Due to this, we host a Bioblitz event in partnership with the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust as part of their participation in the City Nature Challenge annually. The City Nature Challenge is a global initiative that takes place across four days every April, where cities collaborate to record wildlife and enhance ecological documentation. Events are organised around the world to engage communities in this challenge, focusing on wildlife observation and education about nature.

As part of the Bioblitz, we host various sessions. These include a pond-dipping session to explore aquatic life, a bug hunt to discover invertebrates, and a wildlife walk to identify wildflowers and birds in the area. During this year’s event, we observed smooth newts, numerous bees, and many spring flowers under lovely sunny weather. We had lovely conversations with our visitors and provided information from experienced naturalists.

These events were during opening hours however we wanted to see and record what is happening when there is no one on the site as well. To capture nocturnal life in our gardens, we installed temporary night vision trail cameras for the last two years during this challenge. We are fortunate to have a badger sett located south of the gardens, so we decided to place the cameras at its entrances. Last year, we had no luck, but this year we were able to capture nighttime footage of the garden’s nocturnal residents. While we had often seen badger tracks and scats, this was the first time we successfully captured their images. 

To include our records in the challenge, we used the iNaturalist app. This app is a great free tool for identifying species, and it connects all records to the City Nature Challenge project during the event. 

The results for Birmingham and Black Country in 2025 were: 12,529 observations, 1,531 species, and 207 participants. 

Following this event, with the support of the Ecorecords team at the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust, we created a project on iNaturalist for our site to document wildlife records. To participate while at the gardens, download the iNaturalist app and share your observations with us. Don’t worry if you’re unsure about your findings; there are plenty of experienced recorders on the app who can verify your observations.   You can view all the wildlife records available to date by scannning the QR code below or by clicking here.