So apparently I had a wedge-tailed eagle in every single shot I took last summer till I cleaned my camera sensor 
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Three worsts, of different kinds:
- Worst scaler - It’s always nice when there’s a ruler, coin, hand, foot, lip balm, etc. for scale, not so much with this one…
- Worst blur - Observed from a train
- Worst bird - A dead bird, always mark these dead, but ambivalent about uploading because it’s sad and I feel like I’m ruining a birder’s day.
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I have a few really terrible photos that are the only photo I have of a particular species. Probably the worst is this Capybara (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2757457).
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my personal favorites include:
this Striped Skunk at the entrance of a gated community in North Carolina.
my lifer Barn Owl inside…a barn… in Florida
and my lifer Northern Harrier that I drove by (as passenger) on a highway in Florida
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Lovely thread. Here is my worst I think, but it got IDed!
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Oh, I have a TON with outlines, arrows, etc.
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Probably one of my first photos I took/uploaded. I have a lot of blurry photos that are barely identifiable.
But the worst of the worst never make it to Inat.
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A very elusive Brown Thrasher, somewhat rare for my area and a first-time photo of one for me, that I almost didn’t post:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105407759
Followed a year later by what it should look like:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/146051916
Persistence can pay off.
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Not my worst, by certainly not my best: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/151262753 Steller’s Jay.
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Does it surprise anyone that so many of these are birds?
As a rather timid fledling bird observer, it sure doesn’t. I am always super impressed by the detective work that so many Identifiers in that area pull off.
But… for any given locale and time, the length of the possible suspects for birds is so short in comparison to other taxa, so maybe it’s more of a case of deductive reasoning.
If there was ever a police witness identification lineup for possible fly suspects – it would take the witness at least a few hours to get from one side of the line to the other.
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definitely one of these:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/152051315 Taken today, plains coreopsis is in there, I swear!
then there are my first three bat observations:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/85827524
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90958618
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97107794
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But… for any given locale and time, the length of the possible suspects for birds is so short in comparison to other taxa, so maybe it’s more of a case of deductive reasoning.
You can definitely see that when you’re observing as well. In my area you can definitely ID grebes, wagtails, treecreepers, wrens and a few others without every actually seeing the bird or hearing its call. I’ve been tempted so many times to just upload an observation of a little grebe’s splash when it dives to see if others could relate with my pain.
Speaking of, I’d say these https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141821619 are probably the worst pictures I’ve uploaded. Not because I’m an amazing photographer by any means, but it’s the only one where my interest for the species won over my self-imposed standards.
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Oof, I’m not shy about uploading blurry or poorly lit photos! But some of my worst have to be these pictures I took of salmon. I was half-worried people wouldn’t even believe there was a fish in it.
Some of my worst photos weren’t meant as iNat entries. I went to Peru in 2018 and last year I combed through all my old photos for any wildlife I could possibly find in them, leading to entries like this hummingbird (presumably).
Other times it’s bad lighting. I’m an early morning person and frequently encounter animals in pre-dawn hours, leading to things like these distant, blurry, tiny coyotes, or just the other day this probably-brown rat.
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That’s not a capybara.
That’s a well fed chupacabra.
Wow!
:-)
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Sadly, I seem to specialize in this type of fuzzy smartphone photo.
Three people gave me the benefit of the doubt that this is a Striped Skunk.
Two expert birders told me this is not a brown jay, but is actually a Squirrel Cuckoo.
Here’s an RG Townsend’s Warbler.
And here’s a Western Tanager that no one is yet willing to confirm my ID for.
Fortunately I mostly add observations of plants, which let you get as close as you like and stay still while you fuss with getting the right focus.
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Ha ha for sure, but my shame usually wins out in the end
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It’s always birds, isn’t it?
Belted kingfisher
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/66420289
Come to that, I have a whole series of belted king fisher pics that are ~horrible~
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&q=Kingfisher&user_id=teellbee&verifiable=any
Coots
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/38199484
Gc sparrow
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/38530036
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