Leucochrysa pavida Lichen carrying lacewing, ghost spider Wulfila albens, and our local celebrity piebald squirrel get photographed everytime I see them. The lacewing larva just because I love them so much, but I’ve become a little obsessed with how easy I can find Wulfila albens and Magnolia Green Jumping Spiders on the underside of oak sapling leaves. Now its become a challenge and game to see how many I can find that way.
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I live in a city near a river, so i see the following animals in similar places A LOT:
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Herring Gulls
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Feral Pigeons
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Eastern Cottontail
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Canada Geese
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Mallard Ducks
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Greylag Geese
Sometimes i record them out of a sense of obligation. Probably good to confirm that these populations are still present in the same locations.
But too often i am so bored with them that i just pass up the chance to take a picture.
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Housefly. You can see 30+ housefly observations on my profile😅
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I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit and keep waffling so I thought I’d see what others think: I am torn between trying to capture observations of even very common things (Ischnura posita–the Fragile Forktail) with at least a few observations each day in order to show relative abundance; as opposed to just doing a few observations during the season and leaving it at that.
Is there any value to having lots of observations of a common species to show relative abundance or is that just really an annoyance to identifiers?
I’ll admit that towards the end of the season, I stop taking more than maybe one observation of the common species that I see every day…and often, I just don’t add them anymore.
What do others think or do about this?
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You may find eBird.org more useful for documenting the birds in your area. There is the Breeding Bird Atlas research method being used in many states and/or counties. Photos are not required except for rarities (as marked by their app). We monitor 10x10 mile areas over time, using a graduated coding system for how likely it is that birds will be or are nesting there. They use the app which can be assigned to this project so your live reporting is recorded soon after. Along the way we learn more about the bird behavior, habitats, etc. Sometimes I use iNat at the same time if I find something uncommon but that might be difficult for some.
I think it is perfectly fine, as any other way of observing, I usually observe species a lot when it appears in spring or summer, capturing all individuals, then each time I miss more and more of them cause there’re other things to look for, I just photographed one bug species on a couple of builduings and became a top observer in one day, common species even with high number of observations aren’t adequately represented on iNat map, so any new point you add to it matters.
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Hmmm…. I’m not sure I agree with that. Sad to note that many species that were very a common, everyday sight when I was a child seem much less abundant or even rare now. Perhaps, future researchers a decade or so in the future would care to compare observations of currently common species from this decade with their own decade.
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Documenting common species over time does seem like a good idea but to document the same Common Blue Violet species, for example, 100 times in the same location or habitat at the same time of year seems like a waste of time. Documenting it in that habitat, and especially on the edges of that habitat, over many years may show adaptation or other significant changes. Animals that move would be a different kettle of fish since geography/habitat/breeding behavior are so closely related.
I’ve been doing much the same but to show phenology rather than abundance. Every morning I try to take one shot of every moth species that shows up under my security light. Yes, it can be a little repetitive but that is often the nature of science. I say there is value in your observations of Ischnura posita no matter how often you post them.
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Exactly! This is what I’m seeing. I also feel if it is kind enough to volunteer…
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Black kites for me…
They’re just flying around all the time
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Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons, but a lot of my egrets are outside their ‘range’ on the map which seems to discount Clear Lake mostly.
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I am not familiar with this. Do you have a link? What is it?
It’s a site made by @henrydelange which analyses your observations to sort of mimic the video game concept of achievements (ie tracking your progress towards badges for bragging rights according to thematically-fitting criteria, often funny weird or obscure).
You can find it here: https://wild-achievements.mywild.co.za/
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Yes, some one else mentioned it on the forum once before, but it makes no sense to me. The logic behind each “achievement” is unknown. The achievements are meaningless. For example, when it says “2 of 42,” what 2? What 42? Seems like a fun idea, if there were any logic behind it.
I use iNaturalist and other community science data to track phenology and distribution. Repeated observations of common species is very useful data! Especially if the poster takes the time to use the Plant Phenology annotations (please do!), repeated records even on common species can be incredibly helpful. Please never stop posting organisms you enjoy simply because you think the records are useless - they’re not!
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I posted a good amount of Yucca observations from a recent trip to capture phenology in various locations and elevations, inspired by this research. Still need to go through and annotate them, though…
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One of the species I am probably most biasedly affecting CV with is Algidia viridata. I am currently 14/20 observers. Initially after first seeing one, I wanted to know how to find more, but it was still hard, until I found the UV hack. Even still whilst not uncommon per se, they still seem sporadic. It still seems a treat to me when I find one and I still see them as a good camera test with their small size, but interesting to me features, as I upgrade my gear.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?verifiable=true&taxon_id=385234&locale=en
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2 of 31 of, for example, the I Lichen Moss achievement, means that you have two observations that fit the criteria, and once you reach 31 observations that classify as Moss or Lichen, you will obtain the achievement- reaching further milestone numbers past 31, will label you as proficient, expert, or master, but the main goal is obtaining it in the first place.
It doesn’t “serve a purpose” per se. It’s not meant to. It’s just fun challenges to try and complete.
I keep telling myself I’ll photograph the ticks I pull off but I have to be honest, I’m usually too squicked
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