sambiology's Journal

Elizabeth and I had a wonderful vacation in California. We saw so much -- and I found out that plants in California are different than ones in Texas. Duh! But to see it all in person was just amazing! I've got many hundreds of observations to upload, but in the meantime, here's a little recap of the nature-y adventures that we had.

Sunday, April 23: We flew into San Francisco from DFW quite early in the morning. We did a couple things around San Francisco (along with what felt like millions of other people!). We also drove to Candlestick Point State Recreational Area and saw some neat plants. After that, we drove south and made a couple stops along the road -- the lupines in CA are super showy! We stopped then at Windy Hill Open Space Preserve and ended up walking around quite a bit. The sun was starting to set already, so we had to pick a place to stay -- ended up in Oakland to prep for a GREAT day tomorrow.

Monday, April 24: Today was one of the best days ever. I seriously could not have had a better day. Elizabeth and I met up with @kueda for a breakfast, then headed over to Mount Diablo. At Mount Diablo, we met up with @tiwane @alexshepard and @joelle . The plan was to walk a bit around Mount Diablo and then head over to California Academy of Sciences to see iNat headquarters. Well, we didn't end up getting there because Mount Diablo is freaking incredible! The diversity of plants and insects there is remarkable -- I was going ga-ga over even the most common plants. We spent like 7 hours walking around 7 miles all around Mount Diablo. I found out that I'm out of shape, but my adrenaline and excitement over seeing all of this new stuff kept me going. After one of the best hikes of my life, we grabbed some pizza in Oakland (got to meet @catchang too!). Elizabeth and I stayed at a place at Fisherman's Wharf. I crashed hard.

Tuesday, April 25: Elizabeth and I walked up to around Fisherman's Wharf in the AM and then went to California Academy of Science to see iNat headquarters. I really enjoyed this -- especially seeing some of the ideas printed out on the wall and the some of the thought diagrams written out on the dry erase board. I missed seeing @loarie @kestrel and @rebeccafay ... perhaps next time! Got some Mexican food with the group and Elizabeth and I headed north to see family. We made a few stops around Golden Gate Bridge and some of the natural areas. Spent the night with the family in Mill Valley.

Wednesday, April 26: We headed a bit north to a quilt store and some little urban parks, and then went to Point Reyes -- had a blast here. Spotted many different small plants by the lighthouse (the fog was mighty thick, so we couldn't even see the water from the cliffs). Headed back down to spend the night with family in Mill Valley.

Thursday, April 27: Today, we headed further north and stopped at some fabric stores at Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and Cloverdale -- while Elizabeth shopped, I was meandering in the ditches looking at neat weeds! We continued up north, stopped at Navarro River Redwoods State Park to see the mighty redwoods and some cute salamanders, then stopped at Van Damme State Park further north. I was hoping to do a bit of tide-pooling, but the tides didn't cooperate with me. All good -- more incentive to come back! Elizabeth and I stayed at Medocino at a pretty nice old-timey hotel.

Friday, April 28: We explored a bit around Medocino (although, the wind was brutally cold coming off the coast!), and then went more inland. We stopped at quilt store in Ukiah then continued down to Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. Saw a few neat things -- a ring neck snake with a bright orange belly was a highlight. We continued south to Sonoma to visit another quilt store, and I went to an incredible park close to the river. After that, we stopped in Napa, and then back to the family in Mill Valley.

Saturday, April 29: We went with family to the top of Mount Tamalpais -- great views of the city and saw some nice plants while up there. Elizabeth and I spent most of today being with family, and that was nice. We stayed at a hotel close to the airport for a fairly early flight out.

Sunday, April 30: Unfortunately, the vacation had to end, and we flew back to DFW.

Overall, it was one of the best weeks that I've had in a while -- I saw such diversity -- as Chuck Sexton (@gcwarbler) tells me, "Travel is taxonomically broadening" -- I couldn't agree more. It was an especially meaningful experience to spend time with the iNat folks. I tried to express to them how thankful I am for their work in this revolutionary tool. iNat is a tool that helps me greater appreciate nature. :)

Stay tuned for LOTS of CA observations!

The City Nature Challenge was a huge success.

