Logging your own sightings

You can log your sightings anywhere – gardens, parks, nature reserves – even in the sea!

All you need to do is:

1. Download the iNaturalist app

Sign up for an account on iNaturalist.

Whether spotting nature from your window or discovering our spineless friends in the garden – there’s plenty we can record without leaving home.

2. Join the City Nature Challenge 2026: North East England Project

3. Find wildlife and photograph or make a sound recording of what you find.

Over the weekend from Friday 24th April – Monday 27th April, go out and use iNaturalist to see what you can find! Any wildlife, plants, animals or fungi and even evidence of wildlife, like tracks and feathers, counts.

Watch the video below to find out more about how to use iNaturalist.

4. Upload your observations

Make sure you upload your observations to the iNaturalist app by 9am on Monday 5th May.

Public events

Over the CNC weekend, ERIC and our partners will be running a series of nature-spotting events across our region. These are FREE, family-friendly events where you can meet us in person, learn about the wonderful wildlife of the North East, and help us to find out more about it!

See the map below for more details.

 

CNC for Schools

Our friends at the Bristol Natural History Consortium have produced this wonderful Lesson Plan for Key Stage 1:  iNaturalist-Key-Stage-1-Lesson-Plan-1 . As well as introducing children to the iNaturalist app, it encourages them to observe nature all around us through a game of Biodiversity Bingo! plum14_doc_biobingocard

Where is the City Nature Challenge happening in our area?

The map below shows the “city” region covered by CNC North East England 2025.  You can see it extends from the Scottish border, along the Cumbrian border to the border with North Yorkshire in the South and 10km into the North Sea.

City Nature Challenge North East England 2026