#i do have an app called inaturalist on here!

[k66-official]

Oh? Dororo, you have a phone?

I think our phones are connected to the Kero Ball, or something like that? I've not looked into it much, to be honest.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

*deep breath* This, folks, is EXACTLY why I am writing The Everyday Naturalist. Because it's not enough to have an app. You HAVE to know how to use multiple identification tools and have keen observational skills if you are going to safely forage or otherwise identify things in nature.

Here's the deal. Apps are a tool. They are not infallible, and they should never, ever, EVER be your only tool for identifying mushrooms and other organisms. This goes even moreso for when you're trying to determine whether something is edible or not. I go into more detail about why apps should never be used by themselves in this article that I wrote a few months back, but let's explore a bit more about how an app works.

Any identification app has access to a particular database of pictures and other information for various species. In the case of my favorite app, iNaturalist, it draws from the over 156 million (and growing) observations of animals, plants, fungi, and other living beings that have been uploaded to it over the years.

When you upload a photo to an app, your phone usually inputs the date, time, and GPS location automatically, though these can be updated manually if need be. Then the app's algorithms sift through the database looking for species that are found in the same location at the same time of year, and which have similar photos.

Notice that I said SIMILAR, not identical. Many organisms, to include many fungi, have varying appearances based on subspecies, life stage, and other factors. And there are a lot of species that have close lookalikes, whether we're talking birds, wildflowers, mushrooms, etc.

So the algorithms then use their search results to give you their suggestion(s) of what most closely resembles the organism you are trying to identify. Some give you one answer; others, like iNaturalist, offer you a list to choose from, and may also qualify their response with "We're not sure, but these were found nearby" or something similar. The first one on the list is NOT always going to be the correct answer. However, the app doesn't have reasoning skills, and all it can do is play match-up and then produce suggestions based on that. (Yes, other iNaturalist users can come along and comment on your observations once you've uploaded and saved them, but you always want to carefully assess their claims, too.)

There are several toxic mushrooms that are implicated in poisonings on a regular basis; among them are what I call the "deadly Amanitas": the death cap (Amanita phalloides) and the destroying angels (A. bisporigera, A. ocreata, and A. verna.) In addition to these species' respective native ranges in Europe and North America, some have managed to make their way to other parts of the world. This includes in Australia, where there is a current investigation underway over a woman who fed several family members deadly Amanitas, three of whom have died.

These poisonous mushrooms have several edible lookalikes. As one example, while matsutakes (Tricholoma matsutake) are often brown, they may sometimes appear white, especially if the brown layer has peeled off. And field mushrooms (Agaricus spp, especially A. bisporus and A. campestris) are also large white mushrooms, though their gills and spores tend to be brown rather than the white of Amanita species.

Still, someone taking a picture of a large white mushroom--especially if they neglect to take another picture of the gills (the more pictures you take, the better)--could easily end up with an app telling them an Amanita is an Agaricus. Or they might read that some people think it's safe to eat Amanita muscaria if you parboil it long enough, and assume that other Amanita species are the same way (one of MANY reasons I do not advocate for treating A. muscaria as an edible.)

So--again--DO NOT USE APPS AS YOUR ONLY ID TOOL. Use them in conjunction with multiple field guides, websites, other foragers, etc. Practice using these tools and developing a critical eye before you go out foraging. Be super cautious, and when in doubt, throw it out.

And my inbox is ALWAYS open, as is my email (rebeccathenaturalist(at)gmail(dot)com.) You can ALWAYS email me with questions about field guides, apps, and other resources, and I am also happy to look at pictures of mushrooms (and other living beings) you're trying to identify, whether edible or not. You might need to give me a few days to reply, but I will get back to you. Don't use ME as your only source, either; I'm just one person. But I can point you to online groups that are also good resources.

[rjalker]

just got this PM on iNaturalist:

I am deliriously crazy about your profile. You have made my day. As mother of a non-binary adult, I've read lots of people's stories but I can't remember every reading anything more eloquent. I can't wait to tell them about your participation in iNaturalist. I am also a vertebrate biologist with broad interests in biology.

Here's the part of my iNaturalist profile they're referring to:

And here's a link:

https://www.inaturalist.org/people/nonbinary-naturalist

here's the quote lol

Pronouns are it/its, I am autistic, aroace, and nonbinary :)

-What does it mean that my pronouns are it/its?

It means that when reffering to me, you should use "it" in place of "she" or "he", and "its" in place of "hers" or "his".

Here's an example:

"That's nonbinary-naturalist, it's the top identifier for small-flower pawpaws! It lives in Savannah, and is always taking pictures of birds and plants when it goes on walks or rides its bike!"

-What does nonbinary mean?

Nonbinary means not-binary. Binary means two, and in this case, the binary refers to the "gender binary" of "male/man" and "female/woman".

Someone who is nonbinary is transgender, but instead of "going from" one binary gender to the other (male to female, or female to male), they are instead a gender that isn't just male or female.

Nonbinary people can be no gender (sometimes called agender), both male and female, male or female and something else, constantly moving between genders, and anything and anywhere in between.

Anyone can be nonbinary, yes, even you reading this! There's no age limit for questioning your gender. If you don't feel that "man" or "woman" suit you, you can be nonbinary :)

I am nonbinary, and I am also aroace, otherwise known as aromantic and asexual.

-What do these words mean?

Asexual or ace = someone who doesn't experience sexual attraction, or only experiences it in specific circumstances, or very rarely. (This isn't the same thing as being celibate, which is when people /choose/ not to pursue sexual relationships, usually for religious reasons.)

Aromantic = someone who doesn't experience romantic attraction, or only experiences it in specific circumstances, or very rarely.

Aroace means you're both asexual and aromantic in some way, and for me, it means I never experience sexual or romantic attraction, nor do I want a relationship of any kind.

My orientation affects my gender identity, since I am not attracted to anyone and don't want anyone to be attracted to me.

So I like to describe my gender as being like a nonhumanoid alien who is visiting Earth for the first time, who is confused and alarmed by humans flirting with it.

My icon is a flower with a wasp on it in the colors of the aroace flag (orange, yellow, white, light blue, navy blue), and the flower petals in the colors of the xiqyne flag, which is the name I gave the way I describe my gender.

This is known as a "xenogender", or a gender that is described using metaphors or comparisons, rather than just "I'm male" or "I'm female". The xiqyne flag colors are dark magenta, magenta, sky blue, ice blue, pale green, and pale yellow. Xenogenders can be about just the way you describe your gender, or, like mine, they can combine your orientation with your gender to show a better picture of your experiences.

If you haven't heard of iNaturalist before, it's a website (and mobile app, but the site works much better than the app since they don't have a lot of funding) where anyone--yes, including you, person who only has the camera on their phone!!--can post pictures or sound recordings of any plants, animals, or mushrooms they find!

The "observations" as they are called help not only the people in your community learn what species are nearby, the site is used for research by scientists all over the planet to track species and their behavior!

Just the other day someone in south africa helped me identify a flower that's native to north america, but invasive where they live!

You can upload pictures at any time, as long as you now approximately when and where they were taken. So if you've got pictures from decades ago, but you know when and where they were taken, you can still upload them, and they'll help keep track of where the species were years ago!

It's all completely free, and super fun if you want to learn about what species are in your local ecosystem, or if you just enjoy taking pictures :)

[canorouscepaea]

about me:

wowowow finally making this blog! lets get our intros out of the way shall we? lets do it

* main interests and posts on here are gonna be about nature and biology as that is one of my favorite hobbies

* ive always been a nature person and i really care about conservation but also just connecting to the outdoors and all the wonderful species we as humans share a home with

* i own a crested gecko named apollo, two fish (a molly and a platy), and an african dwarf frog, all of whom i love very much :)

* i want to make this blog about critters i find myself on a daily basis in the north eastern US but will probably reblog cool things about biology from other blogs from time to time i havent quite decided yet

* i use the app Seek to help me identify organisms in nature! it’s by a company called iNaturalist and is pretty accurate with its identification. i’m not an entomologist or biologist (i’m a neuroscience major haha) so this is super helpful to me

* idk i cant think of anything else to say lol im a full time student and make this blog to give me something to look forward to in life but also i hope to inspire at least one person to appreciate nature a lil more >:)

* this blog is also a safe place for those of all races, genders, sexualities, and what have you. i like to believe im an activist in my real life community but that isnt what this blog will be dedicated to

* if you want my twitter is @/troglo_dyke (haha) and my spotify is .katydid. (like the bug :3)

[jrenvs3000]

Personal Ethic as a Nature Interpreter

Here we are, delving into our last blog posts of the semester! I have truly appreciated this course for so many reasons. Sharing perspectives and ideas about nature interpretation and the beauty of this marvelous planet with my classmates has really inspired me. It has been exciting to read about all of our unique experiences and I do feel as though it has allowed me to view aspects of nature in new ways.

In order to describe my personal ethic as a nature interpreter, I must start out by stating my core personal ethics that I carry with me in my daily life. These are as follows: compassion, empathy, kindness, honesty, dedication, respect, responsibility and fairness. These are the values I actively strive to  live by every day, and certainly try to bring forth into my role as a nature interpreter. As a wildlife biology and conservation major at the University of Guelph, some of my greatest love and passion is found within nature. I have a strong desire to learn all I can about the animals and plants with whom we share this planet, and in doing so I hope to play a significant role in environmental sustainability and education. 

