Dudley Council is encouraging residents to join City Nature Challenge while #DudleyStaysHome during the coronavirus lockdown.

The City Nature Challenge is a competition between cities all over the world to see how many wild species their citizens can spot over the space of four days in April. Residents are being encouraged to spot as many wild species as they can and enter their results between 24 and 27 April.

People are also being asked to share their findings on social media using Dudley Council's #DudleyStaysHome, an online campaign to keep people sharing ideas during the coronavirus lockdown. Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for environmental, highways and street services, said:

"All the family can get involved with this challenge and help Dudley boost the species spotted in the borough. Adhering to the government’s advice on staying at home, we are asking people to take part in the challenge by recording what birds or insects are in their gardens.

"Any creatures visiting their homes or sheds, in ponds and even under plant pots. Recordings can also be made during time spent outside the home whilst taking permitted daily exercise in our green spaces and on our streets."

Dudley is part of Birmingham and the Black Country’s entry and is competing against 9 other UK city regions. Cities are ranked according to the number of observations, number of species recorded and the number of observers. The wardens at Dudley’s nature reserves are offering people help to identify some of the species that they may find and can be contacted on Facebook. 

More information can be found about the challenge on the Birmingham & Black Country City Nature Challenge Facebook page, which explains how to take part and submit records using an app called iNaturalist, which can be downloaded to your smartphone. People can also use the website, which will ensure that all of the entries for all countries can be collated and accurately recorded.

In addition to the City Challenge, all local recordings will go towards the regional competition, the Lockdown League, where Dudley currently holds the lead from Birmingham and other local regions.