(by Anita Fernandez)
The NH Audubon Nature Challenge is primarily a conservation effort, aimed at collecting data about plant, animal, fungi, and other life on our sanctuaries to determine where best to direct land management strategies. This is accomplished using two free and publicly available platforms: iNaturalist and eBird during the last full week of June.
The Second Annual Nature Challenge had a few notable differences from its first year, most drastically the weather. The 2025 Nature Challenge boasted several days with temps in the mid-nineties and a few others with drizzling rain, but 2026 brought more pleasant and mostly sunny weather. This year also saw participants visiting more NH Audubon sanctuary properties; some “challengers” visited and documented three, four, or even seven different wildlife sanctuaries across the state!
As for sightings, there were many. Over 110 species of birds were seen or heard, from Wood Duck to Ruby-throated Hummingbird to Belted Kingfisher and Yellow-throated Vireo. There were also a couple of classes of observation that were striking in their increase between 2025 and 2026. In its first year, participants documented 251 species of Insecta and 361 species of Plantae, but this year those species rose to 339 and 502 respectively. Insects like Juvenal’s Duskywing, Brown-belted Bumblebee, and Six-spotted Tiger Beetle were new additions found and documented this year on the ins ect side. Plants with such entertaining names as Downy Rattlesnake Plantain were located, this species recorded at our Willard Pond property in Antrim; and although the name may not belie its family, this is one of the evergreen orchids native to eastern North America and requires the presence of certain types of fungi to grow.
The Nature Challenge offered six guided tours throughout the week, led by knowledgeable and dedicated community members, from Nashua to Dover to Whitefield. We saw Eastern Kingbirds hawking for insects low across the lilies at Ponemah Bog in Amherst, watched a small Painted Turtle swim back and forth in a tire ditch along the trail at Farley Meadow in Nashua before returning to the bordering wetland, and found a Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly clinging to Ragwort as it was blown around in the wind at Pondicherry in Whitefield. We had a total of 40 attendees join our guided tours, with several participating in more than one.
Overall, this year’s challenge had increased participation as well as increased documentation. In 2025, there were 3,702 total observations, 845 species, and 72 participants. We exceeded our goals in 2026 with 5,300 observations, 1,201 species, and 90 participants. Thank you everyone who supported this important data collection project and we look forward to having you join us in 2027 to again answer the challenge: What will you find?
