Today, we start our 11th Week on the iNaturalist World Tour. This week, we'll visit Benin in Africa, Iceland, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Armenia in Europe, Fiji in Oceania, and Guatemala in North America.

We begin in Benin (in case you were expecting Armenia, we updated all the World Tour stats today to include data from August 2019 and the order shifted a bit). The top observer is @oebenin which is an account associated with a a Benin NGO working on education and nature conservation around Pendjari National Parc. Several other top observers have observations centered near this park including the 9th top observer @mattiamenchetti, a zoologist based in Barcelona, @tsuchan and @bahleman. The second top observer is @didolanvijustin who is studying natural resources at the University of Parakou. Parakou is the largest city in northern Benin and is where the observations of many top observers such as @prosper, @frdric71, @pascaltayewo, @tovihessi, and @ogaoue have the most observations. @ogaoue is an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee Knoxville who conducts research in Africa. The third top observer is @oddb, and account associated with the Organisation pour le Développement Durable et la Biodiversité (ODDB) which is a non-governmental, non-profit entity that spearheads the protection of threatened primates and their habitats in Benin. @oddb's observations are clustered in near the capital of Cotonou which is also an important biogeographic area known as the Dahomey Gap which is a savannah gap between the Lower Guinean forests to the East and the Upper Guinean forests to the west. Several other top observers such as @gab00229 and @belsun have observations clustered in this area. Don't miss this trailcam photo of an Abyssinian Roller midflight by @oebenin which was an Observation of the Day.

The number of observations per month has been growing rapidly in Benin this year. In fact, it jumped the queue from Week 11 to Week 10 when we added the August 2019 data mainly due to the efforts of @didolanvijustin. Whats driving this recent growth in Benin?

@jakob is the top identifier and leads in most of the categories. @jakob needs no introduction on iNaturalist where he has been an outsized force in the community and source of knowledge for many parts of the globe for many years, but he describes himself on his profile as a spatial ecologist, with a focus on African bats. @johnnybirder, originally from South Africa, is the second top identifier. @marcoschmidtffm leads in plant identifications as he does for many African countries. @calebcam leads in herp identifications and @ldacosta leads in bird identifications.

What can we do to improve iNaturalist in Benin? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread. Also what makes tiny Benin so well represented on iNaturalist relative to other African countries? Are there lessons we can learn?

@oebenin @didolanvijustin @oddb @prosper @frdric71 @jakob @johnnybirder @marcoschmidtffm @calebcam @ldacosta

We’ll be back tomorrow with the Iceland as we play catchup from some of the reshuffling in the order due to adding the August 2019 data.

We end Week 10 of the iNaturalist World Tour in Bhutan! The top observer, @gancw1, is based in Singapore but has observations from throughout Bhutan. @jatishwor is a Phd candidate at the Czech Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic studying butterflies and moths of northeast India and Bhutan. His observations are clustered in the Tsirang District along with @seangyeal, @antshrike69 and others. @phuentsho is a ranger Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park in central Bhutan. Visitors @markuslilje and @briancriter have observations from across the country. @tandinniznat's observations are clustered near Trashigang to the east. There is a cluster of observers such as @cub\_agthukten and @cubact\_yangki near COMO Uma Paro and another such as @cupsc\_sonam near COMO Uma Punakha. A third cluster of observers such as @jcavicch and @cpatton2 near the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environmental Research.

The number of observations per month has been hovering around 250. There was a spike in April of this year because of the COMO Uma Paro and COMO Uma Punakha events mentioned above as part of the COMO Hotels and Resorts event organized by @chra\_batfish and @cupag\_kelley.

@sethmiller, based in Bangladesh, is the top identifier. @juhakinnunen, based in Finland, leads in insect identifications. Insects are the top observation category in Bhutan due to an interest in moths among many of the top observers. @phuentsho is not just a top observer, but is a top identifier and leads in the plant and bird categories. @anilamanalil and @rajibmaulick, based in India, are also top identifiers.

What can we do to get more people in Bhutan involved in iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread

@gancw1 @jatishwor @phuentsho @antshrike69 @seangyeal @markuslilje @sethmiller @juhakinnunen @anilamanalil @rajibmaulick

We’ll be back tomorrow in Armenia!

