What are your personal iNaturalist goals for 2020?

Have you tried looking for something called Master Naturalist program? Where I live, I’m going to join one next year, it’s called Virginia Masters Naturalist. Replace “VA” with your state.

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I didn’t have any real goals this year since I joined iNat in September. But that being said:

  • For 2020 try to observe all of the moths/butterflies near my area.

  • Observe grasses, ferns, and mosses.

-Observe insects (no matter how gross - ie fleas, centipedes, and etc).
- Save up enough money to upgrade iPhone ;).

-Maybe draw some of the animals I’ve seen and put the information on DeviantArt (I don’t know what the best way to do that is because I don’t know how much info I can reasonably quote).

Also, what is a good way to properly field study something, aside from taking its picture? Like, what should you note down and etc (any good reading material for this? I know it probably differs from species to species).

One last thing, how to find out if you’re an iNat first for something (just out of curiosity).

Happy Holidays everyone!

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FISH. More FISH.

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Do an iNaturalist Big Day and find over 300 species - currently my record is 250

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While that looks like a cool book, I can’t help but feel that your post could be improved by some context or explanation :upside_down_face:

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My goals change daily (ooh! shiny object!), but I live on a saltwater bay and have paid very little attention to the fish and invertebrates. “Learn some of them and help ID” would be a good goal.

Observe all the Rhynchospora (beaksedge) species in my region and get good enough at identifying them to help others reliably.

Learn more about worldwide species of Smilax (greenbriers) and broaden my observations in North America. Smilax are so common in many places and tons of people observe them, but they have trouble IDing to species. The more they know, the less work for me!

Organize some Bioblitzes or other local events.

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One way is from Explore, look something up (Lepidoptera in Lithuania), and then click on the “observers” or “identifiers” tab to see who are the top people. You can make the request as specific as you like.

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Find things, ID them to the best of my ability, make mistakes, learn from my mistakes, find things and ID them better. Continue until my knee gives out or winter comes. Help others on the site to do the same, to the best of my ability.

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My current goal is to find at least 10 native plant species not recorded on iNat in Illinois. Current targets are Iris brevicaulis, Iris cristata, Silene ovata, Quercus montana, Quercus prinoides, Carya aquatica, Carya texana, Silene nivea, Solidago buckleyi, Dryopteris goldiana, Chamaelirium luteum, Coeloglossum viride, and Smilax pulverulenta, among others.

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Lately, I’ve been working on my photography skills particularly in regards to using a Macro lens for arthropod and plant species identification and also in using my limited zoom capabilities to take decent bird pictures to document as many species as possible on the Zoo grounds where I work as a teaching naturalist and the parkland around it that I explore several times a week. I am also trying to take pictures of bird, hornet and squirrel nests exposed after leaf fall to see if the animals set up close by to last year’s nests. The next Maryland Breeding Bird Atlas starts Jan1 and I have a couple of blocks and likely my data will be shared between the BBAtlas, eBird and inaturalist.

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I just finished a master’s degree, which I completed while working full time. :sleeping:

I am thrilled at the prospect of free time and am looking forward to 2020 and day trips outside of my immediate area. I live in North Carolina and there’s so much to see - the Smokies are 2 hours from me, the coast is about 4 hours from me, and I’m hoping to hit most of the state and national parks in NC and SC. I’m also planning trips to see family in Georgia and Texas and hope to visit some some parks in those areas as well.

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In 2020 , besides continuing to observe what I can where I can and spend time on identifications, I have an iNat project I’m trying to get off the ground and now have to figure out how to spread the word but also how to populate it myself. (shameless plug follows)

The project, Footzoom https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/footzoom , is being initiated, and open to anyone, to encourage people to observe what is around them while using human-powered transport to arrive at that observation. The forms of human-powered transport to be considered, but are not limited to, are walking, running, swimming, skating, skiing, sailing, rowing, paddling, bicycling, skateboarding, and any similar combination you enjoy. The forms of transport not to included are electric and hydrocarbon powered.

Since I live on an island, I have to figure out a creative way of how to get to the mainland without a plane or ferry if I wish to expand my observations for this project beyond what this island can offer.

I also have a feature request to allow for description keywords and tags as filters to populate collection projects. So in my case, the inclusion of Footzoom in the description or as a tag would include that obervation in the Project rather than have it done traditionally as a manual addition. https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/add-tags-fields-threatened-status-description-choice-s-to-populate-collection-projects/8639

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If I fished often enough, I would but I don’t really live by any big bodies of water (that are reasonably nearby).

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Hmmmmm…

  • Probably observe at least something each day
  • Create a bird paradise in my backyard
  • Start a personal project logging certain species on my property either involving a species of testudine or bird… (Most likely Terrapene carolina carolina)
  • (Maybe) Try to start a local or 4-H iNat group
  • Continue to improve my indentifying skills
  • Continue at attempting to see all Alabama species (Like every year LOL!)
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You need to choose a simpler state than Alabama! :-)

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It’s definitely going to take a few years to complete! lol

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I’m having enough trouble getting everything in my county, much less a whole state!

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I’m trying to find the 100 most commonly observed species in Ontario that I myself have not seen yet. I’m going to have to get started right away, because several of the birds featured on the list are only really findable in winter. Here’s the list if anyone wants to take a peek

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Try doing the same for VA! I don’t think I’ll ever get the wild Bobcat photo…:( (I’m a cat lover).