What's your Observation Happy place?

Stunning photos!

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Oh, how sweet. Thank you :-)

I found the most interesting specimens in my city, which is very vast and covers very diverse terrain, one of my favorite places is the main city park, a very vast place practically almost like a forest …

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Well, since you used the past perfect tense, that means it doesn’t have to be a place I currently go.

It was senior year of college. I was in a course conducted at Monteverde Biological Station in Costa Rica (not the touristy Monteverde Preserve; the Biological Station is an adjacent property, and free of tourists). I spent many happy hours walking the trails in the cloud forest. Mammals were mainly coatis and monkeys, but lots of birds, insects, and floristic diversity – including oak trees that look just like any other tropical rainforest tree, and have acorns the size of golf balls.

It was my first time outside the US, and I was a largely naive 22-year old, so that undoubtedly contributed to my impression. It was like a dream.

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It’s hard to choose…

as I’ve been thinking about this question*, I keep thinking about Glacier Bay and environs in Alaska. To celebrate starting retirement, we went on a small boat nature cruise in spring a couple years ago. The landscapes were serene or dramatically amazing as we explored inlets, coves, islands, and glaciers. Here is a favorite observation from that trip: a tiny sea stars on a tiny blue stone.

*(and, btw, thanks for the reminder to evaluate and review my memories!)

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Would also fit the cute-observations-Thread. Those tiny sea stars are too cute! But I am actually more fascinated with the little chiton! They always amazed me in biology lectures and when I first saw one (not too long ago) I was so excited, and I still am seeing this one there :-)

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It took me quite a long time to notice the chiton! :heart_eyes: That little beach was teaming with a great diversity of sea life.

Well, for me it has been a little river almost an hour driving from my house. I love this place, and I’ve been visiting it since I was very young, but it makes me sad that it’s going to be gone in a few years, when it turns into a city. I made some pretty interesting observations a few days ago, idk if you would like to see them:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72831439 Spermacoce assurgens, first Rubiaceae for the region in quite a while, never seen it before in the 10+ years I’ve explored this place.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72831048 Some Verbena spp, they are medicinal and my grandma used to sing a song about it :)

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72822749 Some nice shots of a Distimake quinquefolius

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72820328 Apparently a new genus for Peru!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72833621 New species for iNat!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72815684 Just a bunch of these casually growing on a field, they’re so pretty!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72817926 A whole mini-jungle formed under the shadow of this tree after the rain! Goes to show how important they are. Also there were like 6 species of Convolvulaceae in the (kind of same) place…

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72834999 This weird… thing? Might be the same as https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70167365

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70356198 Strange plant growing off a tree trunk!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70355488 Apparently a Fleischmannia? I’m not really sure.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70169711 Some beautiful Commelina shots!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/66627687 An older photo of what I throught was a new species, but turned to be an ol’ morning glory.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70168893 Aaaand… the observation that originally reignited my interest, a Spermacoce!

Hope you liked it!

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