We're in Slovakia for the 69th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour! The top observer is @fero has observations centered in the Žilina Region. @fero runs Birding Slovakia and is in the top 400 observers on iNaturalist with observations from around the world. Most of the other top observers such as @martind, @vierka, @marian\_tulak, @anbalemans, @matpei also have observations centered in the Žilina Region. The second top observer, @drakoslav, has observations centered to the south in the Nitra Region. @tomasm2's observations are centered in the far west Trnava Region, while other top observers such as @ondrej3 and @rsl are centered elsewhere in the country.

The number of observations per month has been ramping up the last three years. @fero has done some work translating iNaturalist into Slovakian and outreach to Slovakian birders during this time.

As with many countries in Europe, the top identifiers for plants, birds, and insects are @duch, @ldacosta, and @borisb. @duch is botanist at the Czech National Museum. Thanks to other top identifiers such as @zizou identifying from France and @wojtest identifying from Poland.

What can we do to get more people in Slovakia involved in iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread

@fero @drakoslav @martind @vierka @tomasm2 @ldacosta @borisb @zizou @wojtest @duch

We’ll be back tomorrow in Bhutan!

We're in Nicaragua for the 68th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour! @jmmaes is the top observer. Based near the capital of Managua, @jmmaes is focusing on Nicaragua's insects and building a website dedicated to Nicaragua's biodiversity. Several other top observers such as @cmtercero and @apapachoa are also based near Managua. To the north, @aesbiologist was a Peace Corps volunteer in Jinotega focusing on Environmental Education and also involved in the Biodiversity Group. @dovyeon has observations clustered on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. @richardmonteverdense, raised across the southern border in Monteverde, Costa Rica, has many observations along the Nicaragua side of this border. @alvaroalvaradomontealto is another neighbor from Costa Rica with many observations in the Nicaraguan city of Buenos Aires south of Managua.

The number of observations per month jumped up in April of 2017 when @jmmaes became involved in iNaturalist. But the rate has climbed since then, notably passing 800 observations per month for the first time July of this year.

@jmmaes is the top identifier as well as the top observer in Nicaragua. Not surprisingly he also leads in insects which is the category with the most observations. @johnascher, another insect specialist, is the second to identifier. @oliverkomar and @richardmonteverdense have contributed their local expertise from nearby Honduras and Costa Rica respectively as top identifiers and also lead in birds and plants. @johngsalamander leads in herps. @dovyeon is another top identifier and top observer.

What can we do to get more people in Nicaragua involved in iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread

@jmmaes @cmtercero @aesbiologist @apapachoa @dovyeon @richardmonteverdense @alvaroalvaradomontealto @johnascher @oliverkomar @johngsalamander

We’ll be back tomorrow in Slovakia!

We're in Romania for the 67th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour! The top observer, @conradaltmann, has observations clustered near Cluj-Napoca, the fourth most populous city in Romania, alongside other top observers such as @ahospers, @vasilestan @felixf and @billboyscout. The second top observer, @ioanamita30 has observations centered around the capital of Bucharest alongside @george\_nazareanu who's worked in nature education (Karin's Kids Academy) and museums (Bucharest National Museum of Natural History), @cristinapelcaru, @tseb, and others. @pokeahontas has observations clustered around the Eastern city of Tulcea near the Ukraine border. Several observers such as @izafarr have observations centered in the Southern Carpathian mountains in the center of the country. Several observers such as @andreichiper, @adrian129, @cosmina have observations clustered near the second largest city of Iași in the northeast. @ion\_petreus's observations are centered to the north of Cluj-Napoca. @dalien, based in the US has an arc of observations stretching across eastern Romania. @tapaculo99, also based in the US at the University of Wisconsin was in Romania this August and as a result at the time of this writing is in 8th place on the Romania observers leaderboard but doesn't yet appear on the map!

The peak in August 2018 was largely driven by visitors @ahospers and @dalien adding lots of observations. But even ignoring this peak, there was a substantial uptick in the number of observations per month 2018 and again in 2019.

@ldacosta is the top identifier and leads in birds, @borisb leads in insects and @bobwardell leands in plants. @jakob, @amzamz and the mysterious @florinastanescu also top the identifiers leaderboard. Thanks to all the other top identifiers!

What can we do to get more people in Romania involved in iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread

@conradaltmann @ioanamita30 @dalien @george_nazareanu @pokeahontas @ldacosta @jakob @florinastanescu @amzamz @borisb

We’ll be back tomorrow in Nicaragua!

