I have a lost week. I have no idea where I was for a week last February. I have no credit card transactions out of town, no notes in my work email about where I was going for a week - my calendar just says Out of Office, and my last ditch effort was to look where I was iNatting. Not one single observation for the entire week. iNat almost always helps me remember. How could I have gone a full week without uploading even one thing?
When you take every moment away from you work PC as you can to go examine the bees in your front yard for any newcommers
Here are my observations from that excursion: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?nelat=41.73277883796058&nelng=-91.54801398077906&on=2025-03-29&swlat=41.72541245936416&swlng=-91.5581420020193&user_id=quyksilver&verifiable=any
I also likely heard/saw a pileated woodpecker but unfortunately it flew away before I could either get a photo or a recording.
Abducted by aliens? 
When you see a federally protected endangered animal and become so excited you handled it and commit a crime…not that I’ve ever done that.
Wow! A Red-headed woodpecker and a Cooper’s hawk.
Red-headed woodpeckers are actually my most observed woodpecker species lol
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?lat=35.37013&lng=-82.41709&radius=0.383&subview=map&user_id=phma&verifiable=any
(I don’t know if it’s possible to filter by day of the week — some of these were on Wednesday.)
When you take pictures of trees after the service and wonder if that counts as breaking the Sabbath. I guess not; I’m neither a professional biologist nor a professional photographer, I don’t consider the 39 categories valid, and sometimes people take pictures during the service.
They are not common where I am.
Start checking the online used marketplaces. I picked up a used TG-5 a few years ago for $150 that was in great shape. The front lens cover’s anti-glare has been thoroughly scratched, so it looked awful but I was the only one interested. A cotton swab and some solvent removed all that in less than a minute.
That was the camera that got me hooked and I still take out with me almost anytime I’m not formally set to look for macro subjects.
It looks just like a little pocket shooter and if it’s too wet to use my non-waterproof camera, it’s a great one to use on damp or threatening precipitation days.
This is some cool nymph!
Gonocerus juniperi (not confirmed) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/299109847
To be related to topic: you know you’re seriously into iNat when you forget to eat just to get that nice shot of a lifer 
When you explain to the doctor that you can MAYBE cut the morning walk to one mile before going back indoors to ice roll the plantar fasciitis.
You will be back out because one mile a day in the summer iNat season is more intolerable than the pain.
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you browse local plant observations to look for landscaping ideas
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your observations take weeks to get research grade because you’re the only person in your area who regularly IDs certain niche taxa
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you plan in time to look for lifers on family vacations
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you use iNat as a source for projects in class
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you take the identifier/observer leaderboards a bit too seriously
..when cops mistake you for a drug dealer (true story)
This is a real true story. I was doing observations near a forest belt when a car with cops in civilian clothes pulled up to me. They thought I was a drug dealer who was throwing stuff around the forest belt.
You get lots of county or even regional firsts because you’re the only one in your area who regularly observes certain niche (although common) taxa.
Good to know! I was wondering about that camera for macro, underwater, and bad condition photography.
The newer TGs (TG6 and TG7) allow you to enter ‘microscope’ mode, or at least the zoom levels, while in other modes. I wish I had this. The other drawback is insufficient lighting and other factors can create what’s called the ‘purple blob’ effect with TGs, though I believe it’s less of a problem with the latest models.
Also, uou have a camera flash and LED illuminator, but they’re really not optimized for macro closeup. A triple later of frosted clear tape helps a lot there. Still subject to harsher shadows because of the closeness of the flash to the subject.
There are also LED light adaptors that Olympus sells (outrageous pricing) for a little ring that snaps over the lens and guides the LED lighting to the front of the lens, but the output is barely enough to get good results. There is also a flash ring that is powered that does a better job but I’m not a big fan of rings because of all the circles they make on highly reflective subject surfaces (like beetle shells). I find even a handheld LED mini panel works well if you can rig up a holder to guide the extra light.
OTOH, it’s still one of the best choices for very compact, rough and ready shooting. If you can find a good used one for a good price, give it a shot.
I have a TG-6 and would recommend it for iNat-level macro photography. It’s not perfect but you can get identifiable shots of a lot of tiny things that you otherwise couldn’t. I haven’t used it underwater much but it seems reasonably good at that too. Moving subjects underwater are a bit difficult though.
is something I recently discovered; basically if you zoom in too far in low-light conditions there will be a purple circle in the exact center of your photo. It’s annoying but only comes up occasionally for me, so it’s okay.