You Know You're Seriously into IDENTIFYING When

[astra_the_dragon]

@lappelbaum

But then had to quit that because I got worse. That’s when I really got into citizen science. It gives me meaning and purpose. Helps with depression.

I’m going through much the same.

[lappelbaum]

@astra_the_dragon

if it’s a name already in use, please add the common name to the taxon page. we want iNat to support people from all places, including the names they are used to using.

I only learned I could do this last week. Now I can look up “golden colicroot” instead of trying to remember the scientific name or the weird common name “golden miller’s maid” that I had never heard before iNat.

[JeremyHussell]

… when all the things you posted in the “You know you’re seriously into iNat when…” thread were already about identifying.

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/you-know-youre-seriously-into-inat-when/1992/161

… when you accidentally end up as the global top identifier for several families, just from identifying observations near where you live.

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/show-top-identifiers-by-continent-by-default/15310

… when someone posts about an identification problem well outside your area of expertise, and you still manage to nail it because searching through primary literature is your first instinct now (plus a hefty dose of luck).

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/new-species-of-iridaceae-or-just-some-weird-variation/22685

(Edit: … and when you realize you’re providing links to evidence without even thinking about it anymore.)

[junior84]

hehehe that was my Iridaceae post! that’s what I get for being so skeptic… now, as it turns out, H. huilense should be the Hesperoxiphion with the largest distribution!
Also this thread is extremely relatable. I can’t believe how much

[toyonito]

…you realize that the the only observations of a genus you can’t ID are undescribed species

[lappelbaum]

… you intend to do 5 IDs for new users (from the bingo card) but end up doing ~40 instead. I was going to watch TV, but I spent an hour doing IDs instead and now it’s time for bed.

[abhijatshakya]

ooh I got it

[richyfourtytwo]

… you ID at 1 am in the night, because you can’t find sleep for whatever reason. (And recognise a well known fellow IDer also being active when it must be 2 pm in their timezone - hi, there!)

[astra_the_dragon]

Absolutely. I have frequent insomnia, nothing more chill than some easy IDs at 2 or 3 or 4am. If anyone spots me awake at that hour (Eastern time / New York) feel free to say hi :)

[vihaking277]

@astra_the_dragon

you’ve stopped counting how many IDs you do per day and measure it per month or year

Or you’ve stopped counting IDs at all :-\

[hypersonicgx]

when you somehow end up mesmerizing some species of Brachyura (True Crabs) shapes and patterns on their carapace to tell them a part.

[sedgequeen]

You add a whole bunch of seriously misplaced dots to the map because you’ve been identifying the genus so much that when you type “Gaultheria” your fingers automatically add “shallon” even though you know what the observation actually is.

[Elschongar]

For common mix ups you have prewritten phrases or a sentence to explain, and you just cut and paste it in.

[tiwane]

I highly recommend a text expander browser extension - it’s a lifesaver for these! There are a few available for most browsers (but not Safari, I believe).

[neylon]

I really should do that, but I just type. I have made up guides to species groups that I have to explain a lot in journal posts which I link to occasionally.

[WeeCorbie]

…or you have stacks of 7 to 14 field guides spanning several different phyla permanently living on your end table because you might need them at any given moment, and at least one of those field guides is for fauna in a region where you don’t live…indeed, where you’ve never actually been.

[lynnharper]

Or you go out and buy a new bookshelf to put next to your desk where the laptop lives, because you got tired of tripping over the five piles of field guides on the floor and also tired of going to another room to fetch yet another field guide.

[someplant]

when you set up common shortcuts for when you see stuff that needs fixing such as:

/geo → Hi, could you add a location to this observation? If you do, it will be easier for people to identify it, and it will make your observation eligible for Research Grade. If you don’t want to make the exact location public, you can set it to Obscured. Thanks!

/split → Your observation includes photos of multiple species. In iNaturalist, each observation should show one species. Could you split them up, so each species is its own observation? Here’s a tutorial showing how to do this: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-to-fix-your-observation-with-photos-of-multiple-species/15096 Thanks!

The list goes on and on.