Not as on top of things as I thought

I have just noticed that when identifying, the default filters only show me observations that have not reached Research Grade. Does everyone else realise that? So I thought I was fairly up to date with Irish observations but there are thousands more that I haven’t looked at. I’ve only been using iNaturalist for 8 years.

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Yes, when identifying, the default setting for showing observations is “needs ID”. But in filters, you can easily choose also showing those with RG.

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I cleared the Cape Peninsula Unknowns. Tick.
Then I realised there is Another Mountain in Needs ID.
Sweeping the snow from the top, I am at Order. Diptera another 250 obs.
Another 93K waiting (all animals, sob - have done the plants) - but I will Abandon All Hope once I have cleared families.

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i’ve always been partial to the explore tab to keep up with local observations.

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When I’m identifying, I do one run through focusing on Needs ID, and then a run through focusing on Research Grade.

When finishing a region, I also check the Casuals. Occasionally there’s good stuff in there too.

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Yes, I use that filter sometimes because I occasionally like to annotate a bunch of observations to then use them as a filter in a second round with proper IDs…
(For example, with species where I can only reliably identify a certain sex or life-stage)

So far I haven’t actually done much IDing on already RG-observations, I think. I guess people upload so many lady beetles around the globe that I never really get to it…

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I work on enough locations that I don’t go looking for observations that are already at RG unless I want to do a cleanup of a taxon that needs it. For example: a mostly cultivated plant that needs a DQA sweep.

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I did realize that, but don’t worry, you are in good company in continuing to discover new things about iNaturalist many years after joining, including yours truly! :person_facepalming:

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Not only are there observations that are already research grade, there are also casual observations, especially of plants.

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Another sweep for new annotations - gall, or autumn leaves.
Then add to relevant projects.

Yes, that is true. I certainly knew about it, but I’ve been content to tackle the ‘needs ID’ piles because, mostly, I know the previous major identifiers, and I trust their work.

I do catch some, though. My current working method for Nearctic Rhagio spp. is to open up a bunch of observations, then check each observer’s full Rhagionidae posts at the same time. I see any Rhagio still at family level, and can fairly quickly vet any previous IDs, and identify other genera at the same time. I do it this way because I add comments about how to recognize various species, so this avoids duplication.

I might do a sweep of all RG observations in some groups at some time, but I suspect that there may always be another group that attracts my attention and could use my time better. Plus, given my current tactics, a lot of them would be already trodden ground.

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