I believe that we as humans have a profound responsibility of preserving and honouring the creatures we share the earth with. Nature is their home, and though we all enjoy its beauty, it is essential that we take our knowledge as nature interpreters to do our absolute best to care for it. I have always had a great deal of empathy for wildlife, from little bugs to majestic eagles. I also love plants, and I feel connected to nature each time I am out in the world and take the time to look around at the world of greenery around me. I love using plant identification apps on my phone to learn about new species and share this information on the apps so more people can learn of the whereabouts of these species! It is so incredible to bring people together through a love of nature. The same goes for birdwatching, which is another activity I really love. I love tagging the location of birds I see in nature so it can provide data for others to share. In case anyone is interested, I really enjoy “Seek” by iNaturalist for plant identification, and Merlin Bird ID from Cornell Lab of Ornithology for birdwatching. It is always exciting to hear a familiar call of a favourite bird when out enjoying nature, and sharing this information with people who are with you. 

The Black-Capped Chickadee (30 seconds)

(A 30 sec clip of a black-capped chickadee from Hinterland Who’s Who- you can learn so much in half a minute!)

Reviewing the main questions continually asked throughout this course, I believe it is relevant now to answer them on a personal note.

Who am I as an interpreter? 

I am an advocate for wildlife, their habitats and trying to bridge a connection between nature and humans in order to create a better world.

 2. Who is my audience? 

My audience is people of all ages who can contribute in a meaningful way to wildlife and their environment. As mentioned in the course, kids always seem like the most impactful audience because the influence we can have when they are young and learning about the world can stay with them for the rest of their lives. 

“Whether you introduce a child to a pileated woodpecker, you provide tools to allow them to make safe decisions when on a hike with friends, or something else, you are offering a spark to be fanned and developed” (Hooykaas, A., 2021

3. How can I make this experience meaningful? 

My experience as a nature interpreter, as a steward of the earth, can be made meaningful by making connections with others. In forming connections with other people and educating each other, holding each other accountable, and speaking for the voiceless (ie; nature), this experience can be extraordinarily meaningful. 

I feel a great deal of responsibility in my role as a nature interpreter. As a young woman who is incredibly passionate about our natural world, I know  my education is a privilege and a tool in my belt that can be used to connect people to nature. It is a circle, the importance of wildlife to people and vice versa. Humans take comfort in nature in order to recharge, whether that be out birdwatching, hiking, or canoeing. On some level, we all take comfort in nature and amongst our beautiful wildlife. However, wildlife really depend on us to ensure their survival based on how we value them and their habitats, which we coexist in. Wild animals are so important to us, not only on an emotional level, but their wellbeing is also a direct correlation to the health of our ecosystems and even our economy (Hinterland, n.d). Education is power, and the responsibility of teaching fellow Canadians about our natural world is one I am more than happy to take on. 

Hinterland Who’s Who from the Canadian Wildlife Federation, courtesy of Environment and Climate Change Canada has an incredibly informative website regarding the importance of wildlife, and I will include it in my citations for anyone who is interested to read!

Some statistics from this particular page made me a little bit emotional. As we all know, working and studying in the field of nature interpretation, can be very daunting and sometimes feel hopeless. When we are constantly bombarded with news of environmental destruction and loss, it feels like we are fighting a losing battle. However, I will share these statistics in this blog post so at a glance it may lift your spirits a bit to see just how many Canadians truly care about our natural world!

-14.5 million Canadians (70 percent of the population) participated in wildlife-related activities around their residence or cottage. These activities included feeding, watching, studying, or photographing wildlife. Some 6.6 million people put out special feed for wildlife.

-3.9 million people made trips or outings whose primary purpose was to enjoy wildlife.

-1.9 million Canadians belonged or contributed to wildlife organizations.

-17.7 million Canadians (85 percent of the population) took part in activities such as watching wildlife films or television programs, reading wildlife books or magazines, visiting game farms, zoos, aquariums, or natural history museums, or purchasing wildlife art, crafts, or posters.

(Statistics Canada, on behalf of the Canadian Wildlife Federation)

As I have come to realize, the approaches to nature interpretation that are most suitable to me are those that are hands on and directly helpful to nature. Throughout my hopefully very long career in wildlife research and conservation, I plan on learning more about our beautiful natural world and making it a better place.

A final note, I want to thank everyone so much for a great course! I feel like I have learned so much about myself and others and my perspective of nature interpretation has broadened so much. 

Citations

1. Seek by inaturalist · inaturalist. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app

2. Hinterland who's who - benefits of wildlife. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.hww.ca/en/issues-and-topics/benefits-of-wildlife.html#:~:text=Wildlife%20is%20important%20to%20natural%20processes&text=These%20ecological%20processes%20are%20essential,and%20by%20preventing%20waste%20accumulation.

3. Merlin Bird ID. (n.d.). Home page. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

4. HinterlandWW. (2010, March 23). The Black-Capped chickadee (30 seconds). Retrieved March 29, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjl9MUojYzY&t=30s

[galacticbugman]

National Moth Week 2019 Part One

I do a lot of moth nights each year with some of my naturalist friends. This was my third year participating in the National Moth week activities. Mothing is really fun to do. All you do is put out a UV or some other light that has different wave lengths than regular household lights and a white sheet or a mesh netting and see what you can find. National Moth Week is not all about moths it is all about the nocturnal world when most of us are asleep in our beds. It is a celebration of the creatures of the night. Here are a few that I photographed during this years NMW. 

First up is the Sad Underwing Moth. I saw this species about four times. This one was found in broad daylight though. This one was at Elmer W. Oliver Nature Park on a tree. I was volunteering with a bunch of others during a kids science camp. The two in the back pointed it out and I just happened to have my camera on me. I took a few shots just to add it to my favorite app and site called iNaturalist which is a sight I use to keep track of all my nature observations. These guys are pretty hard to see sometimes. You can easily walk right past them. They sit on the side of a tree and it can take you several seconds to see it. If you know what to look for you can see them all over once your mind adjusts. For first time spotters it can be a little trickster. This species loves to suck down to the tree and say hidden leaving very little shadow so predators wont nab it for a snack. This moth species is about two to three inches in length and is one of my favorites in the Underwing family. 

I went to Twelve Hills Nature center in Dallas for one of our events and even though it was not a moth it was still a pretty cool observation. Here we have a Yellow and Black Garden Spider. These are one of the better known spiders that in most cases can be picked out of a line up. They are very large spiders and make very beautiful webs. The spiders you see on the webs are always females. The males are very tiny you can barely see them. That happens in a lot of the orbweavers and other spider species. This spider also makes an elaborate zigzag pattern called a stabilimentum. This is seen a little here in this photos. We are not too sure what this structure is used for. It is just something that a lot of spiders in the genus Argiope do. These are so cool to look at. I almost didn’t see the web until I was called to see it. 

One of the many insects we had come up to our light traps was this Eight-spotted Flea Beetles. I have been trying to get a good photograph of one of these for a long time. They have always seemed to escape me every time I see one. They are one of the many leaf beetles we have in Texas. This one is one of the larger ones. It is dark with some red and little white dots on the wing coverts. It will eat a lot in a garden and is considered an agricultural pest. 

One of the coolest beetles we found during one of the three moth nights for the week was this guy. This is known as the Fiery Searcher. Some of you may have seen it on one of my other posts around the City Nature Challenge time. These guys are one of my favorite beetles. They are swift and always hungry. They specialize in eating caterpillars. They are a pretty large beetle and when angered they will release a highly pungent odor that will throw you for a loop. They can also deliver a very painful bite if miss handled. Probably not enough to break the skin but it can hurt for a good while so I am told. I have been lucky not to have been bitten but as they say their is a first time for everything. It is just one of those occupational hazards we have to face from time to time. 

 Another cool beetle we saw during National Moth Week. This one is in the Genus Mallodon and is known as the Hardwood-stump Borer Beetle. This guy is almost as big as the Fiery Searcher and has a mighty set of jaws of its own. That yellow stuff you see is some kind of fuzz that it has. This is the first time I have observed this beetle. This monster gets pretty larger and it was kind of daunting to get it into a petri dish to better observe it closer. Petri Dishes come in handy when you do insect photography for science purposes. It holds them in and you can get closer shots in the clear plastic. It is just one of those things I picked up along the way during my time as a naturalist. This guy is one heck of a beetle I will tell you that. I think it may just be one of my new favorites all because of its cool Genus name. Mallodon sounds so much like something from a space adventure show. 

A cool flying beast we saw at the Parr Park National Moth Week night in Grapevine. This sucker is known as an Eastern Dobsonfly. This guy was one that was on the rocks near one of our more powerful set ups. This is a female for it has small stubbier jaws. The males have much larger ones that overlap when at rest. This thing can get up to four inches. It has two pairs of wings which overlap and in the good light they almost look plastic. The larva to this insect is called a Hellgramite. These flies are used often by fly fishers. The Fishfly is a close relative of these guys. This thing if not handled right will also bite and can break skin. This one was picked up out of harms way and almost bit one of my friends. It can swivel its head in many directions so it is constantly on the alert from predators. 

