On the evening of Friday May 1st, I was driving in the Santa Catalina Mountains when a cougar ran into the road in front of my car! At first I assumed it was a deer because it was almost the same size as a Coues Whitetail. Lol, I very quickly realized it was powered by deer and not one of them thoug…

Just the day before yesterday. I was out at a local wildlife refuge* for the first time in far too long, and got to watch a large hawk (either a lighter-morph Red-tailed or a Swainson’s) getting absolutely thrashed by an American Kestrel. If there had been a safe place for me to pull over, I would’…

The one day I went scuba diving without my camera was the one day an atlantic sturgeon swam past me and vanished into the muck.

Animals are 1000000% aware when you don’t have your camera with you and act accordingly

I’m halfway through my second year of iNat, but it’s the first full season that I’ve had decent macro gear. When I read the answers posted so far, one thing stands out: just how many stories are about mammals, birds, and just about anything larger than a quarter. Of course, with macro, even a quar…

I was looking at a moss specimen yesterday under my dissecting scope and a tardigrade crawled by. Alas, I’m not even set up to take good photos of mosses through the scope, much less tardigrades, but I am seriously thinking about investing in a compound scope with camera-ready ability next year for …

[image] broacher: Hmm… now I’m thinking of how many times I’ve shot a larger insect and discovered much smaller species in the background of the shot, or mites crawling somewhere on their bodies. If you haven’t already found it, you should enjoy this thread: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/ob…

I seem to find the birds I want to photograph the most whenever I don’t have my camera. I especially have not had good luck with the Belted Kingfisher. It always flies away when I pull out my camera, even though it doesn’t see me. The most recent time I saw it, I didn’t even have my camera with me!

I spent last weekend by the sea and one evening I went for a quick walk along the beach as I had a spare half hour. I didn’t have my usual camera bag with me and didn’t want to take my rucksack for a short walk so just grabbed my binoculars and headed out. I was walking head-down looking for shells …

Yeah, that happens to me all the time.

[image] neylon: auto-focus decides that you obviously wanted to take a picture of the branch in front of the target In front? Since when does auto-focus notice that there is a foreground? Auto-focus decides that you obviously wanted to take a picture of the scenery behind the target.

Anyone else miss a chance to document a truly epic observation?

Nature Talk

sullivanribbit December 14, 2023, 5:04pm 299

If you haven’t already found it, you should enjoy this thread: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/observations-hiding-in-other-observations-share-your-examples/20956

Topic		Replies	Views
Regretting Not Taking the Photo Nature Talk fun	52	2095	October 8, 2022
The one that got away Nature Talk	8	837	October 22, 2020
Observations "hiding" in other observations; Share your examples! General	520	24188	October 7, 2026
Random Nature Encounters and Stories Nature Talk	217	9346	August 25, 2025
What are Your Most Frustrating INatting Moments? General question	164	4531	July 13, 2026

Anyone else miss a chance to document a truly epic observation?

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