Journal archives for November 2019

November 3, 2019

Senegal - iNaturalist World Tour

We're in Senegal for the 130th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. Again, apologies for the continued abbreviated World Tour posts. Senegal is surrounded by Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. As a former French colony, Senegal surrounds the Gambia which was British and buffers the Gambia river.

Top observers in the Saint-Louis Region are @rangersara, who was a peace corp volunteer, @liesvanrompaey, and @jujurenoult. Top observer @mattiamenchetti has observations clustered near the Thiès and Dakar regions. North of the Gambia, top observers @marcellc, @antarduengo and @tierraiberica are clustered in the Sine-Saloum region while south of the Gambia, in the region formerly known as Casamance, @marcorastell are top observers. Further inland, @tsuchan and @gabindiaye are top observers.



The number of observations per month ticked up a bit in 2017. There was a peak in September 2019 driven by @mattiamenchetti and @tsuchan.



The top three identifiers are the usual Africa big 3 identifiers: @jakob, @johnnybirder, and @marcoschmidtffm. Other top identifiers include @greenline and @rajibmaulick.



What can we do to get more people in Senegal using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below.

@rangersara @mattiamenchetti @jujurenoult @tsuchan @liesvanrompaey @jakob @johnnybirder @marcoschmidtffm @greenline @rajibmaulick

We’ll be back tomorrow in Macao!

Posted on November 3, 2019 03:21 AM by loarie loarie | 0 comments | Leave a comment

Macao - iNaturalist World Tour

We're in Macao for the 131st stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. Again, apologies for the continued abbreviated World Tour posts. Tiny Macao, Like Hong Kong, is former colonial enclave along the cost of China. While Hong Kong was British, Macao was Portuguese. The top observers are @kitchang, @hannahleung, @kuok, @don945, @alexckng, @erickwan, @kelvin17, @macao_antman, @kisu11668, and @shellfishgene.



The number of observations per month jumped up in 2019.



The top identifiers are @johnallcock, @johnascher, @kitchang, @aither, and @rajibmaulick.



What can we do to get more people in Macao using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below.

@kitchang @hannahleung @kuok @don945 @alexckng @johnallcock @johnascher @kitchang @aither @rajibmaulick

We’ll be back tomorrow in Reunion!

Posted on November 3, 2019 06:24 AM by loarie loarie | 0 comments | Leave a comment

November 4, 2019

A Moss Close-up in the UK - Observation of the Week, 11/3/19

Our Observation of the Week is this shining hookeria moss, seen in the United Kingdom by @scrappapertiger!

Note: Sonny Hallett (@scrappapertiger) is an accomplished writer and blogger and the following is written by them. Nice work, Sonny! - Tony


I’ve always been very into nature, ever since I was a little kid. I’m very short-sighted, but my eyesight allows me to focus very clearly on tiny things - I have unusually good microscopic vision. Partly because of this, I’ve always been very drawn to tiny things in nature, like insects, fungi and tiny plants. There’s a world of magical weirdness, beauty and detail around us almost all the time, just on a scale most people tend not to notice. Insects take on endearing personalities in their movements, tiny fungi, lichens and miniature plants provide a unique and alien-looking landscape.

Nature is a big part of my life. Being an illustrator, I derive a lot of inspiration from the things I see around me when I'm outdoors. I am also autistic, and while living in the noise and stress of the city can be very stressful and anxiety-inducing for many people, I think it can be particularly hard on autistic folks. Nature has always been an escape for me: the zoology, identification and classification aspect appeals a lot to the way my brain works, because I like learning categories and understanding patterns, while the quiet focus and mindfulness of just observing things around me in minute detail, looking for tiny insects, mushrooms, how a moss grows, and so on, helps to keep me in the moment and calm my anxieties. Here's a comic I made about mindfulness and beetles: https://medium.com/@sonyahallett/mindfulness-and-beetles-8fd55a2388e8 I hope that by sharing my finds, experiences and interesting information with others, more people can become more interested in and care about the richness of life around them.

The shining hookeria was introduced to me by a friend, who lives in and knows a lot about the ecology of the Celtic rainforest in Wales. He took me on a tour of a stunning watery wall of bryophytes and ferns when I went to visit, including the rare Wilson's filmy fern. I'd never really looked at mosses and liverworts very much close-up before, and I was particularly taken by how the shining hookeria has such large translucent cells, where individual cells can be seen almost with the naked eye (certainly with my eyes!). I took the picture with a macro attachment clip on my phone, which with practice has been surprisingly effective for macro detail shots.