Another beetle that looks like the Fiery Searcher. It is very closely related and is in the same line. This guy is called the Black Caterpillar Hunter. It is almost the same size as the Fiery Searcher. This guy is one heck of a beetle. A few of my friends found this guy halfway up a tree when they spotted him. They called me over and I took this shot. This was taken at Parr Park in Grapevine Texas. This is one of my favorite shots. Just look at all the grooves in the wing coverts. This is a very cool predator. I really enjoy mothing and looking for the animals of the night. You see some of the wildest things at night. 

One of the deadlier observations on my list of highlights was this Southern Black-widow. This is the first one I have seen that has that infamous red hourglass on the underside of its body. We made it with out anyone getting bitten which was a good thing. We were all very careful to not disturb it. She was just minding her own waiting for something to walk into her web trap. She was an absolutely beautiful spider. I really enjoy photographing spiders and other arachnids. The funny thing is I used to hate arachnids but after a while of being a naturalist and hiking among them I started to see them in a new light. I saw that they were devoted parents and sophisticated web artists. They are very amazing and some are so beautiful. Strange some maybe but they are just doing what they have to, to survive in the wild. This little thing was really cool. I have now observed two Southern Black Widows. 

Here is one I found on my friend’s truck that he was using for the moth night at the Heard Museum. This right here is the Carolina Mantis. Some of you may have seen this species in an older post. This is a female. Males and females are sexually dimorphic. That means that one gender is one color and the other is another color. In this case the female is much browner and the males are much greener. This thing was hoping to snag a moth or something. Sometimes the mothing lights can be a great place to hunt. When a lot of insects gather it is fair game. Predators are just as attracted to the lights we moth-ers put out. You never quite know what might turn up during one of the events. It is a lot of fun to observe all the creatures that come up to the light traps. It is equally fun to photograph them and post them and share them to your friends. I have been sharing my stuff ever since I became an amateur photographer. I love doing these kinds of things as a volunteer for many nature parks. I really enjoy what I do. I am going to school for photography among other things. So next time we will visit some more creepy crawlies of the night. Until next time I am Zachary AKA Galactic_Bug_Man and I will see you on the trail. Live long and prosper.  

[nanonaturalist]

Yo! I’m an Anthropology student but I’m super fascinated with entomology n’ the like. Any tips for how to self study entomology/get started? How did you become the bug lover you are today?

Sup! I am a HUGE animal lover. Like, I don’t think you understand how much I love animals. Back when google image search was this crazy new thing, I would google things like “puffer fish” and literally start crying from how cute and precious they were. I don’t remember ever not liking bugs. I was bringing in caterpillars when my age was single digits, which I named and kept in shoe boxes, and who would invariably wander out and make a random cocoon somewhere.

STORY TIME! (what? you wanted a short answer? Sorry!)

… (actually check out this post from a while back [link] about tips for getting started, it was written for a high school student but most of the things I mention are good for all ages)…

Thing is, this was the point in history when you needed to use a card catalog to look a book up in the library. No idea what I’m talking about? That’s how long ago this was. If there was a book about bugs in the school book order form, I would ask for it (and sometimes I’d get one), but that was the full extent of my knowledge pool for things that we weren’t directly taught about in school. In 4th grade, we had a unit on marine animals (with the most amazing field trip on a research boat ever, omg the scuba divers brought up things for us to touch, and we got to look at plankton in the microscope eeeeeee!), and it was like I was reborn. I memorized everything we learned, including the taxonomy of cnidaria (jellies, anemones, corals) and strange eating habits of echinoderms (starfish, urchins). I got REAL into this stuff, to the point where 4 years later, I told anybody who asked me that when I grew up, I was going to get a PhD in Marine Biology.

There was just one problem. You can’t get a degree in any kind of animal biology without doing dissections or killing things. Remember, I’m an animal Lover with a capital L. I wanted to be a vegetarian starting at age 4 (parents said no, but I picked meat out of everything until I made it official at 12). So I gave up on biology real quick. Flash forward about ten years to 2006. I had graduated from college (with a psychology degree that cost me $70,000), was working soul-sucking jobs, and needed a hobby. But wait, DIGITAL CAMERAS ARE A THING! WOW! So I picked up “crappy nature photography” as a hobby. And what did I take pictures of with my First Ever Digital Camera when I bought one that summer?

I found this longhorn beetle on the hood of my car at a rest stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Missouri. But back in 2006… What are you going to do with pictures of bugs when you have no background in biology? I posted some on LiveJournal, and that was that. What kind of bug was it? I couldn’t even tell you that it was a beetle at that point. And when I was going through my old photos more recently, I couldn’t even remember seeing it.

I still took photos of basically everything I saw, but nothing ever really happened with them.

Who are these? At the time (photos are from 2006 to 2009), the most I could have told you was “dragonfly, wasp, spider, caddisfly larva.” Which is pretty good, I guess, but I didn’t even realize how much diversity I was missing out on by not going any deeper. 

Me + Slugs: Left - Banana Slug in Redwood National Forest, CA (2008); Center and Right - Chocolate Arion Slug at my apartment in Redmond, WA (2006)

Time passes, nature photos are taken. I will take photos of any bug I see, but I don’t intentionally seek them out and I never know what any of them are. Now flash forward to 2013, when I moved from Seattle, WA to Austin, TX. 

My mind was blown. The bugs were huge, strange, and EVERYWHERE. I NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT THEY WERE! But… It was still hard. At this point, looking things up on the internet was just what you did, but … what was I supposed to look up? “Giant screaming thing in my potted plant that looks like a leaf?” “Pile of handsnails?” I took pictures, shared them on Facebook (nobody used Livejournal anymore!), and went about my day. 

At this point, I had gone back to college to study engineering (I moved to Austin for grad school), and somehow ended up watching a lot of youtube. SciShow got me onto VlogBrothers, which got me onto The Brain Scoop (@thebrainscoop), which got me onto tumblr *waves*. And I was thinking some hard thoughts about what I actually wanted to do when I grew up because I was tired of soul-sucking jobs. Hey, I love museums (that’s actually where most of my science knowledge came from), so I started thinking about careers in science museums, and I followed UT’s collection page on Facebook. One day in 2015, they shared an event for a Bioblitz, sponsored by several groups associated with UT and Texas Parks and Wildlfie. What’s a Bioblitz? I had no idea. So I clicked. 

Basically, you take as many pictures of living things as you can. There were subject matter experts who would lead you on hikes and tell you what things were and how you can tell them apart (WAIT, WHAT?!?). The event required that you download this new nature app called iNaturalist (@inaturalist), which is where you would post the photos you took. With the data you posted from the app, other users of the website would identify your photos, and the state park we were at would use that data to create species checklists to track what occurred there. Your iNat account kept a permanent log of all of your observations. I tend to be extremely skeptical/resistant to new technologies and being told to do things, so at first I wanted to know what was wrong with the way I took photos NOW, I didn’t need some stupid website telling me what to do.

But then I started testing it out before the event.

Two of my first iNat observations (both butterflies). Left: Henry’s Elfin caterpillar; Right: American Lady butterfly. Links to iNat observations.

I had no idea where to start with identifying either of these, and the Henry’s Elfin caterpillar took me a few years to ID myself. But the American Lady? People told me what it was within hours of me posting it. Within hours.

About a week later, the Bioblitz happened. It was perfect. For the first time in my life, I was surrounded by people who were just like me. They wanted to go on long slow walks through nature, turning over logs and walking directly into ponds and poking at insects, all while taking photos of things and identifying them. I was spending the weekend with real life biologists and I was learning everything I could. And the things I saw?

HOLY CARP. Texas has dung beetles?! (top left) Parasitic wasps REALLY DO THAT? (braconid wasp cocoons on inchworm caterpillar, top right) Diving beetles?! (water scavenger beetle, bottom left) Giant fishing spiders?! (bottom right)

This event was the moment I “got started” with entomology. I regularly used iNaturalist, and in the process of trying to identify my observations with BugGuide.net [link], I quickly began to learn some of the “basics.” For example, stink bugs are a thing. So are green lacewings. And there are a LOT more kinds of spiders than orbweavers and wolf spiders (who knew?). I was so smitten with iNaturalist that I professed my love for all to read on tumblr [link] (all being… 3 people?). I used iNaturalist regularly, but still, unless I was on a bioblitz, I didn’t seek things out. I mentioned I was a grad student, right?

Then 2016 rolls around. I’ve had enough of school and drop master out of my program. I get a Real Engineering Job and Buy a House with a Yard. I started my new job when I was finishing up my thesis (probably not the best idea…) and so my back yard took on a life of its own. By the time I had finished my thesis, the grass was hip height, and the HOA had no rules about what my back yard had to look like, so I just never mowed it. And the bugs… oh man, the bugs. The bugs were good. By January 2017, I was getting more confident in my Bug Knowledge, and I was using iNaturalist every week. I had joined clubs centered around nature (Texas Master Naturalists and Travis Audubon). I signed up for a birding trip in Malawi. Then in April, I found a pile of butterfly eggs and a chrysalis. And the guy leading the Malawi trip (one of the directors at Travis Audubon) asked me to do an insect table at their outreach event. Then City Nature Challenge 2017 happened (and I am *very* competitive). And… uh… I guess I just never looked back?

