Nice one : )
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I’m asking both of these questions; they are connected. I want to know how to deal with this failure, but also how to do better (at keeping streaks) in the future. I used to not worry about streaks, but on the days when I did get observations I got a lot, so it didn’t matter. Now I only make about 1 or 2 obs a day, so I’m trying to get more days. Does that make sense?
Honestly, I do not know. I think I just forgot. And now I missed yesterday, too, which is making me a lot less optimistic. How can I get every day for the rest of the year when I missed two days just in the first week? I’m sorry, I’m kind of just pouring out my worries on you. You’re trying to help, and here I am complaining…
Well, the real problem is that I don’t go outside enough. Usually I just take one walk a day, and that’s only to the end of the road and back. So if I make a point to take two or three walks a day, looking specifically for plants and animals, that would help a lot.
The problem I have with your solution is that I don’t want to submit useless observations to iNaturalist. It’s fine to take that tree picture as an absolute last-case-scenario option, but I might not even use it because I want my observations to be useful, or at least potentially useful. Repeated observations of the same plant just don’t seem that way - in my mind, they fall into the same category as Casual observations.
P.S. What does btw mean? I see it used all the time on the forum, but have no idea what it stands for.
by the way
There’s no failure in what you describe, when you will truly live with that thought it would be easier to get the streak or forget about it with a light heart.
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Keep your camera strapped around your neck like a leash & photograph your foot if nothing else more interesting around every time it annoys you … worked for me … have a lot of foot pics a lot of foot pictures trailing that as a process getting less annoying and got frogd & stuff starting to pop up yo relieve to minotony of the thrilling adventure going on my side. 
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A few ideas, the feasibility or desirability of which may depend on where you live (city vs rural, apartment complex vs house and yard, etc.) -
- porch light. i resorted to this during the past summer when i was trying to keep a streak alive. If i didn’t obtain a meaningful observation during the day, or didn’t have time to try, i would resort to turning on the porch light in the evening and then photographing moths and other insects attracted to it.
- look under rocks and other surface objects. If your walk takes you by rocks, logs or other woody debris, stop and turn them over to see what’s in hiding underneath. You can also bring in rocks or scraps of lumber to create such structures if none exist. If you do this it’s handy to have something as simple as a plastic sandwich container in which to temporarily place insects or other species to make photography easier.
- purchase an inexpensive plastic dishpan. As you walk by vegetation knock it against the underside of shrub and tree branches, or sweep it thru grasses and flowers, in order to temporarily collect insects that are caught as they try to jump away or are dislodged into it. The tall sides of the dishpan will contain many species long enough to take some photos of them. You can also place leaves or other duff layers in the pan to sort thru it to see what is living there.
- bird feeder or water pan. Use either to attract birds to you, especially if you can place them near enough to a window to obtain useable photos from the window.
- trail cameras. i also resorted several times to trail camera photos to keep my streak going. Better if you have a nearby wild area or trail network to place them, but you could possibly place one on the road you walk on, or use one in conjunction w the bird feeder or water source to photograph the species they attract. A good quality trail camera, plus batteries and a couple SD cards would probably come to about $200
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An update on my progress; I got a fairly long (13-day) streak, and am now satisfied. I’ve basically given up on trying to make observations, although I’ll still photograph anything I notice, and have turned to identifying instead. Now I have more IDs than observations!
Thank you all for your suggestions.
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