I add finds to iNaturalist when I go out exploring, partly because it gives me a personal record of what I've found, but I like the community aspect that folks can help with and give identifications. I loved that on a recent bioblitz down south we were able to collectively find and identify an invasive eucalyptus tortoise beetle, which hadn't been recorded in that area before, and the expertise available to help verify and record. I also like looking at what others are finding in my area, or areas I visit.


(this section by Tony Iwane)

- The iNat Community Forum discusses macro clip-on lenses for smartphones, as well as other cameras, in this thread.

- iNat user @damontighe wrote a how-to for macro clip-on lenses.

- Here are all Phylum Bryophyta observations on iNat, ranked by number of faves.

Posted on November 4, 2019 01:29 AM by tiwane tiwane | 4 comments | Leave a comment

Réunion - iNaturalist World Tour

We're in Réunion for the 132nd stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. Again, apologies for the continued abbreviated World Tour posts. Reunion is an overseas department of France and an island in the Indian Ocean located to the east of Madagascar. The top observers are @jeanphilippeb,
@pieterhuy, @michi1, @thierrycordenos, @benoitnabholz, @matkf, @jimarcor, @rmcminds, @mario_mairal, and @alextsln.



The number of observations per month jumped up in 2019.



The top identifiers are @guillaumeamirault, @jeanphilippeb, @sammyboy2059, @greenline, and @zizou.



What can we do to get more people in Reunion using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below.

@jeanphilippeb @pieterhuy @michi1 @thierrycordenos @benoitnabholz @matkf @guillaumeamirault @sammyboy2059 @greenline @zizou

We’ll be back tomorrow in Iraq!

Posted on November 4, 2019 05:00 AM by loarie loarie | 4 comments | Leave a comment

Iraq - iNaturalist World Tour

We end week 19 of the iNaturalist World Tour in Iraq. Again, apologies for the continued abbreviated World Tour posts. The top observer in Iraq by a very large lead is @zayn_alnajm with observations clustered around Basrah. Seven of the top 10 observers appear to be residents of Iraq including @sarchia, @a_pine_line (an environmental organization based in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan), @bahrouz (a professor in molecular microbiology at University of Sulaimani), @hanaraza (a wildlife conservationist in Kurdistan, Iraq), @kamel3 (a biologist), and @azhin. @gregpc has from 2008 near the Mosul Airport. @jonathan's frog observation made while stationed in Iraq was one of the first stories from iNaturalist picked up by the media back in 2011. @matt-ratcliffe appears to be in Iraq at the moment posting observations as recently as yesterday.



The number of observations per month peaked in 2018, particularly in Feburary when @zayn_alnajm was most active.



The top identifiers are @cliygh-and-mia, @zayn_alnajm, @sammyboy2059, @borisb, and @wongun



What can we do to get more people in Iraq using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below.

@zayn_alnajm @sarchia @a_pine_line @bahrouz @hanaraza @cliygh-and-mia @sammyboy2059 @borisb @wongun @kamel3

We’ll be back tomorrow in Mongolia!

Posted on November 4, 2019 08:34 PM by loarie loarie | 1 comment | Leave a comment

November 5, 2019

Mongolia - iNaturalist World Tour

It's Week 20 of the iNaturalist World Tour. We've updated the graphs to include data from October. The following countries visited so far have moved up in rankings: India, Argentina, Japan, Austria, Greece, Kenya, Honduras, Algeria, Croatia, Benin, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Uganda, Kazakstan, Guam, Egypt, Malawi, New Caledonia, Bonaire, El Salvador, Curacao, Jordan, Angola, Nigeria, Ghana, Laos, and Kosovo. Thanks for bearing with us last week when we had no power here in Northern California. I also mentioned that as we get into the less visited/smaller countries (ie numbers 134-252) we were going to investigate a less time intensive way to continue this second half of the World Tour. It turns out that the abbreviated format we accidentally piloted last week worked well so I think we'll stick with that. I'd encourage people to add any noteworthy details we may leave out due to this abbreviated format in the comments below each post. This week we'll visit Mongolia and East Timor in Asia, French Guiana in Latin America, Kuwait in the Middle East, Macedonia in Europe, the Republic of Congo in Africa and Mauritius near Madagascar.