The thing to remember here is: the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. What I love about iNaturalist is that I can create a time capsule showing what I did and didn’t know at the time. And what I didn’t know is… really amazing. I taught the entomology class for my Master Naturalist chapter’s training course this year, and I told the people in the class that one year ago, I didn’t know any of the things I was going to talk to them about. I know it sounds like I’m putting on a commercial for iNaturalist (which is actually exactly what I’m doing, I love that website), but besides the curiosity about nature that I had to begin with, iNaturalist is the single most important thing that has enabled me to nurture and grow my love for our invertebrate friends.

Through my use of iNaturalist, I have met real people and made real friendships. Many of the people I meet are professionally biologists, but there are just as many randos like me who crawled out of the internet to hang out with nature freaks. One of the great things about this community is there is no elitism, and even professional entomologists are just as willing to admit they have no idea what something is and will listen to me explain what I know, as they are to explain something I don’t know and answer my questions. The people I have met are absolutely awesome, and the general attitude people on iNat (online and in person) tend to have has really rubbed off on me. If someone I’m talking to doesn’t know something that tends to be commonly known (example: my coworker is a gardener, but hadn’t heard about the ant/aphid relationship), oh boy, it’s awesome, let me TELL YOU about ANTS fighting off PREDATORS so they can DRINK APHID PEE!!!

Above: Crematogaster ants farming keeled treehopper nymphs on sunflower SO THEY CAN DRINK THEIR PEE

One of the best things you can do to get more into entomology is to just be observant. Look. Notice patterns. Pay attention to relationships between “higher” and “lower” organisms. When you travel, look there too. What is different from home? What’s similar?

The other best thing: meet people. Find groups/clubs for people into nature. Go on hikes with entomologists. Go to “nature days” events (these are always geared towards kids, but ADULTS ARE WELCOME!). A lot of nature clubs and organizations are heavy on the retiree demographic, which means the meetings may not be easy to learn about online. I actually joined the Austin Butterfly Forum after hearing about it from the people I was sitting next to at a Travis Audubon event (Victor Emanuel’s autobiography had just published and he kicked off his book tour with a live interview in Austin), and I’ve met several new friends through ABF. 

I don’t even know how to explain it, but naturalists are a totally different flavor than any other person I’ve known. It’s like, there are other people who would rather be crawling through the swamp in 105°F weather for 8 hours straight than sit and watch TV? There are other people who will skip two meals and stay up until 2 am to get really good bug pictures? I mean, I can’t describe what it feels like to be slowly picking through the deserts of west Texas with 15 other people, when one of them yells, “SNAKE!” and suddenly EVERYBODY RUNS TOWARDS THE SNAKE AND IMPATIENTLY WAITS THEIR TURN TO HOLD HIM. 

I know this is long and maybe not entirely what you were expecting, @marichuu, but want to make sure that anybody reading this knows that if you like nature, even if you don’t know very much about it now, there are a ton of people like me and those weirdos up there who are so excited to share the world with you that you can’t even imagine it now. Want to stay online because you’re nervous about meeting new people? That’s great! Tons of us are online! But if you’re ready to put yourself out there and meet people in person, chances are, they’re awesome and will love answering your questions (and if they’re not awesome tell me and I’ll YELL AT THEM FOR YOU YOU DESERVE BETTER). 

Anyway. Bugs are awesome and I hope they think you are just as awesome. Also anthropology is super neat and there’s a lot of intersections with entomology [link] that you can look at from an interesting angle.

Posted June 4, 2018

[rjzimmerman]

DNA sleuthing in the desert

On Friday, I posted a story about a science project in which I would participate on Saturday. OK, it happened, and it was exhausting but a lot of fun. I was one of five leaders of a group of about 22 citizen scientists working on the CALeDNA project. The purpose of the project: take soil samples in designated spots throughout California, in this case in the desert, to analyze the thousands of strands of DNA found in the soil to learn which plants, animals, fungi, birds, bacteria and so on inhabit the site or have in the past inhabited the site. Soil health, soil diversity, determining what will happen to all these plants and critters as the climate changes, to study the effects of human intervention in the study areas, to learn more about the desert, and so on.

Anyway.....in the morning we did serious bushwhacking over an area with no trails. My group was about six volunteers. Although we had a GPS coordinate and tablets and apps, we really relied mostly on following landmarks to get to an oasis in the desert, so we followed washes and ridges, and there we were. And we took samples.......one inch of soil in a test tube should tell the scientists a whole bunch of stories.

So, here are some photos of my companions doing their work. The guy with the phone......not calling home. Jacob was entering data into the iNaturalist app to describe the site from which his group was yanking out soil. Also, some photos of the landscape in which we were working.....beautiful joshua tree, pinon pine, juniper forests (yes, those are what deserts call forests).

And the other element to note: look at the youth of the citizen scientists. Makes me feel so good to so many young adults interested in studying the environment, contributing to our knowledge base, particularly in this notable anti-science era of trump.

(PS, we tried to go to Pappy + Harriet’s after we were done, but were told that it would be at least 2 hours for a group of our size. The groups Curls, and then Willows and finally Cults were playing, so it was crowded. So, no go.)

[ndowne]

Behind me are dozens of California Sea Lions. I’m in San Francisco opposite the famous pier 39 where for over 30 years this floating marina has been the batchelor pad home to nearly 600 Male and juvenile sea lions. You may be wondering why I’m wearing a tiny hat, well I’ve come to wish Happy Birthday to half of them! That’s right, 50% of all California Sea Lions are born today, on June 15th, and the rest are mostly born this week! The marina here is a lot emptier than usual because at this time of year, the males have left to patrol the breeding grounds on islands off the coast of southern California. They are hoping to mate with the females just a couple of weeks after they last gave birth. The female sea lions carry their babies for 9 months, but after mating, they can delay implantation of the embryo for up to 3 months. Scientists believe they use the length of day to trigger their coordinated delayed implantation. That's why they all share the same birthday! You can find California Sea Lions from Alaska all the way down to Mexico and along the gulf of California, and with such a wide geographical range, this tightly synchronised breeding increases the likelihood that they’ll all be in the same place at the same time. You can see here that the larger ones have tufty blond hairdos, these are the older males, their head gets lighter and their skull more pronounced as they get older. The males can weigh up to 1000lb and can move up to 5mph on land, they are smart but can be dangerous so you don’t want to get too close. A question I get asked a lot is how do you tell the difference between seals and sea lions, the easiest way to remember is that seals are like sausages with tiny wings, whereas Sea Lions have long flippers they can sit up and run on, they also have cute little sticky out ears compared to the seal’s ear holes, so just remember, seal sausages don’t have ears! Like a lot of marine animals, Sea Lions are suffering from malnutrition due to the effects of our over fishing and harmful fishing practices. One thing you can do to help our flippered friends is to ask some questions when you are buying seafood is to ask not only what type of fish it is, but also where it is from, and how it was fished. The Monterey bay aquarium has a great app called “seafood watch“ than can help you make responsible decisions, together, if we all ask these questions, we will spread the word that we care about sustainable seafood and saving the rich tapestry of marine life like these wonderful sea lions. Shown in video: * Range map via iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&taxon_id=41740 * Seafood watch guide by Monterey Bay Aquarium https://www.seafoodwatch.org Sources: * https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/education/marine-mammal-information/pinnipeds/california-sea-lion/ * https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/education/pinnipeds/california.php * https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/education/april-fools-day/when-are-california-sea-lion-pups-born.html * https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_sea_lion * https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/about-us/News-Room/2015-news-archives/sea-lion-crisis.html

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Today!  Today is Arbor Day, May 22.  Celebrate!!!

For our virtual Arbor Day activity today is to consider your unique story.  (besides planting trees privately at your home 😉

Consider the many ways in which trees have impacted your life, besides supplying life giving oxygen for you to breathe, and purifying the air.

Your story adventure could be happiness is strolling through the forest with your puppy.

Or perhaps you story will be sinking your teeth into a juicy apple, or some yummy Saskatoon berries fresh from the tree.  Have you found the Saskatoons and apple tree at the afforestation area yet?

Another great story may be the willow catkins you find which herald that spring arrives alongside the arrival of Robin and Meadowlark.

Another great forest story may be the time hiking through the woods and you discover deer or rabbit, fawn or duckling.  Did you know many ducks nest on the ground, so be careful with your puppies in the spring nesting season.

There is so much to be grateful to forests about.

What is your story about why trees and forests are special to you?

There are three amazing ways you can show your appreciation for the afforestation areas:

1) Download theiNaturalist app on your smart phone, and take pictures of the plants and animals.  This shows the amazing value of the forests, and is a wonderful way to increase your love of the forests as it increases your observation skills to the wonders which about in nature.

2) Support the 2020 Green Vision master plan. If you are unable to make a financial gift during these weird crazy, and uncertain times, please know that there are many ways you can help. You can advocate for us by sharing our vision and our purpose with a family member or friend. Even a quick mention or a share on your social media would be every so awesome.

3) The other thing is that with SARCAN closed right now, we can pick up your bottles and recycling on our virtual bottle drive.   We cannot come to you door to door, but if you call us, we can arrange a safe pick up, and it is a win-win! So many are taking part in COVID-19 cleanups around their home and yard, and what a better time to save the environment, and recycle safely and remove the stinky piles and piles of bottles, while saving the afforestation area too for students, and classrooms, and endangered species!!!  Wow!  We are so close to installation of Jersey Barriers, with just a little more fundraising, we can level the ground under them!! Can you help, please?