Many of us in Dallas/Fort Worth are worn out, but I do hope it’s a good kind of worn out! I was out quite a bit with fellow naturalists throughout the weekend. On Easter, I even went out a bit by myself. I explored, noticed nature, and thoroughly enjoyed myself as I documented all of the living things around me. I was frequently reminded of just how many other creatures I share the planet with. It’s a wonderful experience. With iNaturalist, I have a tool that can help me learn the names of these plants and animals, and it connects me with other naturalists around the world. In DFW, I wasn’t alone in using this tool – almost 500 fellow citizen scientists joined me in this! Around 24000 observations of about 2300 species were documented during just 5 days (April 14 – 18). Amazing.

But what about the data? Well, let me tell you how I will use the data that we all accumulated during the city nature challenge. As an urban wildlife biologist, I am fortunate to have a direct line with many municipalities and policy makers. I work with city councils, park boards, landowners, and every day citizens. I already knew that there were people that cared about nature, but with the numbers from the city nature challenge, I have a tangible piece of evidence of just how much people care. This is significant!

Not only do these numbers show that diversity exists in the metroplex, but it also shows that there is an active constituency that wants to go to these areas with this diversity. It shows that if a city maintains areas that are good for wildlife, the naturalist community will come and enjoy it. This naturalist community will be stewards of it as well! Now, that is powerful. That is something that can change policy for future generations. That is good for wildlife and people.

I will be using these numbers and data for years and years to come.

If you’re looking for the ‘winners’ in this, let me be frank: nature won. Learning the names of the plants and animals that live here with us is the first step in learning all about them. The benefits of this challenge will be experienced for years to come! Share it with others!

Even though the City Nature Challenge is complete, I encourage you to continue to participate in citizen science! Exploration doesn’t end here – there are many more living organisms to appreciate in Dallas/Fort Worth. I encourage you to keep exploring and keep documenting. I challenge you to examine the observations of others as well as your own – ask for guidance, provide guidance, and learn from others. Stay in this naturalist community – it’s a welcoming one!

Congratulations to everyone that participated in this competition. I am mighty proud of my fellow naturalists here in the DFW metroplex. Great job. :)

Props to the folks at iNat for putting together this experiment. Looking forward to seeing some results!

http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/identification_quality_experiment

Hey friends,

I updated the moth guide and created a new moth guide of the 165 most commonly observed moths in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Here it is:
http://www.inaturalist.org/guides/4700

Big time thanks to the folks that observe moths and add GREAT images -- you'll probably notice some of these as being your images (@greglasley @gcwarbler @annikaml @krancmm @cgritz @kimberlietx @pfau_tarleton ... several other folks I can't recall right now).

I created this guide by using the observation search, filtering by the place DFW Metroplex, and the species as Lepidoptera. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=57484&subview=grid&taxon_id=47157&view=species
These are sorted by the number of observations, so these are the most commonly observed ones. I then copy and pasted the species names of the ones that were moths (as opposed to the butterflies), and created the guide with these.

I'd like to know how many folks you think will use this though before I make it available online. @loarie @kueda @pleary @tiwane and the iNat folks mention that it is a burden to the system, so I definitely don't want to do that, unless there are several people that you think would use something like this.

Yippee! Moths! :)

So, I'm giving a 3 hour presentation to a group of master naturalists about taxonomy and citizen science, and there's one question that I'd love to get some input from my fellow iNatters: why do you like to name things? Why is it important to you, personally, to give an organism a name? Is it something you enjoy? Why does it matter to you?

There are quite a few reasons that I like to learn something's name. For me, that's the first step in appreciating it. It's the first step in how I can learn more about it too. I use the name to communicate about it to others as well.

I'm wrong with its name a bunch, but still by giving it a name, somehow it becomes more meaningful to me.

Would LOVE to hear why you like to give an organism a name. :)

So, I was glancing at a few papers today, and I spotted this one:

Species identification by experts and non-experts: comparing images from field guides. G. E. Austen, M. Bindemann, R. A. Griffiths & D. L. Roberts -- Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 33634 (2016)

Abstract: Accurate species identification is fundamental when recording ecological data. However, the ability to correctly identify organisms visually is rarely questioned. We investigated how experts and non-experts compared in the identification of bumblebees, a group of insects of considerable conservation concern. Experts and non-experts were asked whether two concurrent bumblebee images depicted the same or two different species. Overall accuracy was below 60% and comparable for experts and non-experts. However, experts were more consistent in their answers when the same images were repeated, and more cautious in committing to a definitive answer. Our findings demonstrate the difficulty of correctly identifying bumblebees using images from field guides. Such error rates need to be accounted for when interpreting species data, whether or not they have been collected by experts. We suggest that investigation of how experts and non-experts make observations should be incorporated into study design, and could be used to improve training in species identification.

