How are you going with the bird challenge? Did your subject fly away just as you were about to take the perfect shot? Frogs can be tricky to photograph too, as they're more often heard than seen. Don't forget, birds, frogs and some other species can be identified by their calls alone. We have very few sound recordings in the Backyard Species Discovery project - fewer than 0.4% of our observations include sound! So, this week, we challenge you to add at least one sound recording to our project. Supporting images are welcome, of course, but the judges will be looking for good quality sound recordings that will lead to identifications. Upload an observation that includes sound and submit your entry to bushblitz@awe.gov.au by next Wednesday 12 August. For full details visit the Bush Blitz website and, remember, our bird challenge closes at midnight AEST tonight Wednesday 5 August.

Congratulations to @twan3253 who won the 'Plant invaders' challenge last week - he will receive an e-voucher for Snowgum and a Bush Blitz cap. Tim is a top contributor to the Backyard Species Discovery project. Since 2018, he has uploaded 12,203 observations and made 49,118 identfications on iNaturalist. He describes himself as an amateur naturalist fascinated by nature. “I love a bit of beachcombing or bushwalking, and collecting lots of feathers! I don't really have any specialities. I also enjoy IDing Australian birds and frogs, and am glad to help citizen science reach its full potential in Australia, so would love to see more observations from Australia! For the beginners, feel free to check out my iNat profile for identification guides on a wide range of animals, or ask me anything about using iNaturalist! :)” Here is one of his photos of Mother of Thousands (Kalanchoe delagoensis).

© Tim Wang

For the 10th, and final, weekly challenge, we want you to record what is 'Left behind' that could lead to an identification, including footprints, scat, bones, shells and more. We'll accept images taken in the past (so long as they haven't already been added to a national database) but you should upload your observation to the Backyard Species Discovery project during the challenge week. To enter, send a link to your observation to bushblitz@awe.gov.au by next Wednesday 19 August. For full details visit the Bush Blitz website. Don't forget, our sound challenge closes at midnight AEST tonight Wednesday 12 August.

While 'Left behind' is the final weekly challenge, don't despair, as we have a one-off challenge to announce next Wednesday. And, before we even get to that, we have National Science Week starting this weekend. Bush Blitz is celebrating National Science Week by launching the Backyard Species Discovery Scavenger Hunt which will run until Sunday 20 September. For a sneak peak, visit the Bush Blitz website - the checklist and full details will be made available this Saturday 15 August.

We had some amazing entries for last week's bird challenge and the judges had a tough time picking a winner. Congratulations to @kalimata whose images included this Powerful Owl, listed as Vulnerable in New South Wales. Highly commended were @narelle_b and her 8 year old daughter Ava, who got some lovely shots of a Tawny Frogmouth visiting their garden during lockdown in Metropolitan Melbourne.

© kalimata

We enjoyed the Weekly Challenges so much, we decided to come up with a new one. Upload 3 observations of aquatic (marine or freshwater) plants or animals to the Backyard Species Discovery project and you could win a copy of 'Marine plants of Australia' by John M. Huisman (published December 2019). Several of our contributors regularly upload aquatic animals to iNaturalist, so we hope to get some great entries.

We will accept images taken in the past (so long as they haven't already been added to a national database) but you should upload your observations to the project during the challenge period. Following feedback that a week flies by too quickly, this challenge will be open for 2 weeks. If you're interested in this book, follow the instructions and email us your entry by Wednesday 2 September. For full details visit the Bush Blitz website.

If that's not enough to keep you busy, to celebrate National Science Week we launched the Bush Blitz Scavenger Hunt. Individuals, groups and schools from across Australia are encouraged to take part and there are great prizes for those who enter the competition. The scavenger hunt will run until Sunday 20 September. For full details, visit the Bush Blitz website.

Congratulations to @arizona23 who won the 'What's that sound?' challenge with an amazing sound recording of a Superb Lyrebird. It is really worth a listen!

The 10th and final Weekly Challenge, 'Left behind', closes at midnight AEST tonight Wednesday 19 August. You have to be in it to win it!

Congratulations to Thomas Mesaglio (better known as @thebeachcomber) who won 'Left Behind', our final weekly challenge, with great images like this tiny Austroliotia botanica shell.

© Thomas Mesaglio

Thomas clearly has excellent powers of observation, and photography skills to match, but ever since the Bush Blitz team started using iNaturalist we have been equally impressed by his welcoming attitude to new users, and his patience and willingness to share what he knows. To read Thomas' story, see last Friday's post on the Bush Blitz Facebook page.

Well done @aliciasmith and @kalimata who were Highly Commended for their 'Left Behind' entries. Alicia included the internal shell of a Ram's Horn Squid (Spirula spirula) among her observations and the origin of this beautiful shell is the subject of our latest Facebook post.

© Alicia Smith

While that was the last weekly challenge, you may like to enter one of the other competitions currently running:
There must be something in the water (closes 2 September 2020)
Bush Blitz Citizen Science Award (closes 8 September 2020)
Bush Blitz Scavenger Hunt (closes 20 September 2020)