Thank you for however you appreciate forests and trees, and the habitat they provide for all kinds of animals, and forbes.

And, here is another free arbor day pdf file for download!

Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE, Hon. LL.D. F.I.A.L., For.Dip.Cantab., ACF

Earth Day April 22, 2020 tree planting

The Trembling Aspen is also referred to as the Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) May 25, 2019

“I am going to try to pay attention to the spring. I am going to look around at all the flowers, and look up at the hectic trees. I am going to close my eyes and listen.” — Anne Lamott

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area,  George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′ Addresses: Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Instagram: St.BarbeBaker

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers)

Canada Helps

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ***

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver. Martin Luther

“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful.”

Alice Walker

The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Arbor Day! Today!  Today is Arbor Day, May 22.  Celebrate!!! For our virtual Arbor Day activity today is to consider your unique story. 

[dansnaturepictures]

20/07/2021-Birds, butterflies, dragonflies, moths and flowers at home and Lakeside 

On another hot day I believe I heard the Greylag Geese flying over out the back this morning again as I worked, they seem to have a fairly regular morning and evening flight path past the house these days. I took the first six pictures in this photoset on my lunch time walk today of a white clover dominated view on the green out the front on the way to Lakeside with this flower carpeting the place as I said recently, a commonly photographed by me view at Lakeside looking down to the steam railway station from the north east kissing gate entrance, some lovely agrimony along the northern path, two more views and one of the group of cattle close to the fence in the southern fenced off nature reserve area I tweeted another picture of another on Dans_Pictures tonight. 

Going along the northern path a little way and the central path between the two fenced off nature reserve areas I enjoyed doing another Big Butterfly Count. Meadow Browns dominated again with fifteen seen in the fifteen minutes just like yesterday lunch time, Small White which had tied it yesterday second again with ten and Marbled White and Ringlet continued their good starts to the count two species I am relieved to get in always as their seasons can fade during the three weeks of Big Butterfly Count with four and two seen respectively. There was one Gatekeeper too and five Small Skippers I saw about during the time a species not within the Big Butterfly Count but I am enjoying keeping a tally of them out of interest too as I see them with some of the Big Butterfly Count target species. I got some exceptional views of Marbled White and there was one moment that stood out with two Meadow Browns flying around and battling each other. One of a few really good views of this delightful light and dark brown with splash of orange butterfly and I had that moment I can tend to in Big Butterfly Count every year when I am stunned by the amount of Meadow Browns around it feels they are so plentiful and it was great to reflect on that not too far from where we saw our first ever Meadow Brown (in the southern fenced off area) eleven years ago. Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites especially had led me to want to do a count down this central path I don’t know if I did any here during the many at Lakeside last year as I had seen a lot of butterflies around here and for maybe a more thoroughfare type part of the park it has a great deal of butterflies around. 

Dragonflies paraded around again here in the form of Black-tailed Skimmer and Emperor. I did also see some more great flowers on the walk today, both a clock and yellow dandelion together on the green out the front before getting into Lakeside, similar for thistle inside Lakeside, bird’s-foot trefoil, carrot exactly a month after first learning this one at South Stack in Anglesey I can’t believe a month has passed since that amazing Anglesey holiday already and two nice glowing yellow ones silverweed and my first common fleabane of the year one I did enjoy last year here and took a memorable photo of in 2020. Nearly a year on from having the PlantNet ID app suggested by a kind Twitter friend and downloading it and the revolution in my hobby it sparked I reflected this morning about how good it feels and how it opens up a whole new section of the natural world being able to know so many flowers when I walk around now and the knowledge this year after last has grown and grown which I didn’t have to this whilst not perfect increased level a year ago. I do enjoy finding out what they’re called for ones I don’t know too with some quirky names at times.

The sun had gone behind a thicker cloud than had been around for a few days momentarily on the walk but on the northern path before coming down it was quite invigorating to see bits of sun start to kiss the path gradually and as though the landscape awoke. Going from slightly overcast to the sun being out I lapped up chances for photos I maybe wouldn’t have looked twice at taking if the sun had been out when I arrived such is the shift in appearance the sun emerging lighting it up bit by bit tends to bring about. Whilst obviously I am happy to take pictures of beautiful views on darker days and in bright sunshine all the way through I’m never short of inspiration. 

I reached beach lake and a very large group of House Martins and Swifts were flying around over the water, quite low at times a sight I have loved enjoying so much this year here and been so lucky to. On the way home I enjoyed another Marbled White on the green areas out the front this one literally outside the house the closest I’d ever seen to home before so this was special with one of my favourite butterflies like moments I had with Small Copper, Orange Tip and Clouded Yellow last year and Small Skipper recently as well. 

I took the seventh and eigth pictures in this photoset of a tree out the back looking stunning in the evening light and the waxing gibbous moon in the light out the front. It was a perfect summer’s evening especially in the heat and bright sunlight. And as I had hoped would happen with windows left open and lights on after sunset during the heatwave to try and keep cool moths had come in. Firstly the one in the ninth picture in this photoset that must have come in last night as it was in the living room mid-evening the Rosy Tabby a sweet little oaky brown looking moth. Later in the evening, after taking the tenth and final picture in this photoset of a sky scene around sunset, a Long-legged Tabby another pretty looking one came in. Moths are very much like flowers something I want to build my knowledge on more and I have been looking for an app to do what PlantNet does but for moths for a while so that I am not relying too much on other’s knowledge on Twitter especially the brilliant, dedicated and very useful MothIDUK account which so much hard work goes into (of which I will still query moths with in future still I’m sure!) and tonight I re-downloaded another I had suggested by someone on Twitter last year, the iNaturalist Seek app. On a brief go with it last year I didn’t have much success for it but it seemed really good for identifying these moths tonight and was accurate. It the photo is not clear enough it can say which family group its in so in a world like flowers compared to birds and butterflies etc where idea of the family group is enough for me this should work well. It can be used for just about any wildlife also. And so a new revolution in my hobby begins? I hope so, but tonight it just feels good to be really sharing the house with moths for a little bit lately as we head into the peak season for them coming in. I do find moths so varying and fascinating with how many there are and all the shapes and sizes they come in. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first ever Rosy Tabby and Long-legged Tabby moths, one of my favourite butterflies the Marbled White, two of my favourite dragonflies the Keeled Skimmer and Emperor, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small Skipper, Small White, Swift, House Martin, House Sparrow, Starling, Jackdaw, Herring Gull well, Lesser Black-backed Gull on a street light especially which was nice out the front tonight, Black-headed Gull, Greylag Goose and more interesting insects in the house tonight.

[ntrending]

Kids can be citizen scientists, too—here's how

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/kids-can-be-citizen-scientists-too-heres-how/

Kids can be citizen scientists, too—here's how

Jennifer Fee remembers well the day the 100 millionth observation rolled in on eBird. It was the summer of 2012, and the birding app had been in use for a decade. In that time, citizen scientists from around the world had submitted 99,999,999 photos, sound clips, and geographic tags for the birds they saw in real life. Those observations had been used by the app’s creators, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ornithology means “study of birds”) and the Audubon Society, to guide conservation and inform new research.

When the 100 millionth observation finally arrived, Fee says, everyone thought it would be a big-time birder or well-known scientist making the numerically-noteworthy contribution.

“It ended up [being] a 12-year-old boy,” she says.

Liron Gertsman of Vancouver, Canada had identified 24 species on a hike that day. His photo of an American Robin made eBird app history. “It was a great day to be in K-12 education,” says Fee, who works with teachers around the country to introduce assignments that focuses on outdoor observations and bring citizen science into the classroom. “That for me really illustrates that there are real people behind this [citizen science movement],” Fee says, “and some of them are youth.”

In the last decade alone, so-called citizen scientists (just regular people with an interest in the natural world) have recorded millions of observations through apps like eBird; collected soil samples for use in research and product development; discovered new pulsars; assisted NASA in its efforts to evaluate the potential of planetary nurseries; identified possible alien megastructures; discovered new species; and much more.

But people are often hesitant to get their citizen science careers started. There’s a whole big world of science to do. How do you even begin?

Follow your passions

Citizen science can be an opportunity to dive into a totally new universe. But, Fee says, it can help to follow your primary passions when you’re first starting out. If you love butterflies, find a butterfly-based project. After you get the hang of participating in these scientific endeavors, then you can expand to exploring the cosmos or tracking birds across the continent.

SciStarter is a great first step. The website brings together more than 1,600 research projects in a searchable database. You can look by research topic or ideal age group. If you follow the instructions, it’ll be only a matter of hours before you’re sending helpful new data to professional scientists around the world.

Get your friends involved

There’s a lot to be said for forging ahead into the unknown alone (or, better yet, with a trusted adult!). But Fee says citizen science is often most fun in a group of peers. That’s why she works with teachers across the country to make bird observation part of school science classes. You can organize an outing to a local nature preserve among your own friends, or you can ask your school leaders to consider making these activities part of the educational experience.

Use existing technology to your advantage

Whether you’re really young or really old, it’s likely that without formal scientific training, you won’t always trust your own data. Before he submitted that history-making 100 millionth observation, Gertsman may have asked himself, “Is that really a robin? And how can I tell if it’s an American robin or another thrush?” While skepticism is certainly an important part of the scientific process, it shouldn’t get in your way of participating.

