# Ability to search observations near (within range of) a place **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Requests\ **Created:** [July 31, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/ability-to-search-observations-near-within-range-of-a-place/14986 "2020-07-31T01:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![r\_rogge](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/r_rogge/32/3730_2.png) [@r\_rogge](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/r_rogge)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/ability-to-search-observations-near-within-range-of-a-place/14986/1 "2020-07-31T01:34:51Z")
I work in parks, and while its great to be able to search within a hard set park boundary for species observations, this excludes highly mobile species or threatening invasives that may be observed just outside or within range of a boundary. It would be great if we could define a buffer around an identified place to say I want to see Introduced species within 5km or a specific species (Ex. a frog) within 500m. Many boundaries follow roadways and shorelines where more observations are made or diversity is higher but these areas are often not captured as a result of being excluded. ---
**Author:** ![kiwifergus](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/kiwifergus/32/1904_2.png) [@kiwifergus](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/kiwifergus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/ability-to-search-observations-near-within-range-of-a-place/14986/2 "2020-07-31T05:13:59Z")
iNat is down at the moment so I can’t confirm what it’s called, but on the map you can change the search area to the rectangle that is visible. You can then edit the gps coords in the url to further refine the area. ---
**Author:** ![jdmore](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jdmore/32/1116_2.png) [@jdmore](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jdmore)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 5:15am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/ability-to-search-observations-near-within-range-of-a-place/14986/3 "2020-07-31T05:15:03Z")
This doesn’t do exactly what you are asking, but if it gets you close enough, you can use the URL hacks to search within a bounding rectangle, or within a radius from a point. See [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-use-inaturalists-search-urls-wiki/63#heading--bounding--area](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-use-inaturalists-search-urls-wiki/63#heading--bounding--area) I’m going to guess that generating polygon buffers on the fly may be too taxing on the servers for the developers to consider, but we’ll see what other feedback comes in… ---
**Author:** ![aisti](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/aisti/32/5431_2.png) [@aisti](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/aisti)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/ability-to-search-observations-near-within-range-of-a-place/14986/5 "2020-07-31T15:48:47Z")
Is it really the case that if (A) an observation is in the rectangle but its accuracy radius is not entirely, it’s “out”? I thought that when this appears to happen, it’s because (B) the observation itself is really outside the rectangle but it’s obscured such that its indicator looks like it’s inside. But I don’t know a ton about this. edit to add: you might not have implied that (B) doesn’t happen just because (A) happens, so sorry if I came across that way. ---
**Author:** ![JeremyHussell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jeremyhussell/32/118_2.png) [@JeremyHussell](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/JeremyHussell)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/ability-to-search-observations-near-within-range-of-a-place/14986/6 "2020-07-31T20:36:59Z")
The dot which is inside the box but outside the boundary should be red, not green. See also bouteloua’s similar diagram, and tiwane’s reply: [https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/obscuring-on-map-vs-lists/1490/26](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/obscuring-on-map-vs-lists/1490/26) (Edit: this was in reply to a post which is now deleted. Which is a shame, there was nothing too wrong with it.)