That’s fine when I’m at home and the local area. But not very helpful on trips, lol.
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
Night-light hack:
With the longer evenings in the northern hemisphere, I have been going down to a local salt water dock and enjoying time night-lighting. For those who are not familiar, this is placing a light in the water and waiting to see what invertebrates and vertebrates come around. So far we have seen various phytoplankton, zooplankton, Ctenophores, Siphonophores, Amphipods, crabs, shrimp, jellyfish, nudibranchs, fish, and one harbour seal. In the past doing this we were visited by squid and octopus.
From what I have read, phytoplankton are attracted to the light, eventually larger and larger feeders and predators are attracted to this activity. I picked a spot and “trained” it for an hour an evening for a week so that we could have a 7th birthday outing for an aspiring marine biologist grand-friend and his 4 year old brother (life-jackets on of course). The first thing we saw was a large kelp crab to which the 4 year old turned around and said, “I love this!”
One of the items I made for this was a source of light that I could place in the water and direct where I wanted. I used the indispensable zap strap/cable tie/zip tie, a well sealing mason jar, 1/2 inch PVC pipe 5ft. lengths, two 800 Lumen USB rechargeable bicycle lights (waterproof), a ratchet strap.
Cautions:
Before using I made sure that the lights in the submerged jar did not get wet because although they may be waterproof, the saltwater can be corrosive. Extra slack straps were added for redundancy in case wave action caused wear enough to break a critical strap. I would use extreme caution at night if doing this alone. I’m in close contact with my wife as to where I am and let her know when I plan to return and contact her as I am returning - people have been known to slip on docks into the water. Know where to exit the water. Know how to swim. Kids wear life jackets and are never out of grab zone. Have permission if needed. Make sure light does not over heat glass before you put it in the water - it may fracture - keep the time out of water to a minimum.
17 Likes
Yeah… go to trails where you have already photographed almost everything. That way, you will only stop when you see something new.
I don’t really understand this pervasive fear of solo hiking. Almost all of my hikes are solo, and I find it a lot less aggravating than hiking with other people.
15 Likes
I also prefer to hike alone, or in silence with a good friend. But the consequences of getting injured – or assaulted – when alone are far too high for my liking, even if the chances anything will happen are low.
When I do hike alone, I make sure someone knows where I am and when I epect to return.
12 Likes
This is a “You’re seriously into iNat when…” type situation 
7 Likes
I haven’t tried this yet and I’m not sure if this has been explicitly mentioned, but one can bring clear containers to hold single insects and other invertebrates in, to facilitate photographing of the ventral side, for identification purposes out in the field. And then once you have your photo, you can just let the specimen go.
6 Likes
I regularly bring a clear plastic container with me when out iNatting for precisely this reason.
The container I use has a white underside to the lid, which works nicely as a neutral background for photographs. In some cases I’ve been able to collect flies and other active insects from clumps of vegetation, gently turn the container upside-down, and photograph an individual from a more comfortable position before returning it where it was found.
https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/35563305/original.jpg?1556031607
https://static.inaturalist.org/photos/35576494/original.jpg?1556041468
7 Likes
Where does one get such an optically clear container? Likely somewhere obvious but I am impressed at how “true” the image is.
1 Like
Sorry, it looks like I forgot to include the step “remove the jar from the lid”. 
4 Likes
Sea Colander hack
This a variation of the technique used to make the night light hack previously mentioned. The purpose of this is to use a transparent adjustable rigid scoop for collecting aquatic specimens.
I have used a large wide mouthed plastic former Cashew container, some indispensable zap strap/cable tie/zip ties, and two 1/2 inch PVC pipe 5ft. lengths with appropriate holes drilled in the end across the width of the pipe. Small holes are drilled into the top 2/3 of the container so that water can flow through but leave some depth in the bottom while the subject is being transferred to a holding tank. Consideration should be given for delicate filamentous subject that may be just as easily collected with the holding tank.
So far I have been able to collect crab, shrimp, fish, amphipod, ctenophore, hydrozoan, salp, siphonophore, and nudibranch. After a brief stay in the holding tank for observation and collecting images, the subjects were gently released back where they were collected.
It is helpful if the holding tank has handles. A blue dry bag is placed under the holding tank as the image of a subject over top of the dry wood grain of a dock is somewhat distracting and disorienting.
6 Likes
I prefer to do my nature hikes and photography alone since a companion often unintentionally distracts me and my photos are usually poorer … even if the companion is a fellow naturalist. But then again, sometimes they’ll spot something that I would’ve missed.
I certainly recognize that feeling comfortable when out alone is a luxury that sadly not everyone has. I’m pretty big and perhaps intimidating enough in appearance that I’m less likely to be targeted by a fellow human, but that of course doesn’t mean I’m invulnerable. And none of that matters if I break my leg.
10 Likes
I have a good friend who’s talent is to take night time long exposure photography in remote places with rugged but beautiful terrain by himself. One evening he managed to slip, get his foot caught, and break his ankle.