These days, Fee says, there are many apps a budding citizen scientist can use to confirm their suspicions before hitting “submit.” For example, the iNaturalist app, which allows you to record everything in an ecosystem from a Western snakeroot (plant) to a snowy egret (bird), uses a neural network to suggest species you might be seeing.

It might be years before you’re in a lab, working as a professional scientist. But with initiative and a few digital resources, you could start your citizen science career today.

Written By Eleanor Cummins

[galacticbugman]

Colorado Trip Part 3: Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

In the Denver area there is a cool National Wildlife Refuge that I really like. Here you can find Black-tailed Prairie Dogs such as these guys. They are quite common here. You might also find Black-footed Ferrets which are an endangered species. You can find a plethora of wonderful creatures here more than just the ones listed. Let us check out some of these that I got on this part of my Colorado adventure. ROLL IT! 

Here is a shot I got at one of the intersections of the park close to the front. Here we have a female Mule Deer grazing in the grass. It was kind of fun to watch this creature feeding. She was kind of thin as you can see. You can almost count the ribs on this thing. She seemed to be pretty hungry. We took our leave of her after a few minutes of photographing but when we came back from taking the whole Auto tour we saw that she was still there at this same spot still feeding. If the feeding is good an animal will not leave that spot. Still a pretty deer. This is one of the coolest deer. They have very large ears and are much darker than White-tailed deer. These are just as common as the Elk but these guys live in the prairies and the foot hills of the Rockies. 

Here is a cool shot of a Red Fox that was located at the pond. This guy came up very quietly and was trying to hunt a mallard. He saw me and didn’t chance it and ran away back the way he came. This guy is not a native species to the Americas but is a European species that has since been introduced. Still this was a pretty animal. Again on the thin side of life. He was not at all what I expected. I was expecting kind of a “Fox and the Hound” kind of fox like Todd all bushy and thicker in the coat. Stands to reason it was summer so it wouldn’t want all that thick fur on its body. Still a pretty cool photo and one of my favorites that I got on the trip to Colorado. These guys are super quiet and don’t make much noise. Ever here the term “Sly as a Fox”? well it is not just a metaphor. These guys are pretty sneaky and very quiet. 

A nice little duck I found on the other side of the pond away from the Red Fox. This is the male Ruddy Duck. This guy is one of my favorite ducks. It has a blue bill and a real bristly looking tail (not visible). these guys have a tail that sticks straight up normally. These guys are in the family of ducks known as “Stiff Tails”. These guys are so cool and will not easily fly off. I know a birder that has tired to get these to fly but all attempts failed. These guys are the most chillest ducks you can photograph. They just sit there and don’t seem to move from their little selection of pond space. These are a pretty nice looking duck. They are a pretty good sized duck but are a little big. This guy was in full breeding plumage which is something I don’t get to see down here. In Texas these guys are never seen in breeding plumage. In the winter they are much duller and have a gray colored bill. These guys are so cute either way but I love to see the blue bill. I find it kind of funny in a way. 

Here is another bird I saw on the Auto Trail. This is the Western Meadowlark. The only way that is easy to tell the Eastern from the Western is by the song. They may look the same but their songs are very different from each other. The Western has a very pretty song and so does the Easter but the Western Song is a favorite among birders. This guy was just sitting on his little perch in the prairie. Both species prefer open areas and grasslands. Meadowlarks are just another one of my favorite species. I have a lot of favorites when it comes to my interests and likes. I don’t just have a few but there are many levels when it comes to favorites. This one was a very nice capture on my trip. 

Here is one I have dubbed Squint Eastwood. It was kind of funny when I took this. Sometimes I give my photos nicknames and this one was kind of a fun one to play around with. This one is of a cute Desert Cottontail. These guys were all over the place out there. There were many of them and were as numerous as the Black-tailed Prairie Dogs. A very interesting day at the Nature Preserve. This was the first time I have seen this kind of rabbit. 

Going back to the opening picture. These Black-tailed Prairie Dogs were pretty cool to see. In Texas most have all been moved or destroyed in headway for agriculture. However there are some sustainable groups that have been regulated in recent years. Going around the park you can see a bunch of these guys feeding and scurrying about. When on a auto tour I like to roll the window down and listen to the sounds of nature. Often times we heard these guys do their little jump yip. When something scary passes like a hawk or something like a huge car they will celebrate and give a little bark and lift the fronts of their bodies in the air giving everyone in the prairie dog town the all clear that danger has passed. It is their way of saying “The danger is gone, come on out!” These guys dig a lot of tunnels and each one is connected. This whole area could be two or three dog towns strong if they are all not connected. A town is what their nesting site is called. It is filled with a maze of tunnel systems each one with a specific purpose. They have nurseries for their young, a place where they can relive themselves when nature calls, and sleeping chambers. 

 Another animal that is home there is the iconic symbol of the Wild West. This is the American Bison or American Buffalo. This is one of the coolest animals that has its own range at this place. Their range is fenced to prevent any unpleasant confrontation with auto tour attendance. I saw a lot of mammals on this trip more than I have in years. A lot of them were new to me but this guy is an old favorite. It is hard to believe that these guys back in the olden days used to roam North America in the thousands. It is quite hard to imagine what it must have been like. They were driven on the brink of extinction but in recent years they have begun to reclaim some of their old roaming ground. These guys are so majestic and are the very symbol of the western frontier. A marvelous creature and one of my favorites. 

And there you have just a little fraction of what you might see at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National wildlife Refuge. Next time you are thinking about Colorado you should look this place up. It may look flat but there is a lot out there. It is a pretty cool place. Remember to bring you camera and take plenty of photos. It is also a real good idea to keep a life list of all the wildlife you see and to download the iNaturalist app to keep track of all of what you see. Take care and I will see you next time. 

[myipscrapbook]

How to Do Nothing by Jenny O’Dell.

Below are my real-time thoughts as I read How to Do Nothing by Jenny O’Dell. It took me the whole studio time because I kept stopping to write my thoughts out. TL;DR: I’m blown away by the relevance of O’Dell’s ideas to my IP project and my life, by the quality of the writing, and by the variety of sources, both personal and secondary. Incredible. So glad this exists.

1:39pm: I'm feeling nervous about finishing a draft tonight, but I need to appreciate that this draft doesn't need to be perfect. Despite how great yesterday's meeting was, only just now I found myself failing to provide a simple sentence to someone describing what my project will be. The form is still up in the air. Those tasks I had been told to do after yesterday's meeting, I haven't done them yet. So, instead of fretting over organizing my homework or my proposal, I'm just going to do those tasks first. Step one: read How to Do Nothing by Jenny O'Dell. 

1:52: I'm reading How to Do Nothing, and I had to stop to write about how great this piece is so far. It starts from personal experience, walking in a rose garden, then describes O'Dell's work, with a touch of humor, but then also generously describes other people's works that also revolve around creating structures that reframe our experience of the overlooked into an act of appreciation. I'm at a part of the article where O'Dell is talking about labyrinths, and it reminded me of how Sophia mentioned that this process is actually revealing a common thread throughout my 4 years here, because I also am fascinated by mazes and labyrinths– getting lost in order to rediscover something, or as the article begins, being silent in order to discover what's worth saying. 

There's a difference between mazes and labyrinths. Mazes have an entrance and an exit; Labyrinths only have one entrance/exit. Mazes are prisons, like for the minotaur. (I know the myth says he was trapped in a labyrinth but it meant a maze-like structure... confusing) In a Maze, the aim and excitement is to escape, to get out. Labyrinths are not about escaping; you know that you'll end up back where you started. No, they're about getting lost, meandering, and returning changed and refreshed. They're designed, like the rose garden in O'Dell's piece, for people to stop and smell the roses. To observe and reflect. Labyrinths "make it possible not to walk straight through a space, nor to stand still, but something very well in between." 

^O’Dell

 I seriously can't believe how much this is related to my previous thoughts, inside and outside of the classroom. In Jennifer Metsker's writing class a year ago, I wrote about mazes, labyrinths, time capsules, observation/appreciation of the mundane. All before I really got involved with M-BARC's time capsule, and well before my IP thought process began. It's amazing how all these things are connected. 

Libraries are like labyrinths. I enjoyed getting lost in the special collections archives. When I had to retrieve a book, I took my time back there, and took plenty of photos. I mean, a lot of photos. The categorization and tall Richard Serra bookshelf canals encouraged curiosity. There's a whole alleyway of every Don Quixote edition and translation one can imagine, all the same, and all completely different. 

(weird panoramas are good) 2:10: Now she's connected the practice of Deep Listening to Bird Watching, or really "Bird Noticing."  Can't help but think about iNaturalist, and how the app has restructured how I move through the world. Now I pay attention to strange new birds, insects, plants, all around me. I learn their names. I observed what a ladybug larvae looks like, and how it looks when it turns into an adult, and all this I've done because of this app. Isn't interesting that a system, an architecture of noticing, can be as simple as a phone app?? 

2:14: Watching birds and deep listening really requires DOING NOTHING. (Reminds me of Bored and Brilliant, and The Abramovic Method, which shows how sometimes its hard to do nothing. http://www.wnyc.org/story/marina-abramovic-goldberg-performance-art/ )

 2:19: Noticing things increases the granularity of attention: you begin to notice AND IDENTIFY everything you never noticed before. O'Dell Compares this to realizing her mother spoke not 2 but 3 languages. 