We're still in the Caribbean today as we move to Cuba for the 66th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour! The top observer in Cuba with a significant lead in the leaderbaords is @wayne\_fidler based at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay at the southeastern tip of Cuba. Several other top observers such as @kbakkegard, of Samford University in Birmingham, AL, and @alex835 have observations clustered in this region. Like @wayne\_fidler, @alex835, appears from their observations to be a top observer who is resident on the island. Top observers @ahospers and @cwbarrows have observations distributed all around Cuba. A small group of top observers such as @krisskinou have observations clustered around the town of Guardalavaca in the north east. The largest group of top observers including @josh\_vandermeulen, @paultavares, and @carnifex have observations clustered around Playa Larga near Parque Nacional Cienaga de Zapata. @josh\_vandermeulen leads tours in Cuba for Quest Nature Tours out of Ontario. @seakeepers_e3_cuba is an account associated with the International SeaKeepers Society which has posted underwater observations from several sites in Cuba. Don't miss this Observation of the week post about a marbled swamp eel seen by @henicorhina in Parque Nacional La Güira towards the western end of the Cuba.

The number of observations per month has been slowly ramping up since around 2016 and is currently around 600 observations per month.

@wayne\_fidler is the top observer, top identifier, and leads in birds, insects and herp identifications. Thanks so much for all your contributions wayne! @greenlineis the second top identifier from nearby Haiti and leads in plant identifications. Thanks to @maractwin and @susanhewitt for identifying the many sea creature observations from Cuba. And thanks to all the other top Cuba identifiers such as @jbroadhead, @joshuagsmith, and top observer @alex835.

What can we do to get more people in Cuba involved in iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread

@wayne_fidler @ahospers @krisskinou @kbakkegard @alex835 @josh_vandermeulen @paultavares @greenline @jbroadhead @joshuagsmith

We’ll be back tomorrow in Romania!

Our Observation of the Week is this Brown-hooded Kingfisher, seen in South Africa by @magdastlucia!

Originally from the South African city of Pretoria, Magda moved to the Zululand area about thirteen years ago, and resides in St. Lucia, by the coast. “My holidays were usually short break-aways, hiking or camping with friends or family,” says Magda, “[and] there was always a crate in the car with field guides.” A member of iSpot and now iNaturalist, and a contributor of nearly twelve thousand observations, Magda says “I have no scientific background and do not even call myself a citizen scientist. I am just a nature nut that spend as much of my free time I can exploring God's creation.”

The photos you see throughout this post were taken by Magda a few weeks ago, on a trip with some friends up to the Kosi Bay area of South Africa. After exploring Tembe Elephant Park and the Kosi lakes, the group kicked back and did some birding from the deck of their accommodations, where they watched the Brown-hooded Kingfisher enjoying a centipede breakfast. “The bird slammed the centipede against the perch, before it was swallowed,” recalls Magda. “After the centipede disappeared down the bird's throat, it turned around and started scanning for more titbits.”

While kingfishers are best known for perching over lakes and streams and diving for ichthyish prey, many species hunt for terrestrial prey in a similar fashion, including the Brown-hooded kingfisher. They feed mainly on arthropods, but will also take lizards and snakes. As Magda described, a kingfisher usually beats its prey against its perch. This is done in order to stun or kill it, and break dangerous spines or other protrusions before the prey is swallowed. 

And beating a centipede before popping it down the hatch is probably a good idea. Centipedes are voracious predators, and they use their modified front legs (called “forcipules”) to inject their prey with venom. The kingfisher would definitely not want to be stung by the centipede while trying to ingest it. 

Magda, who is also in the St. Lucia Birding Club and the LepSoc’s Caterpillar Rearing Group, says “It is great to be part of a platform where I can share what I see, get it identified, and to top it all, contribute to science.”

- by Tony Iwane

- Kingfishers do not mess around when subduing their prey.

- Copying the shape of a kingfisher’s bill, Japanese Shinkasen trains no longer create a “tunnel boom” when entering a tunnel. 

- Yes, Virginia, there is centipede that catches and eats bats.