Here is the Life Hack: he used his tripod as a crutch to hike the few kilometres down off the mountain back to his car. Sturdy walking stick, tripod or monopod can be helpful in cases like this.
He was also far out of cell phone range, in a different country, on his own. If you can have someone nearby know where you are going and when you will be back, maybe your hotel front desk, or a park ranger.
I have another friend who lives on a ranch in a valley with no cell service. She will go hiking/exploring on her own with her dogs up into the hills. She is in bear and cougar country. She takes a SPOT X 2-way satellite messenger with her. This is also handy/comforting for those cold, early morning, winter, long winding, river valley drives into town.
Even having someone else able to log into your “find my device” may be worth the lack of privacy as long as you are in a place with cell coverage.
4 Likes
Aquascope and Aquacam Hack
I was out canoeing with my wife and two young naturalist, 4 and 7, on a bay down near a local marina. It is a reasonably safe place to paddle as the area is protected by an island and a breakwater. However this day there was a little bit of chop breaking the surface and frustrating the oldest because he was wanting to see Red Rock Crabs. Also impacting this were the ripples caused by the paddler at the bow. For some reason the image of an almost 200 year old bathyscope came to mind. I did a little searching and realized I could make something for each of the boys.
I would not call this a pure hack because there is a technical end to it in that one needs access to and some skill with a hand saw/chop saw, coping saw/scroll saw, and some kind of sander of sorts.
I made this out of 4"ABS pipe with a coupling to protect “lens”, Optix acrylic sheet, Cabinet pulls, ABS glue.
The initial length of the pipe was 18 inches - half the length that pre-cut short lengths were being sold at the big box hardware store - I was making two so this was perfect. Then one end was cut at an angle.
The “lens” is placed at an angle to the pipe such that back-light is not reflected directly back at the person viewing. The angle can change relative to the length of the pipe but such that a line perpendicular to the pipe hits the upper edge of the pipe instead of the centre. Care needs to be made that the surface of the pipe that the “lens” is glued to is flat so that there is a good seal. The acrylic comes with a protective coating - you can leave the outer side coating until you finish gluing and sanding. I place a coupling as a protector - drill 2 holes through this, perpendicular to the handles, so air can escape before final placement so that you don’t accidentally drill the lens (don’t ask).
This passed the field test and the pipes float.
To make a hack for my smart phone I made a modification of the above with an increased length - I ended up with 30 inches by the time I was done. Plus, the angle of the “lens” was increased and no coupling.Triple check the seal before using with your device.
This also passed the field test very well.The small challenge is to turn on the video to record before one gently places the smartphone into place. Software can be used to edit the video and to grab still images.
Link to first video from the aquacam of siphonophore Nanomia bijuga: https://youtu.be/vJDAVVmpPVE
As a seasonal gift, I have also made an Aquascope each for a neighbour and for a nephew for their canoe-faring children to use.
14 Likes
Sweep nets for catching insects in grass are expensive, especially if you want several for a class. Secondhand stores often have a variety of used tennis racket like objects in a bucket for close to no money. Cut off the strings, sew a strong pillow-case like bag onto the racket frame using the holes that the strings went through, and you have a serviceable insect sweep net in a few minutes at almost no cost.
19 Likes
Oh my goodness! I used to work with those all the time - I had forgotten about them. Even at a Canadian Government research station, they were still made by hand. Rubber tubes, cheesecloth, rubber bands, a small glass tube and an old style medicine bottle!
3 Likes
For another use of PVC or ABS, 2" widths of either can be used as mounts for trail cameras. When looking for ways to obtain trail cam photos of wetland species, i created these mounts for use in marshes and lakes. I cut 2" PVC and ABS into different lengths, cutting diagonally to create a spade end, then pre-drilled two sets of holes in the upper half of each length, at 90 deg from each other so i could use two cameras per post, aimed in different directions, if desired. 1"X wood was used as the base to rest the camera upon, as well as for a backing piece that was necessary to add so that the strap that came with the cameras would cinch down tightly.
So far they have worked well, placing these in mud at the edge of water so that the bottom cleat is roughly at the water level. Of course, this isn’t without some risk of losing a camera if the post was to topple over. Some example photos: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/49648946
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/50795145
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/51731721
6 Likes
When traveling I bring two micro-4/3 camera bodies, one with a zoom telephoto lens (for birds etc.), the other with a zoom wide-angle lens (for scenery). I bring a Raynox close-up lens which attaches quickly to the telephoto and is perfect for insects. I also bring a third camera which is a point-and-shoot for medium focal lengths (for people). It all fits in a fanny pack, although sometimes when alternating different subjects I end up with all three cameras hanging from my right wrist (by wrist straps) and/or carried loosely by the hand.
4 Likes
Great idea. You can also just invert a pair of binoculars and use as a hand lens as is–works pretty well.
3 Likes