There are two major efforts coming up to encourage folks to get outdoors and submit data about the creatures that inhabit our environment.
The first one is the Great Backyard Bird Count, which runs Feb 16- 19 at a backyard, park, roadside or anywhere else you might want to look for birds anywhere in the world.
It is being coordinated by Audubon and the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.
It is designed to gather data on the midwinter distribution of birds in North America and elsewhere on the planet.
You can count anywhere, but you have to have a free eBird account to enter your data.
Later this year will be the City Challenge, which is being coordinated locally by The Nature Conservancy staff at Tiger Creek Preserve.
This is the second annual effort that seeks participants from anywhere in Polk County to submit observations via iNaturalist on plants and animals you observe between April 26 and 29.
For more information, contact Ginny Hamilton at v.a.hamilton@tnc.org