Anyways, I was thinking about the ID system here on iNat. I really enjoy ID'ing observations for folks -- I try to focus on the stuff from TX, but every now and then I try to tackle some observations from outside of TX.

I've been wrong hundreds/thousands of times, probably. My ego's not too too massive -- it's ok that I've been wrong! I do learn a lot from mistakes and from being corrected. And as any natural history collection (digital or physical) goes, each mistake doesn't diminish the integrity of the database -- the mistakes are eventually caught... "Eventually" can mean a long time though. That's the nature of collections! :)

The more folks that ID, the stronger the database gets too. Even if it's verifying an observation that's already been verified/research grade, that's a valuable annotation, in my mind. It's a safe-guard against some of the new folks to iNat that give a more general ID and change the taxon as well.

Tagging some of my favorite ID'er to see if you'd like to look at that paper too.

@greglasley @carrieseltzer @gcwarbler @d_kluza @mako252 @maractwin @aguilita @kueda @kevinhintsa @john8 @loarie @lisa_bennett @nlblock @susanhewitt @cosmiccat @charlie @silversea_starsong @glmory @robberfly @borisb @nathantaylor7583 @muir

Dear friends,

Short message:

Gathering at Pat Mayse WMA (http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/list/?id=18) on May 12 - 14, 2017. Survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/C5D7LMR Want you to make observations here. Want to have fun. Want to see you. :)

Longer message:

Hello! Hope everyone is doing well. I sure enjoyed the heck out of the Big Thicket BioBlitz last fall with many of you. iNat is an amazing community, and it's so dang fun to get to meet many of you in person. We observed a LOT at the last bioblitz (http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/2016-national-parks-bioblitz-big-thicket-mini-bioblitz), but just as importantly, we had a great time with each other. At least, I hope you feel this way!

Well, based on the last survey and some email correspondence, it sounds like we want to do this again. So, I've been in contact with a few folks and I've been looking at the iNat observations map, and North East TX is a potential location for our next TX iNat gathering. I know this may not be the top choice for everyone, but I have a feeling wherever we go, we're going to have fun and see some amazing things.

One location, Pat Mayse Wildlife Management Area is particularly interesting. This is a 8900 acre area that is usually used as a public hunting grounds. There is no hunting going on from May 1 - 15 (after that, it's squirrel season!). So, I've talked with the TPWD folks, and we'll have pretty much free range on the 8900 acres for comradery and exploration. That second weekend, May 12 - 14 looks like it might be a good time.

Here is a survey that I would LOVE for you to complete (just three questions). Again, I know it's hard to work out a perfect location and a perfect time for everyone, so if you're not able to make this one, apologies... I do hope that these sort of things will be a regular event, though. There are so many places that need to be explored, and it's a lot of fun to do that together -- even if it's just for evening gatherings after exploring solo during the day.

A few things to mention about Pat Mayse WMA. No restrooms. Yikes! So, this will be roughing it indeed! There is a campground nearby owned by the Army Core, but I think there is a charge to enter or to camp... I don't know what it is.

Elizabeth (my wife) and I will likely stay the two nights at a hotel in Paris -- there are quite a few options of cheap hotels there.

Pat Mayse WMA has no electricity! I'm planning on renting a gas generator for mothing on Friday and Saturday night. It may hold a few lights, but if you have another set up, be sure to bring it.

Pat Mayse apparently is fairly rugged as far as roads go... 4 wheel drive is important, according to the website. I have not been before though, so if you have been there and know differently, let me know. This may mean that we meet somewhere and just jump into whichever vehicle can handle the roads, or we'll just do a bit of walking around.

Like the Big Thicket, food will be kinda on your own. I'm planning on bringing some PBJ. We may have a nice gathering on Saturday night and I'll cook up some hotdogs or something.

Pat Mayse probably doesn't have any wifi/internet connection. Just FYI.

