There is an owl that I see almost everyday in the same tree on my walk home from school.
In theory, there isn’t a definitive way for me to tell that it 's the same individual, but it’s quite obvious. I’ve had the same experience with a gecko in my backyard and a pair of kestrels at my Dad’s property.
All of this has made me wonder what the rules are regarding posting the same individual animal multiple times. It would make sense for it not be allowed, but I just want to see what others think.
An observation records an encounter with an individual organism at a particular time and location.
It’s perfectly fine to record the same individual on multiple separate occasions.
Yes you can do it, what you can’t do is posting the same individual on separate observations on the same viewing.
And thank you for being one of the observers who helps with identifying!
You could also use the field “Similar Observation Set” to link the observations:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/using-the-field-similar-observation-set-for-linking-observations-of-lepidoptera-when-raising-on/1018
The general guideline is one observation/individual/day unless something significant about the organism changes (ie, the organism moved a long distance, engaged in a behavior change you want to document, changed life stage, etc.)
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