I live in Wake County, NC; what’s the plant story you referred to? Sounds interesting
Regional first – first Calabur Tree in the Pacific Islands.
One of only two observers of Taraxacum section Mexicana, and the only one ouside Mexico.
Little-studied fungus that may or may not be a new species, based on the monograph (scroll down to the notes).
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pretty sure they passed away in 2021 so this is INTERESTING indeed!
Some recent highlights from Panama.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147731362 Undescribed genus…
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104603210 Interesting behaviour
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121928681 Greta Thunberg!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/148025065 Species to be resurrected after being synonomised.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144313133 One arachnid Order predating on another
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/81689291 Possible new species of recently described monotypic genus
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144311404 The holotype
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Not necessarily as exciting as other finds, but multiple state first sightings, and dozens of county firsts. Many that weren’t listed in the checklist until found by me.
There was however, a worm that may have been from the genus Sparganophilus, which is very intriguing.
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I’m glad it turns out I didn’t identify the first wild raccoon dog sighting in Virginia. Now that the photo has been identified and removed, I’m just going to assume the the observer saw a raccoon and got a little imaginative looking online for a picture of what they remember seeing.
In 2020, before I knew iNat, I was taking a break on a walk and saw some beautiful flowers and took a picture. Same thing 2 years later (I rarely did that). They seem to be Dianthus vigoi, a species so rare that there is almost no information about it on the web! Only 4 observations on iNat https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1332232-Dianthus-vigoi
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First observation of this species of drone fly in the UK. (There are a handful of others now.) I’m happy to know that even as an amateur who knows nothing about drone flies I could still document the range expansion.
https://uk.inaturalist.org/observations/72672672
Also a first in county for the red-breasted merganser (and the UK is full of dedicated birdwatchers and I’m just an amateur with a point-and-shoot camera!)
https://uk.inaturalist.org/observations/145669256
And two more birds where I was the second in county
https://uk.inaturalist.org/observations/145428046
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How do you learn that your observation is a first in country, state, or county?
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39498162
This moth was an iNat first, but I would not have known if the IDer had not mentioned that in his comments.
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Check the map 
If you toggle on GBIF data, then that’s the most complete set of digital data for most species.
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I have the first Pierce County, WA iNaturalist record of Dusky Flycatcher (not yet research grade as I just submitted last night, but is confirmed on eBird). I suspect more may come in the future as it appears to be a more regular migrant west of the Cascades than records suggest:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/154026456
I also currently have “Pierce County first” records for Palm Warbler, White-winged Scoter, White-breasted Nuthatch, Loggerhead Shrike, Swamp Sparrow, Brant, and several other bird species. While it’s true that eBird has much more extensive data it feels good to add all of this information to iNaturalist.
There’s also this spider, a synageles species, which may possibly be synageles venator. If that’s true, it would beat the first collected specimen in WA by 4 years (was first collected in 2018, this was photographed in 2014): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/57235977
I’ll have to see what others I might have…it’s exciting reading about all of this new information that comes to light as more people submit their sightings!
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I observed the seed of an invasive aquatic freshwater plant wash up on the beach of an island where the species is not present. Not exactly a huge discovery, but it’s certainly not something you see every day. I hope that seed was killed by its time in the sea.
Observation
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Mine favourite is having the first observation of an American Whitebelt on iNaturalist.
https://inaturalist.ca/observations/13739392
Likely not that many first for iNaturalist observations from Ontario, Canada.
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I had no idea that this existed but ended up posting the first iNat observation for Quebec: https://www.inaturalist.ca/observations/139376039
I got an inaturalist first for a beetle that was last recorded in 1905. My observation is not at research grade yet though. I found the beetle on the balcony of a condominium at a ski resort.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/86123910
I also got a county first for another species of beetle for San Diego County, CA. I found the beetle in my backyard.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/122216510
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Love the beetles! They’re so pretty.
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This is perfect! Very much what I was looking for, thank you! Super cool to see what’s nearby
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I’ve looked at everyone’s linked observations and they’re all so neat! Thank you all so much for responding :))))) It’s so cool to hear about the unique finds so many of us have
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The iNat team recently visited La Selva Research Station, which is heavily iNatted. But we were still able to get an iNat world first observation for a bee species, right on one of the main trails. There’s so much out there!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153648357
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153181377
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I have recorded all Indian pyrilla species listed by Fennah R.G. 1963:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/146326276 : pyrilla lycoides, iNat first;
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153592559 : pyrilla abberans, pretty rare;
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153913928 : pyrilla perpusilla, also rare in India, as this was the second record in India for the species.
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