If you aren't able to make this, that's totally ok (although, we'll miss you!). There is another event later in the year that's a bit larger of an iNat gathering. BJ Stacey (finatic on iNat) is organizing an event in August 20 - 27 in Arizona. For more details: http://www.inaturalist.org/journal/finatic/8119-inat-athon-in-southeast-arizona-august-20-26-2017

If you wouldn't mind, please do the survey so I have an idea of how many folks to expect. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/C5D7LMR

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. And please forward to the other iNat folks that you know that might want to join us!

~Sam (sambiology)

So, this year I challenged myself to observe more species than last year. Well, I pulled it off – I observed 2113 species in 9465 observations. That’s even more than last year! wipes sweat from forehead and blows smoke from camera Whew. :)

I suppose that is what amazes me about iNaturalist – I continue to enjoy it. This tool enhances my experience outside. It’s enhancing the time I spend inside too. I love to look at what others observe and in some cases, provide a bit of guidance to an ID or give a “great observation!” As I meet more naturalists from around the world, I’m encouraged to go out and explore even more… I’ll go out and look for things similar to what others are finding. “Community, exploration, knowledge, curiosity, friendship, guidance, data collection, fun…” I use these words when I talk about iNaturalist.

My belief is solidified – this kind of thing can change the world. My life sure has been enriched by it. :)

One of my favorite challenges this year came from the iNat folks. Thanks to @loarie, @kueda, @tiwane and the others at iNat headquarters that came up with the critter calendar concept. It may have fizzled out for some after the first couple months, but I put the target taxon for each week in my calendar this year. Every week I pulled it off (although, I did use end up using just evidence for the hummingbird and swift week in February!) and, most importantly, had great fun.

Just for giggles, here are the critters that I observed this year for the critter calendar and the particular one that I enjoyed observing for each week:

Suliformes (cormorants) Jan 3 – 9: 1 observation
Double-crested cormorant from Mansfield, TX

Piciformes (woodpeckers) Jan 10 – 16: 7 observations
Yellow-bellied sapsucker from Hudson Oaks, TX

Accipitriformes (hawks and vultures) Jan 17 – 23: 6 observations
Northern harrier from El Paso, TX

Anseriformes (ducks) Jan 24 – 30: 36 observations
Northern pintail from Arlington, TX

Pelecaniformes (herons) Jan 31 – Feb 6: 2 observations
American white pelican from Weatherford, TX

Cactaceae (cacti) Feb 7 – 13: 4 observations
Christmas cholla from San Antonio, TX

Caudata (salamanders) Feb 14 – 20: 1 observation
Small-mouthed salamander from Arlington, TX

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Feb 21- 27: 1 observation
Western mosquitofish from Cedar Hill, TX

Apodiformes (hummingbirds and swifts) Feb 28 – Mar 5: 1 observation
Chimney swift (evidence) from Dallas, TX

Rodentia (rodents) Mar 6 – 12: 5 observations
Fox squirrel from Dallas, TX

Bryophyta (mosses) Mar 13 – 19: 7 observations
Green-tufted stubble moss from Cedar Hill, TX

Boraginaceae (borages) Mar 20 – 26: 3 observations
Corn gromwell from Dallas, TX

Apiaceae (carrots) Mar 27 – Apr 2: 6 observations
Shepherd’s-needle from Dallas, TX:

Fabaceae (legumes) Apr 3 – 9: 20 observations
Eve’s necklace from Dallas, TX

Hylidae (tree frogs) Apr 10 – 16: 3 observations
Blanchard’s cricket frog from Sherman, TX

Sauria (lizards) Apr 17 – 23: 1 observation
Little brown skink from Fort Worth, TX

Brassicaceae (mustards) Apr 24 – 30: 2 observations
Annual bastard cabbage from Lewisville, TX

Ranunculaceae (buttercups) May 1 – 7: 4 observations
Prairie larkspur from Cedar Hill, TX

Asparagaceae (agaves and asparagus) May 8 – 14: 2 observations
Asparagus from Cedar Hill, TX

Serpentes (snakes) May 15 – 21: 1 observation
Cottonmouth from Fort Worth, TX

Rosaceae (roses) May 22 – 28: 3 observations
Callery Pear from Denton, TX

Testudines (turtles) May 29 – Jun 4: 3 observations
Common snapping turtle from Arlington, TX

Poaceae (grasses) Jun 5 – 11: 39 observations
Carolina jointgrass from Hudson Oaks, TX

