One of my favorite things about inatting is finding something new! So here I ask what is your favorite species you’ve seen that was new to you this week? Personally mine has to be either the Phantom Orchids I found, or the aphids I found on them! I want this to be a fun thread of everyone’s exciting…

no, apparently you just need a $40 thrift shop 15-year-old Coolpix!

Two weeks ago, I went to Isla Contoy again, a very interesting island at the Northeastern Yucatan peninsula. Nearby, there’s a very well-preserved coral reef. There I saw my first Comb jellyfish (phyllum Ctenophora)!!! And I saw like two or three!!! This find is particularly exciting to me, since my…

[image] broacher: this was just the built-in flash of the camera (no-diffusing) I have a trick for on-the-cheap diffusing for built-in flashes: plain ol’ translucent tape. You know the kind; frosted, the standard for desk dispensers and giftwrapping. You can even play tricks with it to get th…

Yes! That was my next thought too. I’ve also used frosted tape on my celphone’s flash as well as pocket LED ‘worklights’ that I carry with me. Sometimes (like the phone), two or more layers might be needed. I’ll have to give the faux ringlight technique a try! Thanks for the tip.

Yep. Thrift store macro works. What you won’t probably find is the Raynox-250 macro clip lens. But I found a used one in my neighbourhood for 30 dollars. If you do try the thrift (or used online) camera, look for a model that gives you high zoom mag telephoto. The higher that mag number, the smalle…

[image] https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/242031318 A new moth for me and another possible new state record in New Mexico (found in neighboring Utah and Colorado previously). This and a few others carried me above 450 moth species on my yard list.

Are those the famous orcas that eat the sharks’ livers? I was told something like that by a journalist friend that lived in South Africa. The very same!

I was doing some observing with my microscope this week that yielded me a new lifer: this (relatively) massive Stentor Coeruleus found in a Sample from the Saint Lawrence river.

What is your Favorite Lifer from this week?

Nature Talk

danly September 16, 2024, 2:15pm 2128

More clever hacks, like this one, in this thread:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/life-hacks-for-naturalists/4636

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What is your Favorite Lifer from this week?

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