You are reminding me that I include what plant a gall or leafminer is found on in the notes.
I comment if I have relied on the CV suggestions. Now, bear in mind, I donāt just pick the top one; I do checke them visually to find the best match, and I see if the CV gives the same suggestion for several images of the same observation. Still, I feel that mentioning the CV use is important.
One thing that I donāt understand is people who note the weather or temperature when observing a plant. For some species, that might affect whether a flower opens or closes, but its not going to affect whether the plant is in that place at that time. For insects, it makes more sense.
I cannot answer for everyone but we have a number of species here that are triggered by rain (rain trees, rain lilies) .
We also have species here that do specific things during specific weather seasons, like Ceibas who lose their leaves in dry season then flower and fruit (there is a circle I pass frequently with a wonderful statue of Xtabay in it and of course a Ceiba in the middle of the statue and currently fruit hanging low).
When it turns VERY hot, the fruit pop open, releasing a cottony substance called kapok, which houses the seeds, and these go everywhere and in places look like snow.
So that is why sometimes for plants I might note the weather.
Oh yes it is called Notes. I have no idea why I always thought it was called Descriptions!
It depends on how important I think the observation could be. I will put in more effort if I have a good set of photos and intend to use it as reference or if the subject is rare.
Other times I just need to say something.
These are the categories I might include:
Habitat: If it is not obvious from the photos, I will comment on the environment. Stream, spring or a bog on a usually dry hillside; floodplain or bank of a waterway; type of rock a plant is growing on. I mention soil type sometimes.
Declaration: When there are multiple potential subjects, I just say which one is the observation for.
Features: Anything that cannot be documented by a photo. Smell is helpful for Correa, Cymbopogon and Anthoxanthum. Describing how flexible, soft or sticky a plant can be important, too.
Anything that my photos donāt show well, either due to photo quality or a messy picture that needs interpretation.
Measurements in the 25 - 125 cm range. Anything smaller, I can show against a ruler or my hand; anything bigger or longer shows up against the landscape.
Sometimes I forget to take photos of important features, these go in the comments.
Project Notes: I report the number or estimated number of specimens for orchids only, also comment on orchids taken and whatās left after.
Messages to other people viewing the observation - iNat is a community after all.
Sometimes I add detailed instructions how to find the subject if I think it might be useful for someone.
It could be a just a generic comment.
I do not identify the subject in the notes. It could be wrong and editing notes takes more time than editing comments.
I normally donāt write much unless itās a type of fungi. So Iāll write the forest type, if itās growing at the base of a tree, clustered or solitary, etc.
Yes! Some mycorrhizal fungi are only found on conifers, others only on hardwoods. Some even specialize further. The kind of trees nearby can be a trait used in identification.
Here are some of mine:
Most of them have five petals, but at least one has four.
The dusty place is the edge of the floor.
This is a burl. What caused it? The tree is at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/263134292 .
The briar, not the tree. Smilax?
The GPS pole is not at the coordinates; thatās just where I parked it. The point is to the left of the pole in the first picture.
The closest foreground trunk on the ground appears to be a hickory too, but this is a reobservation of the tree in https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/249741493, which is the background tree which has its root at the right side of the picture, rises at an angle, and levels off to nearly horizontal.
Alot of my observations are on my own 3 acre property. So, I will note where I found it ānear the creekā, āIn east fieldā or āoutside the fenceā so I know here I found it. It doesnt help anyone else, I know, but helps me.
To make myself a better observer, I am now trying to note the species of tree it was found on or which flower the bee was visiting, etc. If in a park, was it near the trail or near the parking lot, etc.?
I donāt know if you use observation fields but you should consider using Interaction->Visited flower of for this
and check out the other āinteractionā observation fields https://www.inaturalist.org/observation_fields?order=asc&order_by=created_at&q=interaction->
How can i email these forum comment sto myself or save them in a document?
you could copy them and paste them into an email to yourself or a word processing document
you can also copy a link to a comment by clicking symbol
or you can click the 3 dots and then the symbol to bookmark for later and be reminded