The Dominican Republic is the 65th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour! The top observer @lljohnson is based in Altamira in the northern part of the island and has a keen interest in butterflies and moths. You can read more about @lljohnson in this Observation of the Week post about a beautiful tiger moth she spotted. @lljohnson is very involved in the Butterflies and Moths of Hispaniola project administered by @ronsavage. @ronsavage is the second top observer who as part of his global travels has done lots of field work all over the Dominican Republic. The third top observer, @anacarohdez, is a marine biology student from the capital of Santo Domingo. Her observations are mostly taken underwater at dive sites like Bahia de las Calderas. @maribela is a resident of the Dominican Republic with observations clustered around Arroyo Frio at, 1,200m altitude, towards the center of the island. There are several top observers with observations clustered around the capital of Santo Domingo including biology students @mack911 and @patriciatorrespineda and @rossdesign. Visitors @heatherpickard and @crx2aj3 have observations clustered at the northern point of Puerto plata and the eastern point of Punto Cana respectively.

The number of observations per month has been slowly ramping up since mid 2016 and broke 1,000 obs per month for the first time in June of this year.

@mack911 is the top identifier in addition to being a top observer. @mack911 also leads in the insect and herp categories. Insects is likely the category with the most observations because of the interest among the top observers, such as @lljohnson, in butterflies and moths. The mysterious @greenline is the 2nd top identifier and leads in plant and arachnid identifications. @joshuagsmith third top identifier and leads in birds. Top identifiers @mreith and @patriciatorrespineda have lent a lot of local Hispaniolan expertise from nearby Haiti and the Dominican Republic respectively. Thanks to all the other top identifiers of Dominican Republic observations!

What can we do to get more people in the Dominican Republic involved in iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread

@lljohnson @ronsavage @anacarohdez @andreinavt @maribela @mack911 @greenline @joshuagsmith @mreith @patriciatorrespineda

We’ll be back tomorrow in nearby Cuba!

Today, we start our 10th Week on the iNaturalist World Tour. This week, we'll visit Georgia in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Nicaragua in the Neotropics, Slovakia and Romania in Eastern Europe, and Bhutan in Asia.

We begin in Georgia where all the top 10 observers have observations clustered around the capital of Tbilisi. Based on their observations, 7 of the top 10 (i.e. @shxuila, @revaz, @eto, @ludomani, @ninikosiashvili, @lasha2310, and @bigfoot89) appear to be resident near Tbilisi. @felix\_riegel, @ahospers and @currenfrasch are visitors from elsewhere. @shxuila is the top observer, but like most Georgian top observers doesn't reveal much on their public profile.

Activity spiked up in October of 2018 and again in May of this year. Does anyone know what drove these spikes in activity?

@eto is the top identifier and top plant identifier (in addition to being the third top observer). @borisb leads in insects and @sammyboy2058 leads in birds. Many thanks to all the tip identifiers including @kastani, @marialt, @ludomani, @temotemo and @gvirila

What can we do to improve iNaturalist in Georgia? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread

@shxuila @revaz @eto @felix_riegel @ludomani @ninikosiashvili @kastani @marialt @ludomani @temotemo

We’ll be back tomorrow with the Dominican Republic!

We end Week 9 of the iNaturalist World Tour - and my apologies this post is a day late. The top observer is @dendzo, a doctor of veterinary medicine from the capital of Belgrade. Other top observers, such as @mycohollic and @mihajlo2 also have observations clustered here. To the south, near the third largest city of Niš, @sanca13 and @lactarius are based. To the west, @davidlupin7 has observations near Bajina Bašta and @alderash near Valjevo. To the north, @danilougrnov has observations clusted around Ada and @ivanpancic around Zrenjanin. Between @lactarius, @mycohollic, and @nikolall there seems to be a disproportonate interest in Mycology among the top observers.

The number of observations per month spiked up in May of this year due to a lot of activity by @dendzo and @sanca13. Was this just random, or was there a reason the activity of these two top observers spiked up this month?

@kastani out of Kazakstan is the top identifier and leads in plant identifications. @borisb is the second top identifier and leads in insects. In addition to being the top observer, @dendzo is the third top identifier. @lactarius leads in fungi identifications. This category is more 'observose' than birds likely due the large number of fung-o-phile top observers mentioned above. @wouterteunissen leads in bird identifications. Many thanks to other top identifiers such as @jakob and @danieleseglie

What can we do to get more people in Serbia involved in iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread

@dendzo @sanca13 @davidlupin7 @alderash @danilougrnov @lactarius @kastani @borisb @jakob @wouterteunissen

Since this post was overdue, we're following it up immediately with Georgia!