"With effort, we can become attuned to things, able to pick up and then hopefully differentiate finer and finer frequencies each time." 

This is essentially the moral of the Parable of the Sunfish.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Sunfish

(And It's worth mentioning Robin Sloan's great app, Fish, about using this parable to better understand our relationship to observing the river of internet articles we share and never return to every day. "To return is an act of love" writes Sloan. I agree. To pay attention, to listen, is an act of love, too.) 

2:22: What's great about this article is that O'Dell always ties together her examples in concise language that gets to the root of their commonality. For example: (emphasis mine)

"What these moments of stopping to listen have in common with those labyrinthine spaces is that they all initially enact some kind of removal from the sphere of familiarity. Even if brief or momentary, they are retreats, and like longer retreats, they affect the way we see everyday life when we do come back to it."

 She's investigating these examples and revealing to herself and the reader why they matter, and what their effect is. Christo and Jeanne-Claude's work would fit nicely into this collection– certainly an architecture designed to defamiliarize oneself with the landscape.

 2:28: Now she's connecting many examples by their common underground aspect, and how it works to remove us from our environment, or context. 

 2:30: Now connecting it to John Muir's life?? And his near loss of vision, which convinced him to reconsider to what end he was using his senses to appreciate his world.... I never knew all this. (Only a few paragraphs ago she briefly mentioned Rebecca Solnit's description of an earlier example... How many people and places are mentioned in this piece?? And yet it all flows so naturally; none of it feels forced.) 

And then transitions it to her dad's experience of removal! Always tying it back to personal experiences (Why has this mattered to others? --> Why does this matter to you?) There is a structure to this whole piece in this way. Also, John Cleese managed to slip in too. 

2:36: ..."the granularity of attention we achieve outward also extends inward" What a realization. Reminds me of Robert Krulwich's commencement speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AA2JtZ_7yE  (love that man) about sitting on a rock, uncertain about his future, and just, sitting. And thinking. His granularity of attention increased internally... He realized not only why he was unhappy as a lawyer, but why he was unhappy seeking a perfect love life, a reframed what his goals were. There are SO MANY IDEAS in this article. God I should print it out to keep on my desk. 

2:45: Great paragraph on "Bios." What is my "bio"? What is my artist statement? How do I describe myself? 

2:46: The precarity of nothing: A new section does a turn that Metsker would approve of: points out an obvious critique of this logic (one I admit I hadn't thought of at first.) 

2:50 This article is taking an interesting turn into what the value of public spaces is, and the value of doing "what we will." The value of doing things that have no economic purpose. I can feel guilty about doing things that have no economic purpose.

This reminds me of 17776, the speculative fiction published this summer about a world in which, for some reason, everyone stops dying and being born. All of us here, we live forever, and no one else will. Without death, the whole idea of "spending time productively" falls apart, and with it many Americans' sense of purpose. After a few decades, a century, people begin to get past this capitalist mode of life-meaning, and start to spend their time, well, playing. In this story, it focuses on how immortal everyday americans play football in a future with no end. It's absurd and oddly beautiful at parts. 

 2:57: Took a break and ran into Franc. Told him I was reading the How to Do Nothing, and how excited I was by it. He said he enjoys looking at my blog and seeing what I'm thinking about, and feels that I'll know exactly what I want to do real soon. 1. I'll never stop being surprised this blog gets read. 2. That vote of confidence is really encouraging. I'm starting to feel the same way. I also told him that I got the invite to the dinner with Mark Dion: "That's the way to do it," Franc said. Feeling great. 

 3:02: 

"The removal of economic security for working people — 8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, 8 hours for what we will — dissolves those boundaries so that we are left with 24 potentially monetizable hours that are sometimes not even restricted to our time zones or our sleep cycles." 

Oh my god. That Uber game taught me exactly this unsettling point. Every hour of one's day became a resource for Uber to mine for money, at the expense of one's quality of life. 

3:17:  

"I know that in the months after the election, a lot of us found ourselves searching for this thing called ‘truth,’ but what I also felt to be missing was just reality, something I could point to after all of this and say, this is really real." 

I am blown away that this O'Dell reached this point in this same article. This is what I was grasping at very early this semester, but I never imagined it would in any way be connected to this other topic, of slow observation and "doing nothing." Perhaps close observation of the tangible world around us IS a way of addressing Truth. 

I am reminded of my conversation with Julian, the Arcade Cellist, the one who was spouting off his beliefs that we never landed on the moon, and that the earth is flat. However, after an hour and a half talking, he gets to this point:

“The things you know are real to you every day in your hand. You can see them. The things we don’t know, they’re everywhere. ... This is real to me."

“This” being his cello, his music. And he started playing a beautiful song, and I could at least appreciate what he meant. 

Photo credit @Mark Bialek. My 4min Audio Piece:

https://drive.google.com/a/umich.edu/file/d/0BwjQk6D2fHggZFVMclJLdVBrYTQ/view?usp=sharing

Since the election, and even in the months leading up to it, I've considered deleting my facebook, or at the very least avoiding it. Not avoiding the NEWS, but the chatter. Looking at sidewalks and fire hydrants and bugs, walking outside, felt very grounding. This article feels very validating because I haven't talked to anyone about this feeling, that it can feel refreshing to take stock of the immediate truths around you, the air and the sidewalk, the flowers and trees. Playing the cello. There's no agenda to it, no politics, no hate, only greater attention and understanding.

This is also what made David O'Reilly's game Everything so profound to play; It was a game based on this idea of doing nothing, and appreciating being a member of this world, on par with the microbes and birds and comets. There's literally a game mechanic for announcing you exist, or that "I am,' called "singing," as well as a game mechanic for "dancing," or moving with others of a similar type, not towards a destination, but for the sake of moving. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that NOT economically productive? Isn't that all that really matters? 

 3:29: Oh god O'Dell's talk about Herons, and posting photos of them on twitter, is exactly what I've been doing with bugs and creatures around town. The Grey Cross Spider that greets me on my way into North Quad. The Boxelder Bugs that welcome me into the Duderstadt. 

(Hello cricket!)

Hell, this is how I used my Snapchat stories this summer, even now sometimes. I stopped uploading photos of myself or what I was doing, and instead I started to share videos of ducks. and squirrels. and swans. and caterpillars. and clouds. And I really liked it. And I even got comments from one or two friends that they really liked it too. Who knew Snapchat could be a place not explicitly for making others jealous about your social life? Maybe it could be a place for moments like these. 

 3:35: oh my god, I can't say how many times my brother and I have talked about befriending crows. It's on our bucket list. My brother loves loves loves birds in a very similar manner to O'Dell here. He once tried to make friends with crows by laying out peanuts like this, but they always got swiped by a seagull. Pssh. In a past life, I imagine that my brother was a Default Wren™. That's what we call those wrens, you know the ones, the Default brown birds everywhere. Here's an audubon picture of one: 

3:43: This is just unreal. O’Dell arrived at the same point I reached at 3:17... This “direct sensuous reality” is like a “life raft,” as it was for Julian, the arcade cellist. The fact that she writes this following the election, and that I had the same response to the election in my life, is validating, because like I said, you don’t see this perspective at all on social media. 

“I am not an avatar, a set of preferences, or some smooth cognitive force. I’m lumpy, I’m an animal, I hurt sometimes, and I’m different one day to the next. I hear, I see, and I smell things that hear, see, and smell me. And it can take a break to remember that, a break to do nothing, to listen, to remember what we are and where we are.”

People aren’t encouraged to talk about the mundane tactile world on social media. We’re encouraged to share things of “importance” and social merit, and to deliver our opinions on articles. I don’t ever share images of mundane findings on facebook; no one does. Nothing screams "boring person” than posting images like that. But maybe I am boring! Or at least by this definition of interesting and boring, I totally am. There’s a lot of shame in doing something “unproductive.” And anyways, there’s FAR more important things out there to post about than my day-to-day social life, and my political hot-takes. Seriously. And just as scandals and outrage is important, so too is taking the time to appreciate the immediate world you’re a part of, so you can react thoughtfully to these events.

I remember this summer, when I was thinking about my IP project, I was so angry, and I felt I was OBLIGED to address Donald Trump, yet I was exhausted by his existence and the hatred around the issues that he inflamed. It was all distracting from the importance underneath those issues. I stepped away from facebook for a while, and talked with my brother about my thoughts on this, and his advice for me was not to make something that directly talked about Donald Trump, but rather identify and address what angers me about him. I realized that what angered me most about him is his distorted view of all sorts of Americans. I remember realizing in this moment, AHA! I know what I’ll do! I’ll talk to my neighbors! I’ll interview my neighbors about their lives. Because my block is home to people of many religions, backgrounds, countries of origin, passions, jobs. It’s home to people of a variety of lawn care regiments and any number of children. It’s a New Jersey block. My block is America. Talking to my neighbors is a way for me to tangibly grasp on to what America is. It’s immediate and it’s real. It’s Truth. 

Although I didn’t know it at the time, that’s precisely what spoke to me about that concept. I didn’t have enough time in the summer to execute on this idea, but I instead I put myself in more conversations with my neighbors, and in that way, was trying to appreciate being a part of their community. Doing nothing taught me what I needed to do. 

