Just hit 200 taxa on my self-tracked first/notable list. That means a first state, country, or world record in iNat or an observation that is notable for a range extension, like the tree crickets I found in far north New Mexico that were only known from border towns. 190/200 are insects, no shock.
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I think I got my first month with 100+ new species. I have to go through my SD card and upload some pictures but 'm pretty sure I’m over the hump. I’m also happy because I didn’t really go anywhere that I hadn’t iNatted before
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It’s so addictive
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Today was my first day with 100+ observations and I just turned on my moth lights
Ended the day with 146 observations across 111 species. It was a little cold for moths
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146 observations in a day!?!? I only get around 25. Amazing work!
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I just reached 500 observations and 200 different species yesterday, and I couldn’t be more excited!
OOH and I also uploaded a first for iNat, which I’ve always dreamed of. I didn’t think the day would come so soon though. (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/181197007) and instantly uploaded a second of of the same species (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/181197009).
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congrats! that is seriously impressive :D
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recently hit 3k observations, getting close to 500 species, and also recently made 24k IDs!
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I know the feeling.
Finding new species doesn’t require travel as much as time and patience. Patience is the hard part for me. I have to make myself ( force myself) to slow down. Sit down. Stop thinking and look.
My favorite quote is from Marcel Proust:
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
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4 life list firsts today.
Was bitterly cold when we started, and the flowers were vehemently SHUT.
It was our shortest ever Fynbos Ramble! But still with four firsts (not even trying)
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Being interested in different subjects makes you see so much more than you think actually exists.
I used to always look up when going in forests, etc. Then I fell in love with ferns, and I looked down more. I saw so much more the forest had to offer.
April-August it’s dragonfly season. Guess what… I’m looking for waters, creeks, reeds,… And I see all the beatiful stuff which hides in those places. (All in the same places I regularly visit)
August-April I’m looking for mushrooms, now I’m looking down even more, Seeing all the gorgeous small life a forest has to offer. Stuff you would normally walk past without having a clue it’s there.
I recently found little mushrooms which were smaller than the nail of my pinky finger. They were gorgeous and fascinating. There’s no way I would have ever seen those if I wasn’t looking in a different way which I’ve been doing all my life.
I have seen so much stuff, just in my local forest. (When I was young, I thought it was a boring small forest, which didn’t really had much to offer, besides the walking trails.)
Just switch it up sometimes. Don’t do the same every time. Go to your local green space with a fresh mindset and a fresh set of eyes. You will be amazed what actually lives there.
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I just got inside from seeing a first for me… dozens of dragonflies swarming and bugging in my backyard! Amazing! Too high and fast to id, and the hummingbirds were confused by it, too.
The more I look, the more I see. And you autoprogram your brain to pick up on things that interest you. There’s a name for that system, I’ve forgotten it. It works like this… I found a pair of pink lady slippers last year, had to search for them this year. Followed their phenology… and on subsequent walks have found several more of them scattered through a 40 acre patch of woods I’ve been wandering for nine years, never seeing a single one.
A big boost to the fun has been clip on lens for my phone that I use mostly as my camera. Tiny worlds open up. After you find the tiny mushrooms, you’ll enjoy the wonders of slime molds.
All you have to do is look!
I also have the grace of time with limited responsibility to interrupt my walks. I can take 2 hours to go an eighth of a mile, and I hardly ever have a plan beyond going to see what I can see.
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You’re probably thinking of frequency illusion, more alarmingly known as the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon.
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aaand we’re there - 2000 species. Unfortunately because I uploaded a lot of stuff at once and some IDs came in quick, I’m not sure what took me over the line - but I think it might have been this Jasmine Moth:
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And you have helped with lots of IDs, too. Congratulations!
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Trying to get a lot of identifications started. As I enjoy holidays in south east asia, I looked through all unknowns / “life” in that area, some 5,000 obsverations when I started. Well, I could not find “good” ids for most of them, but I could reduce the “needs id” queue a lot: many plants were cultivated, in case of Araceae far beyond half. But when it comes to micro organisms or marine organism, I have no idea…
Try the remaining observations yourself:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?per_page=100&iconic_taxa=unknown&order_by=random&photos=true&verifiable=true&place_id=6967%2C7002%2C6847%2C90097%2C6966%2C6992%2C7001
and enjoy!
Next step is regnum to class for Plantae,
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?per_page=100&order_by=random&photos=true&verifiable=true&place_id=6967%2C7002%2C6847%2C90097%2C6966%2C6992%2C7001&hrank=regnum&lrank=class&taxon_id=47126
with some 59,000 observations to look through…
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I just hit 3,000 identifications. Compared to my measly 145 observations, does this mean I’m officially not a shoplifter here? ;)
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