For those who observe small features up close and where it’s customary to carry a wallet, maybe a wallet sized ruler for sense of scale? It also helps with autofocus issues too.
Useful in cases like this: Little Gold Poppy (Escscholzia minutiflora) where without a ruler it looks like any other Eschscholzia but is actually 3x smaller.
Here’s my pricier gift suggestion:
Binoculars with a macro range for bug hunters.
[Ahem] This would make an excellent birthday present!
(Hello, wife? Kids? Are you reading this?)
Since when did ticks become insects, hmm?
It may not be a gift for the iNatter themselves, but I found a good gift for someone you want to share your iNatting photos with: a wi-fi picture frame. I have a friend that I share pictures of all my adventures with. I used to just email or text pictures, but that wasn’t exactly the most convenient thing (half the photos didn’t go through on text, she doesn’t check her email very often, and she doesn’t do social media). I got her a wi-fi picture frame this year. It comes with an app that lets me upload the pictures or short videos directly to the frame. She can also set up slideshows with her favorite pictures and set them to music, and she can use an SD card to copy anything she wants to her computer. I’ve sent her a few pictures already and she seems to really love it.
I got a gorgeous 3D printed coral polyp using a thermo-sensitive material that changes color when warmer (to simulate bleaching).
The 3D files are available here:
https://coralreef.noaa.gov/education/polypmodel.html
The polyp also does ok at hiding jewels, holding pens or even a cup.
Another nice gift can be nature music. For example this album has great frog music, one track per species:
https://kalerne.bandcamp.com/album/songs-of-the-frogs-of-taiwan-vol-1
Taiwan, located between Japan and Philippines, possess a precious natural environment. This 68 minutes long Compact-Disc contains the songs of 16 amongst the 32 species of frogs that inhabit the island.
I just wanted to post an updated link if anyone is looking for these rulers. https://www.nvnps.org/store/p/nnps-rulers
You could put gifts for iNaturalists into 3 categories:
How about a time commitment to help on a trail cleanup trash safari? This one could be great for kids who maybe don’t have any real financial resources.
Time is a fantastic gift, Robert! It’s the ultimate non-renewable resource. Giving money is easy, if you have it to give. But giving time and energy . . . that’s a type of authenticity that you can’t pay for.
:0 Those look soo cool!
If I could, I’d like a long range camera please. It would make bird photography so much easier.
