erstad and moutoux atinaturalistdemo 9188Heidi Erstad and Mike Moutoux talk about iNaturalist app (Photo by Mary Alice Murphy)

Today, Monday, April 27, 2026 was the last day for people to report the various bugs, animals, birds, plants and other critters that they observed in the Grant County area for the Nature Challenge. 

At the Silver City Public Library, several people gathered to hear Heidi Erstad demonstrate the app iNaturalist, where people can continue to report their photographic encounters with the flora and fauna of their neighborhoods or their  observations on their hikes in the Gila National Forest.

The location, species, dates and estimates of numbers go into the large iNaturalist database to help scientists determine and sometimes modify understood ranges, habits and habitats of the various critters and plants.