Watching Activity of Fellow Naturalists

Every day I am greeted with an email from iNaturalist. Some days I see what others have confirmed on my most recent observations. I hope they have enjoyed my journey in nature vicariously with me.

Some days I see a group of entries that a fellow naturalist has recorded, someone I "follow." I like to see where my friends have been, what they have seen, what's happening where. Wherever that friend is -- local or traveling. It's my own little vicarious virtual journey.

Then there are the times I scroll through and notice that someone somewhere has taken an interest in a species that I have documented. Cool! What is this person studying? Where? Why? How can I help? These are questions I look into by searching the person on iNaturalist, at times personal-messaging to ask questions or offer further information. At the least, I get to celebrate the joy in participatory science -- some of my observations might help make a difference in a study, a project little or large, formal scientific research, global initiative, someone's personal nature-nerding, or a park bio blitz.

I love learning from anyone who responds on my observations -- whether to "simply" confirm an ID, to correct me if I am mistaken, provide subspecies detail, answer my questions about how I decipher what I am observing, what details to include next time I see this species/individual, and what their project is.

This week, I was curious to see that someone confirmed ID's on all the Bigleaf Maples I had recorded. Huh. Several months ago I saw someone had been including my observations on his project documenting plants in serpentine habitats in WA, OR and CA. I have been able to help expand his mapping of serpentine in my local area, and contribute to the species lists and observations. A few days ago a university entomologist professor confirmed ID on a beetle I saw: I first met him via iNaturalist about 6 years ago when we documented a particular beetle in the park I worked at, and he flew down the next day to come see it. I hadn't seen his name pop up in several years -- it was like seeing an old friend.

Every day I learn something new about nature. The past three years that I have been expanding my observations on iNaturalist by tens of thousands of entries, my brain has grown over and over and over with new information and new discoveries in our local environs. I thought I knew this place where I have lived since 1967. I am still only scratching the surface of knowing Nature.

Even here, with a sense of place.

Publicado el junio 24, 2023 04:24 MAÑANA por wildmare64