 “It’s a kind of nothing that’s necessary for, at the end of the day, doing something.” –––This.  4:07: 

...“self care “is poised to be wrenched away from activists and turned into an excuse to buy an expensive bath oil.” 

Exactly. This kind of “self-care,” this kind of “doing nothing,” is not/should not be misconstrued as disengagement, but is actually really its own form of engagement. Especially after this past election, it felt like you had no agency in the shitshow. But this kind of “doing nothing” can help clarify what true agency you DO have, so that you know what sorts of actions you CAN do that will have a positive effect.  4:15: My computer dies... I go back to central campus to charge...

4:34:  “Doing nothing teaches us how to listen.” In this context, this means listen to OTHERS. 

4:35: (emphasis mine)

“But even with the problem of the filter bubble aside, the platforms that we use to communicate with each other about very important things do not encourage listening. They encourage shouting, or having a “take” after having read a single headline.” 

Oh man, this is what I was thinking at 3:43. 4:38: Connectivity vs Sensitivity. Sensitivity is more time, so, “too expensive.”

4:40: 

“So, self preservation and the cultivation of sensitivity — these are two somethings we might get from nothing. But there’s one more: an antidote to the rhetoric of growth.”

O’Dell zooms out here, but is also really squeezing the most out of this idea. The article could’ve wrapped up here, but it has more to say. These insights don’t come without plenty of time spent sifting through these ideas. This medium article is a goddamn thesis. 4:49: This section about daily care, routine maintenance, vs growth, “progress,” disruption– it reminds me a lot of the issues confronted in the tech world with the quantified self, fitbits and the impulse to one-up your best mile run time, or to beat your friends. 

This is actually what I decided to focus my sci fi prototype project for this month on. If some tech is designed to make us more competitive, can tech be designed to make our lives more routine, daily, reflective lives? Continued daily practice and care and work is so meaningful and underrated compared to “working smarter, not harder” and “innovation.” O’Dell also points out the gendered nature of these topics. 4:58: The point O’Dell makes about Solnit’s Paradise Built in Hell is exactly what I felt about recent Stamps Lecture Series speaker Keiji Ashizawa’s work in Ishinomaki following the 2011 earthquake in Japan. Ashizawa immediately worked towards bringing people together to rebuild as a community. For the terror of that disaster, this kind of work is the most noble and rewarding sort I can imagine there is. 

(When Rebecca Solnit came to campus last February, she opened her lecture up to questions. I waited on line to ask her what she would recommend we put in the Bicentennial Time Capsule, regarding her speech on “generational amnesia.” There was no time left in the lecture to answer all the questions, but she let the remaining people on line speak their questions anyway. So I go the honor of asking Solnit a question, although not the pleasure of hearing her response.)

5:03: 

“And I’m suggesting that we fiercely protect our human animality against all technologies that actively ignore and disdain the body, the bodies of others, and the body of the landscape that we inhabit.”

  This section is a call to action. Metsker would approve. Nicely paired with images of Elon Musk and Soylent. This was the theme of Robin Sloan’s book Sourdough, which heavily features a soylent-type brand. 

Emphasis mine:

“There are certain people who would like to use technology to live longer, or forever. Ironically, this desire is a perfect illustration of the death drive from the Maintenance Manifesto (“separation, individuality, Avant-Garde par excellence; to follow one’s own path — do your own thing; dynamic change”). To such men I propose that a far more parsimonious way to live forever is to exit the trajectory of productive time, so that a single moment might open almost to infinity. As John Muir once said, “Longest is the life that contains the largest amount of time-effacing enjoyment.” 

CLAP CLAP CLAP 5:23: I finished the article and spent time listening to the silence of the Gordon Hempton “Desert Thunder” track, linked to at the end. This article is a lot to process. 

IN CONCLUSION

I am so glad Jenny O’Dell synthesized these ideas so well and put these words out into the world. I look forward to reading her other writings and looking at more of her work, which she reflects on briefly to close this piece. 

O’Dell says she doesn’t know what’s next for her, or what all these thoughts add up to. I don’t either for myself, but I’m very excited to see what she ends up doing next. Same goes for me.

[galacticbugman]

Recent finds in Nature

I volunteered a lot of my time this summer to help kids learn and to get some observations for my favorite App called iNaturalist. On the last day of camp a couple of our campers found this

Luna Moth. It had already died and was just an empty husk. I took this to the suprivisor of the Park that I was at and gave it to her as an education animal. She might have been able to pin it. This is the first time I have ever seen this type of moth. I have been looking for it since I was sic years of age or so. It was a really cool find. It was still kind of sad to think it was dead but it was pretty cool. This sucker was almost as big as my entire hand. And if you are wondering about my fingers that is food coloring that exploded on me during one of our experiments; its not moth dust. These are in the Family Saturnidae and do not ingest food. They only live for a couple of weeks and their only purpose is to breed and make the next generation of Luna Moths. This is my favorite species of moth and it was kind of cool to get to hold this winged beauty. A very large moth.

Here is a cool Robberfly I found at the same park during one of the camp days. This sucker was one I was introduced to by a friend on Facebook. He had a video of this species eating an Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly. This is the Giant Prairie Robberfly. This thing is a monster but it is pretty neat. I saw two of these in just the matter of a couple of days. This is one of my favorite Robber Flies. Some robbers are hard to ID but they are all pretty cool. This one is quite large and is a couple of inches in length. I have seen a lot of Robber Flies recently more than I have in a long time. I love these guys. Next up I will be sharing with you some of the highlights from National Moth Week 2019. So until then this is Zachary AKA Galactic_Bug_Man and I will see you on the trail.

[galacticbugman]

City Nature Challenge 2019

Hi everybody Galactic_Bug_Man here coming to you with a post on an important thing that happens around this time of year for citizen science. 

There is a annual citizen science challenge that happens every April and it is a global affair it is called the City Nature Challenge. It is one of the biggest challenges in the science community and is loads of fun. There are many cities around the world who compete to see who can get the most wildlife in their area by taking photos of plants, Fungi, Fish, Reptiles, Mammals, Amphibians, Insects, Arachnids and many other kinds of organisms (except fossils, rocks and people) this challenge is one that I often participate in. Back in 2017 Texas was welcomed into it. In 2017 the DFW area my area won the contest beating out California who came in second place. Last year which was 2018 California had a score to settle and was out for blood and they beat us out but the DFW area still squeaked out becoming second place. 

 This site is the one site that we use to record all of our data with. INaturalist is one of the coolest apps and websites to use if you want to learn more about what you are looking at in terms of wildlife. It is very simple to use. Just go to the website and make an account then by using either a camera or you Smart Phone you can upload photos of wildlife to the site and people (mostly professional scientists) will comment on your photos and tell you exactly what you have seen. I have been totally obsessed with this site for a while now. I am nearing my fourth year on this site. It has really changed my life because this is the one site that I use to document all my nature sightings. It is a good tool for people to use on any adventure and helps people rekindle their relationship with nature. All you have to do is go out in to your backyard or a park or shoot anywhere and start your iNaturalist journey. It is almost like Pokemon Go! in a way but with actual animals. Which don’t get me wrong I enjoy playing Pokemon Go sometimes but I use iNaturalist way more often. I have participated in the City Nature Challenge which is our longest and most drawn out BioBlitz we have. A BioBlitz is a challenge to get as many organism observations as you can in a set amount of time. I do several BioBlitzes a year and I love using this tool to discover what the organisms I have found are. I have over 5,000 observations with a species count of 1,372 so far on this site. That is from many a trip, events at local parks, and just walking around my college campus. It is a really fun tool to use when on the go. 

This year for the City Nature Challenge even more cities have been added to our roster of challengers. So there is some stiff competition this year. I will be volunteering at a few events at a few parks around the DFW area this year. At my Campus we have an annual Spring Fest that we have and I have recently started a new Nature Club out there and this year we are running a booth. Our theme is birds and pollinators. I will be having stuff about our club and our missions but I will also have handouts for this challenge and some of the flyers from a few parks. It kind of pays off to be a volunteer because you get cool handouts to use to spread the word with. I like free handouts to pass out. So yeah I will be running a kind of recruitment to get people involved in this challenge. 

It is really fun and you don’t really have to go far to participate in this challenge but it is encouraged to travel around and find groups to hike with and find things. I am known for getting some pretty big numbers last year I got over 500 observations in the contest so that was not bad at all. My goal this year is to reach 10,000 observations plus. So I have my work cut out for me but I am sure that I will be able to find a lot of different things. 

It is so much fun to participate in citizen science. The people you meet and the creatures you can see are very interesting.  Have made several new friends by going on these little excursions. It is very rewarding to participate in these kinds of events because you gain your own sense of personal discovery and you gain knowledge and good friends all along the way. So I urge you to give iNaturalist a try and start your journey of discovery today. I have been using the site since 2015 and I have found so much and have experienced a lot of new things and found more of my strengths and weaknesses while hiking at many different parks and places. I have been a over Texas and parts of Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas just to have an adventure and to find more creatures to put on my growing life list of 1,373 species. So take time out of your busy lives download the app or join the site or both and go on the epic game of hide and seek with plants and animals. It is a lot of fun and gives people a way to rekindle their relationship with nature. For now I am Galactic_Bug_Man. Live Long and Prosper and I will see you on the trail.