Bufonidae (true toads) June 12 – 18: 1 observation
Woodhouse’s toad from White Settlement, TX

Plantaginaceae (plantains) Jun 19 – 25: 3 observations
Largebracted plantain from Hope, AR

Odonata (dragonflies) Jun 26 – Jul 2: 54 observations
Royal river cruiser from Fort Worth, TX

Coleoptera (beetles) Jul 3 – 9: 21 observations
Carolina metallic tiger beetle from Garland, TX

Ericaceae (heathers) Jul 10 – 16: 1 observation
Sparkleberry from Arlington, TX

Lamiaceae (mints) Jul 17 – 23: 1 observation
Lemon beebalm from Cedar Hill, TX

Lepidoptera (butterflies/moths) Jul 24 – 30: 68 observations
Anna carpenterworm moth from Dallas, TX

Diptera (flies) Jul 31 – Aug 6: 5 observations
Palpada furcata from Fort Worth, TX

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps) Aug 7 – 13: 10 observations
Eastern cicada killer from Fort Worth, TX

Artiodactyla (deer) Aug 14 – 20: 1 observation
White-tailed deer from Hudson Oaks, TX

Hemiptera (true bugs) Aug 21 – 27: 9 observations
Concheula bug from Big Bend, TX

Ranidae (true frogs) Aug 28 – Sep 3: 1 observation
American bullfrog from Cedar Hill, TX

Polygonaceae (knotweeds) Sep 4 – 10: 2 observations
Pinkweed from Denton, TX

Asteraceae (sunflowers) Sep 11 – 17: 25 observations
Texas skeleton plant from Benbrook, TX

Orthoptera (grasshoppers) Sep 18 – 24: 2 observations
Admirable grasshopper from Dallas, TX

Columbiformes (doves) Sep 25 – Oct 1: 1 observation
Rock pigeon from Cedar Hill, TX

Sapindaceae (maples) Oct 2 – 8: 1 observation
Box elder from Cedar Hill, TX

Araneae (spiders) Oct 9 – 15: 5 observations
Arrowhead orbweaver from Kountze, TX

Fagaceae (oaks) Oct 16 – 22: 1 observation
Southern red oak from Centerville, TX

Pinophyta (pines) Oct 23 – 29: 1 observation
Loblolly pine from Navasota, TX

Lecanorales (lichens) Oct 30 – Nov 5: 2 observations
Star rosette lichen from Fort Worth, TX

Mollusca (snails) Nov 6 – 12: 4 observations
Marsh rams-horn from Fort Worth, TX

Carnivora (carnivores) Nov 13 – 19: 3 observations
Common raccoon from Mineola, TX

Pteridophyta (ferns) Nov 20 – 26: 3 observations
Wavy scale cloakfern from Arlington, TX

Charadriiformes (shorebirds) Nov 27 – Dec 3: 4 observations
Wilson’s snipe from Arlington, TX

Crustacea (crabs) Dec 4 – 10: 1 observation
Common pill-bug from Cedar Hill, TX

Orchidaceae (orchids) Dec 11 – 17: 1 observation
Great Plains ladies’ tresses from Hudson Oaks, TX

Agaricales (mushrooms) Dec 18 – 24: 2 observations
Split-gill mushroom from Cedar Hill, TX

Passeriformes (songbirds) Dec 25 – 31: 65 observations
Hermit thrush from Seagoville, TX

2016 was a good year. Looking forward to learning and exploring even more in 2017! I hope you do the same. :)

One of the most beautiful things about iNaturalist is the community of naturalists. I was so warmly welcomed into it, and I especially appreciated the folks that provided me with some gentle guidance (except for all the times that @gcwarbler yelled at me for not cropping my images enough – kidding!).

