed by a guided wildlife recording walk!
Book via the link below:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bosf-celeb...
🌿 One week to go until the City Nature Challenge! 🌿
Check out the events happening across Birmingham & the Black Country via our 2026 events poster.
Event details & links on our CNC webpage (link in comments).
Grab your phone, head outside, and spot local wildlife! 🌍📸
🌿 One week to go until City Nature Challenge!
Check out these two events on Fri 24th:
📍 Salford Park, Birmingham (BCC Rangers)
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
📍 Saltwells NR, Dudley (Time2Breathe)
www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...
Photo: danielsalinas00 on iNaturalist
🌳Its officially 10 days until the start of the City Nature Challenge!🌳
This year its running from the 24th-27th April.
You can take part by taking photos or recording sound of any wild species and uploading them to iNaturalist by 10th May.
Stay tuned for info about planned CNC recording events!
Few pics of the 2 Ring Ouzels at Lutley Wedge, West Mids today.
One of the largest bees I’ve ever seen, a female Bombus vestalis (Southern or Vestal Cuckoo Bee) in the garden yesterday. #bees #bumblebees @ecorecord.bsky.social @bumblebeetrust.bsky.social
Could this #spider possibly be Araniella displicata? Found in my Sutton Coldfield garden 6/4/26, nearest record I can find is from Hinkley (Leics). Abdominal markings are rather faint, but colour seems right. @britishspiders.bsky.social
I love the weird faces of Criorhina ranunculi, seen at Sarehole Mill #UKwildlife #Diptera #flies
This looks good:
"We are hosting a Showcase evening of our work on Friday 10th April- 6-8pm and we'd love you to come along!
This project combines our passion for Black Country heritage, natural history and design.
We present... Siluria!
A deep-dive into the Black Country's Tropical past!"
Only 2 weeks or so to go until Birmingham and the Black Country takes part in the City Nature Challenge! This one looks to be the biggest ever with about 790 city areas worldwide taking part in the global wildlife recording challenge, including a record 29 from the UK!
If you’re passionate about wildlife recording and enjoy introducing others to iNaturalist, you might consider becoming an iNaturalist Ambassador.
It’s a voluntary role supporting events (e.g. bioblitzes) and helping others make and ID observations.
More info: www.inaturalist.org/pages/ambass...
Join us this Earth Day at Handsworth Park for a free session on using iNaturalist for biological recording.
Includes iNaturalist training, an intro to EcoRecord, and a guided walk - perfect prep for City Nature Challenge 2026.
22 April, 11am–1pm
Book: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bosf-celeb...
Siskin at the garden feeder again - you don't see any for months then they are all over the place!! Birmingham UK - 22-03-26 #birds #ukbirding #uknature #ukwildlife #nature #ornithology #photography #birdphotography #canon #naturephotography
Some sort of Chironomid (non-biting midge) - there are lots of them, and they're quite tricky to ID!
Taken at Winterbourne House Birmingham today, any ideas what it is? #bugs
A muntjac on University of Birmingham campus this morning
In case you missed our recent online workshop, which explored how to use iNaturalist and how to incorporate wildlife recording into a City Nature Challenge BioBlitz event, there is an online recording here:
youtu.be/BXfQ24fivm0
Join us in four days for our Lunch & Learn introduction to iNaturalist to learn how to use the app to identify and record species, contribute to citizen science, and use the platform during wildlife recording events.
Grab your free spot via the link below.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inaturalis...
Join us on the 20th March for a beginner’s guide to using iNaturalist for wildlife recording and citizen science.
Sign up for free at: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inaturalis...
Following the results from our Feb recording challenge, 28 Birds Later, we thought we'd share some of our favourite photos from this year.
Thanks again to everyone who took part! 🦆
BlueSky only allows 4 photos per post — for more of our favourites, visit our Insta @ecorecording or FB @ecorecord
Thanks to everyone who joined our February recording challenge, 28 Birds Later 🐦
Together you logged 844 observations across 83 bird species — 319 more than last year!
Congrats to everyone who recorded 28+ species 👏 For the full results follow the link below:
uk.inaturalist.org/observations...
Its that time of the year - SpawnWatch time! 🐸
Take part in our 2026 SpawnWatch survey and let us know if you spot frog or toad spawn in ponds across Birmingham and the Black Country.💦
Submit your sightings through this form:
wildlifetrusts.wufoo.com/forms/zy45lw...
This weekend is a great chance to take part in our 28 Birds Later recording challenge! Try to record 28 different bird species during the month of Feb. 🦆🦚
Visit the iNaturalist page for the rules and to check out what other people have already spotted!
uk.inaturalist.org/projects/28-...
We will be taking part in the 2026 City Nature Challenge, along with over 500 other urban areas worldwide!
If your area doesn't already take part, you still have time to register! (until 30th January!)
For more info, visit www.citynaturechallenge.org/organizers
Date for your diary!
Read more about the City Nature Challenge and how to take part here: www.bbcwildlife.org.uk/CityNatureCh...
(page yet to be updated for 2026)
Its almost time for our annual challenge, 28 Birds Later! 🦉
Try to record 28 different bird species during February in Birmingham and the Black Country! 🦆
Add your records to iNaturalist (both photos & audio count) via the link below, and check out the rules.
uk.inaturalist.org/projects/28-...
Read reports from some of the Birmingham and Black Country Invertebrate Group surveys from last year, plus other updates:
mailchi.mp/10b4765cac7c...
