There was an article in the local paper today about an eco-lodge in Ecuador yesterday announcing the discovery of 2 previously undescribed insect species (in Spanish but have a link). I was wowed and in reading more, learned that the same eco-lodge last year announced 10 previously undescribed plant species.
This got me wondering, if you were planning your naturalist dream trip, would you be most motivated by:
Seeing a specific species you have always wanted to see, regardless of how rare it is
Seeing the highest number of different species
Seeing rare species
Seeing new-to-you species specifically, regardless of how rare they are
Finding a previously undescribed species
Something else
As always, I lack any scientific training whatsoever so please forgive any awkward diction or inaccuracy in my phrasing.
When I travel I want to feel like I traveled, so #6 is that āthe world changesā, by which I mean I want the terrain to be different, the weather to be different, if it is my dream trip I would like to end up in the other hemisphere, at a different altitude, where the dirt is a different color, etc. Snow!
Then #4. I donāt care how rare anything is. I will just be excited in my new vacation environment to see them all. Once @fffffffff you posted a photo of yourself feeding a squirrel. You had on fingerless gloves I think? I am sure it is everyday, no big deal to you, but I reached out and touched my screen.
I had a book when I was little that showed how some animals change color for snow. I know I likely never will but I would love to see some of those animals with their snow looks.
(I know everyone complains about winter but for those of us who live where there is no snow, it sounds like a very exotic travel destination, hahaha.)
For me from the options mentioned for sure 4 and 2.
I do love those trips where I can look where ever and can observe something I have not seen before (as you mentioned Ecuadorā¦ the trip to the ecuadorian rain forest was for sure such an instantā¦ one of my favourite trips so far).
However, I also do cherish the times with my camera where I had to look really closely and started to see more an more. Living in Cairo for sure offered such an experience. Looked boring in the start, but got more and more interesting to me with timeā¦ But the latter experience works better for me when I am able to go to a place over and over againā¦ not really on a trip.
I would love to find a new species but #4 would make me happy. I always loved seeing ānew to meā things especially if I didnāt know they existed. āOh, what are you?ā makes me happy.
It certainly is a very good recreational time, especially if youāre into banya/sauna or fishing, but species-wise late spring would bring you x100 more, so I wish you the best in getting both winter and summer hares. ;)
So Iāve been observing only within my own extremely wee garden space the entirety of the last few years. Is that sort of what you mean? Mine sounds lame but honestly it was really cool to see what happened in an extremely limited space. So far I am at:
19 species of bees (Anthophila)
59 species of butterflies (Papilionoidea)
46 species of flies (Diptera)
45 species of beetles (Coleoptera)
71 species of Plantae
and some other stuff for 415 species total
I like your county idea a lot! Are you going to do a map project?
At this point in my life, as I realize that time is in limited supply, number 1 comes to the forefront. My ābucket listā includes a few particular taxa that have fascinated me from my youth, but which I have never come across in my travels ā even though those travels were full of number 4.
If you had asked me this question 10 - 15 - 20 years ago, I would likely have said number 5. I still wouldnāt mind that, but it no longer drives me.
That lake looks amazing! There are 22 species of ducks there!
OK, I am not telling you what to do, but I reallyreallyreally think you should take a group of people and play duck bingo. (Stick a Canada Goose in the middle space.)
4 and 5, especially #5, I always loved the prospect of finding a never ever seen creature, giving us all hope of undiscovered creatures surviving through the ordeal thatās happening. 1-5 are all excellent choices @ItsMeLucy, I was torn about which ones to choose!
Iām a complete amateur, so for me itās a mix between 4 and 6.
For a modest dream, I want to explore all the places meaningful to me to try and see them in a new light. For instance, thereās an about 4km stretch of countryside in Catalonia between the city and the beach that we used to walk often with my grandparents and my mother. Itād be a lonely trip now, but knowing itās full of life, especially species Iāve never seen or even thought of, would be really good, I think.
It sounds like Ecuador may be a wellspring of as of yet undescribed species but I also know people find new things in everyday places. I think there was a woman who during the pandemic found a new spider in her back garden. And just in the last year or two there was a family who found an oddly furry crab on a beach that ended up as a new species. With or without travel, I hope you find your new-to-known-knowledge species one day, too! (But if you want to be proactive, it sounds like maybe go to Ecuador? hahaha!)
4 and 2. I would rather see a couple of new species rather than many species I already know. With that said, basically any trip where I see a new species counts as a win for me.