So, I’m going to work on some standard responses that I’ll add onto the comment section of observations and observers that need a bit of guidance. I’ll be referring back to this journal entry frequently to copy and paste these on the specific observation. Please tell me if there are other instances that you notice and what all you say in the comment section. :)

If the observation is of a cultivated plant:

Since this is a cultivated/planted plant, please mark it as cultivated. You can do this by clicking “no” to the question “Is the organism wild/naturalized?” on the data quality assessment. Try your best to observe plants and animals that aren’t cultivated or in captivity. The wild organisms are far more interesting and important to document! :)
If you need some more help, be sure to check out the getting started page:
http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

If the observation is of a captive animal (like a pet or in a zoo):

It doesn’t look like this is a wild animal. You should mark it as captive. You can do this by clicking “no” to the question “Is the organism wild/naturalized?” on the data quality assessment. Try your best to observe plants and animals that aren’t cultivated or in captivity. The wild organisms are far more interesting and important to document! :)
If you need some more help, be sure to check out the getting started page:
http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

If the observation is too blurry/unclear/dark/too far off to make out a specific ID:

It’s hard to tell what this is just by this photo. Next time, try to get a clearer shot . You can also add multiple pictures to an observation that may help with the identification.
If you need some more help, be sure to check out the getting started page:
http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

If the observation has multiple pictures of different species:

An observation on iNaturalist is just for a single species. You have multiple different species in this single observation. You should separate these all out so that each one can be recorded separately. It’s ok if they were all in the same spot – you can use the same location. Please do separate out each image.
If you need some more help, be sure to check out the getting started page:
http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started

If the teacher/professor of the class needs to give more guidance (multiple observations from various students that are poor quality):

If you would, please tell your teacher/professor to give some extra guidance on how to use iNaturalist properly. Some of these observations could use some extra help.

He/she should look at all of these observations, give some pointers on the difference between cultivated/captive and wild organisms, and assist with how to properly take pictures for identification.
http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/teacher's+guide

Update -- check this page for other standard responses: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/responses

There's a 'hidden' page that you should watch:
http://www.inaturalist.org/stats

The folks at iNat really like statistics, I think (right? @kueda @loarie @tiwane @joelle @alexshepard @pleary )... Well, if you look at the stats page, you can see some really interesting trends and fluctuations. I set all of the time frames to max so that I can see the trends over the longest time possible... It's so beautiful to see the growth of observations and observers. I can only speak from my precedent and the folks that I talk to, but the more that we observe, the more that we actively want to observe -- exploration leads to more exploration. This is a great thing! :)

However, with the influx of observations from folks just trying out iNat and with the surge of explorers exploring, it leaves a LOT of observations that are awaiting some guidance... Guidance comes in the form of comments, ID's, encouragement, messages -- it creates a welcoming community. This is why iNat is something special, I think. It's not an app, it's not just a tool, it's a community and network. I'm obnoxiously bonkers about it. :)

However, I've also discussed citizen science and iNaturalist with my friends in academia, and I'm surprised at how many folks are opposed to the concept of the ID's by non-experts... When a 'non-expert' ID's something, it's as though science is diluted, or so they say. It's quite true that many organisms can't be identified with 100% certainty with just a photo or two. Maybe too much value is placed on getting an observation to "research grade" as well. I have a bit of a different view, and it's why I've continued to use iNat. The ID is guidance and a 'welcome to iNat,' not the final answer.

As I've worked in the herbarium with a collection of nearly 1 million plant specimens, I would see specimens packed with annotations (corrections on the ID) as well as countless specimens awaiting an ID... I think this is the nature of all collections -- many times specimens (or observations, in the case of iNat) await guidance and identifications... ID's can be wrong, and that's ok -- as they are re-examined eventually, perhaps the correct ID is placed on the observation. No natural history collection is stagnant. :)

So, my most heart-felt appreciation to those that identify observations for others. What you really do when you ID something is invite that observer to the community. Nature appreciation is amplified when you're part of a community that values that trait. That's tremendously valuable -- I'd even argue that it's life changing.

Again, big time props to the new identify tool as well -- it's easier to provide guidance now more than ever. I tend to filter observations to Texas, and remove the ones that "need ID." This loads up all of the verifiable observations, even those that have already been verified by others. Here's the link I use:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/identify?quality_grade=any&place_id=18

Also, it's ok to 'agree' with the already agreed ID's, I think. Not only does it appear to be more invitation to the iNat community, but it also adds more consensus to the identification. As new users come along and perhaps give a more broad ID, if there's a lot of consensus already, the taxon stays with the consensus rather than the new more broad ID.

I was going to tag the folks that have identified so many of my observations, but there are sooo many folks that have welcomed me to this community. As a matter of fact, here they are:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&subview=grid&user_id=sambiology&view=identifiers
737 people have welcomed me to this community of iNaturalist. Thanks. :)