Hello Lucy, I am not looking for expert.
Or rather to say, I am almost expert myself in my area.
But I do have my way to find a real expert. If someone give an ID that normal one hardly able to give or have unique idea about taxonomy, I will immediately have the feeling:‘That’s it!’
In China iNat is not very famous. That you can see a 400 or 500 observations can be the top observer in my Province (That’s me) But we do have some bird watcher here and I join in a group of them and help IDing creature out of birds they photograph accidentally. I don’t like that place because I am a newly guy and I don’t have many chance to show up. And the ‘old man’ there know each other and hold the right to speak and always joking joking and joking.
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I think no real decipherable difference. Some could argue somebody with more IDs spent more time IDing, but some people, as mentioned previously, just hit agree, which doesn’t take much time at all.
For me, I mainly ID the same 4 or 5 things. I have a list that I try to ID all the Needs IDs of every day, and the goal is to get the Needs IDs down to 0 every day. It’s funny because I actually get more excited by the numbers going down, than the numbers going up, because it means there’s less observations that need an ID. Some days I don’t get to going through my list. Especially when I’m working a lot, which I have been lately, so I’ve fallen behind a little bit, but that’s fine. I know I’ll catch back up. I feel a little stressed when I miss a day or two, but that’s the most I feel about it, other than the satisfaction I feel from being all caught up!
If it’s not fun or enjoyable, don’t do it. You should do what you want and do it for you, not other people. Probably generic inspirational garbage but I think it’s really true.
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I wish I could remember where I got that link from! But yes, I’m glad I’m not the only one that has an ever-growing Bookmarks page of “Useful Links” ;)
Here’s another similar one that some of you may find interesting: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/map?user_id=USER
…just enter your own user name in place of “user”.
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There’s also a useful map where you can see observations. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?ident_user_id=marina_gorbunova¬_user_id=1453678&place_id=any&subview=map
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I just tagged the top identifiers of “Order Sipuncula” for an observation … turns out Sipuncula are often misidentified as other groups, and the experts on those groups keep correcting the observations on order level … so now they are leading the Sipuncula charts … ;)
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Huh.
And here I am avoiding the role of identification because I know that I’d feel so awkward with all the attention from media, the constant celebrity party invites, and the embarrassing seduction attempts of all those supermodels.
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I have experienced that, too! I remember going on Christmas Bird Counts (annual counts that many, many birders participate in). I listened to many stories that began, “Remember when we found that . . . .” I felt left out. But after a few years, I was saying, “Remember when right here we found a . . . .” or responding “Oh, yes! That was so lucky!”
This will get better for you. It will. Keep participating, although it is hard. The iNaturalist community is good, but personal interactions are more complex and therefore more fulfilling.
Personal interactions are also more difficult. That was very true for me. I spent much time in nature partly because I couldn’t understand how to interact well with people. If this is true for you, be aware of the issue and work with it. You can be a very useful and satisfied person with limited direct human interaction, if that’s what fits you. (True for me!) You’ll probably find interactions with people who share your interests best because you’ll have something to talk about and because we naturalists are odd enough that we learn to value traits most other people don’t.
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@Manassas – You post good photos from an area where iNaturalist use is limited. You identify organisms most people don’t. Your contributions are and will be valued. However, we tend not to say that very often. That doesn’t mean you are not valued!
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I don’t do birds since insects is minority there I think I’ll never gonna be as familiar as they are.
Still thank you for your encouragement!
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Will have to add the handful from Switzerland and England to mine!
and now you have met on iNat the author of one of your field guides. And they have only been on iNat for days, so they are the ‘new guy’ right now!
Yes! That’s what I want to say, it’s not new or old, it’s the knowledge. And that’s my way to find a real expert that I mentioned above: No matter who as long as he give an ID that normal one hardly able to give or have unique idea about taxonomy. But not everyone realize that and not everyone need that.
And guess what, a few months ago I try to find a part-time job as an assistant at local ecology organization. But later they select a guy who is better at bird. And in bird watcher group is the same, they don’t need insect guy all the time.
I would rather stay at a place where my knowledge is value and needed.
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For someone like me, who has limited time to spend on iNat, the only way to get to be a top IDer is to do the taxa that not a lot of people know. The ones where you can become a top IDer with fewer than 100 ID’s. So that feels like I’m blazing new trails and going where few people go, sort of like the adventures I dreamed of having when I was young.
Because for some of us, our nature knowledge is an achievement we worked hard for and are proud of. Just like someone who runs for the joy of running may still feel good about seeing their training pay off in the form of their rankings at a race – even if the race is just a local charity 5K.
German has a word for it: Funktionslust. It means the enjoyment of doing what one is good at doing.
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I keep checking the pawpaws here for for that orange pubescence but none so far yet.
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There’s not much difference, except more people might @ you in an observation.
Small-flower pawpaws new stems turn orange in April and May, though if they get cut down and have to regrow, it might show up later in the season, like this one from August: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/130735571
Ah, the glamour, yes, that’s annoying.
But you can avoid that by wearing a mask and using a superhero alias.
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Dibs on this super hero name the day that happens:
https://youtu.be/EQiSgWGAc24
(1994 single by the first drummer from Pavement)
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Short answer: It doesn’t feel like anything.
Long answer: Beyond the satisfaction of seeing a number, what pleases me most is all that I have learned about a subject that I have loved since I was a kid: plants.
Besides the support of Naturalista in its Mexican branch, the recognition I have from the users I interact with, and in some cases the friendship I have made with some of them (none of this is a small thing!), in real life being a top-identifier does not mean any other retribution for me. My wife knows I participate in iNaturalist, but I’m not sure she knows where I rank in that statistic; my kids do. In my work, my colleagues are basically unaware of it. Beyond them my name is hardly known, and the people who do know me are from other activities I do.
In fact, I think I have achieved that number by trying to keep things in order: if I see something that does not seem to correspond to the label it bears, I do the necessary research to correct it. Above all, my goal now is to document the flora of Mexico, and for that it is necessary to learn to identify plants that I do not know, and in many cases, that I have never seen in my life. In that I do find satisfaction.
Finally. I hope I don’t find myself on @graysquirrel’s list, although I fear I will be, as I frequently come across her identifications!
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