I hate making a mistake in an ID. It’d be nice to just be magically right all of the time, but every time I make an ID I risk making a mistake. So, while I’m always annoyed to find out I wasn’t right it’d be much worse if some error I made just… sat there being wrong and no one saying a word about i…

One way to reassure yourself, is to find a reason to work thru your older IDs. Down the years I look at those obs with fresh eyes, now I can recognise A, B and C – then they were all dumped in a broad ID – where I find the poor things still sitting waiting in the queue of millions … Your interest i…

Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Sometimes I even learn that I often make certain mistakes (Yellow-rumped vs. Magnolia Warblers, for example) and so I don’t make those IDs, at least not without pulling out the field guides. And if it’s any consolation, the best biologists and naturalists I know make mistake…

“There are no mistakes, only lessons.” Robin Sharma. Despite the fact that neurologists tell us we have billions of neurons in our brain, I have long realized that my information shelves seem to be full after so many years of identifying things. Nowadays, as I strive to learn a new group of organ…

[image] lynnharper: Plus, the more I hang out with true experts, the more I hear them say things like, “Well, I just don’t know. It doesn’t fit the keys, but then the keys aren’t always perfect either. Let’s leave it at the genus, shall we?” I am either becoming an expert or loosing my marble…

[image] vbjanos: I am either becoming an expert or loosing my marbles because I say “I don’t know” a lot more often than before. I used to be more confident before learning bits and pieces. János, you are becoming an expert! [image] Are you fine with the current format of iNat’s species de…

“Um, acktchyually…” but for the greater good! :)

Ooph, I recently went through my county and “unreviewed” all the plants to go through them again, well the unreviewed from subphylum up. There are several I’ve looked at an old ID and realized I completely missed the mark. Or I’ll ID something without slowing down a bit, IDing it as an ant when it i…

[image] vbjanos: I am either becoming an expert or loosing my marbles because I say “I don’t know” a lot more often than before. I used to be more confident before learning bits and pieces. Beware not to fall to the other side of the curve, underestimating your skills (saying ‘I don’t know’ t…

[image] vbjanos: Memory works like a bed. When there are “Ten in a bed”, just call “Roll over! Roll over!” and suddenly there is more room. Ten bears in the bed, and the little one said “I’m crowded. Roll over.”

[image] DianaStuder: One way to reassure yourself, is to find a reason to work thru your older IDs. Yes, when I realise a record made years ago is a first for the county or just first for a reserve, I worry I got it wrong. I could spend hours finding the specimen, and the relief when it turns…

It's a good thing nerds love to correct people. No, seriously, it really is

General

GothHobbit August 12, 2026, 10:10am 10

Ten bears in the bed, and the little one said “I’m crowded. Roll over.”

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It's a good thing nerds love to correct people. No, seriously, it really is

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