We begin in Mongolia. Mongolia sits north of China and south of Russia with Kazakstan to the west. The top 10 observers are @gonodactylus, @amarzee, @akilee, @marilyn20, @seasav, @sage_and_seaweed, @janeyd, @yuchingtam, @mfaucher, and @jnorris2.



The number of observations per month is very seasonal peaking in 2019.



The top 5 identifiers are @kastani, @vandandorj, @rajibmaulick, @john8, and @jbroadhead.



What can we do to improve iNaturalist in Mongolia? Please share your thoughts below.

@gonodactylus @amarzee @akilee @marilyn20 @seasav @kastani @vandandorj @rajibmaulick @john8 @jbroadhead

We’ll be back tomorrow in French Guiana!

Posted on November 5, 2019 12:55 AM by loarie loarie | 7 comments | Leave a comment

November 6, 2019

French Guiana - iNaturalist World Tour

We're in French Guiana for the 135th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. French Guiana is an overseas department of France located east of Suriname and north of Brazil. The top 10 observers are @andriusp, @lupoli_roland, @jujurenoult, @polistesfuscatus, @jasondombroskie, @merav, @vanilendil, @tommy_andriollo, @amandineabn, and @malory2.



The number of observations per month has been ramping up since 2016.



The top identifiers are @andriusp, @jasonrgrant, @karsten_s, @matthewcock, and @borisb.



What can we do to get more people in French Guiana using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below.

@andriusp @lupoli_roland @jujurenoult @polistesfuscatus @jasondombroskie @merav @jasonrgrant @karsten_s @matthewcock @borisb

We’ll be back tomorrow in Kuwait!

Posted on November 6, 2019 05:30 AM by loarie loarie | 0 comments | Leave a comment

iNaturalist Brand Refresh

Today, we're updating the iNaturalist brand for the first time since iNaturalist launched over 11 years ago. Check out our evolution!

As iNat has grown exponentially, it's been important for us to make sure we can scale effectively, and a more standardized brand is part of that. You can read more about why we decided it was time for a brand refresh on the forum post from last month. One of the biggest reasons was the anticipation of the iNaturalist Store which will be launching soon. Stay tuned for ways to wear your iNaturalist pride!

Over the next several days, you'll see our brand updated across our apps and social media platforms. Over a longer timeframe, members of the international iNaturalist Network will be updating their look as well.

If you or your organization are using the original iNaturalist logo somewhere, you can find updated versions of the logo on our Press page.

Thanks so much to everyone who provided feedback as we approached this new branding. We hope you like the new look!

Posted on November 6, 2019 09:38 PM by abhasm abhasm | 40 comments | Leave a comment

November 8, 2019

Kuwait - iNaturalist World Tour

We're in Kuwait for the 136th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. 90% of the observations from Kuwait were added by @mohammadm who is the top observer by a long shot. Other top observers include @dbmcc09, @yasminam, @farah, @q8dragon, @habul, @yousef1, @rattubhutan, @nalessa, and @brane.



The number of observations per month ramped up in 2019, presumably when @mohammadm became involved..



The top identifiers are @firos_ak, @sammyboy2059, @peterslingsby, @cliygh-and-mia, and @anilamanalil.



What can we do to get more people in Kuwait using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below.

@mohammadm @dbmcc09 @yasminam @farah @q8dragon @firos_ak @sammyboy2059 @peterslingsby @cliygh-and-mia @anilamanalil

We’ll be back tomorrow in East Timor!

Posted on November 8, 2019 06:32 AM by loarie loarie | 1 comment | Leave a comment

East Timor - iNaturalist World Tour

We're in East Timor for the 137th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour. East Timor is located on the eastern half of the island of Timor. The western half is part of Indonesia. The top 10 observers are @ruidasilvapinto, @jafetpotenzolopes, @colintrainor, @smoghead, @zeliavital, @ivansls, @kerryr, @leandroop, @milmanindo, and @barrys-place-atauro.



The number of observations per month has been ramping up since 2018.



The top 5 identifiers are @mwnhseehausen, @rajibmaulick, @aru, @colintrainor, and @briangooding.



What can we do to get more people in East Timor using iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below.

@ruidasilvapinto @jafetpotenzolopes @colintrainor @smoghead @zeliavital @mwnhseehausen @rajibmaulick @aru @colintrainor @briangooding

We’ll be back tomorrow in Macedonia!

Posted on November 8, 2019 10:43 PM by loarie loarie | 0 comments | Leave a comment