muir's 2016 iNat Year in Review

Observations
I made an iNaturalist observation in every month of 2016, almost missing December but saved by a single observation of a chilly Autumn Meadowhawk that I saw with my local iNat buddy @carrieseltzer. In total, I posted 1,834 observations and 854 species (IDed as of this journal post). That's a slight increase from last year, but still down from 2012-2014. iNat has really grown since then! As an example, I topped the entire site's observation leaderboard in 2012 and my observations accounted for %0.02 of iNat's total. In 2016, in contrast, I am currently the #105th most prolific observer and my contributions are 0.001% of iNat's total observations. (Hooray for iNat's awesome growth and congrats to this year's leaders @reallifeecology @sambiology @finatic!)

Places
About 40% of my 2016 observations were from outside the United States, my highest level since I joined in 2011. I traveled to three new-to-me African countries: Morocco (71 observations, 49 species, 45 life list firsts), Uganda (167 observations, 107 species, 26 life list firsts), Rwanda (82 observations, 62 species, 12 life list firsts). I also traveled to DRC and Congo-Brazzaville, but to places that were new to me: Garamba (122 observations, 88 species, 25 life list firsts), Nouabale-Ndoki (262 observations, 100 species, 35 life list firsts) and Odzala (71 observations, 48 species, 10 life list firsts).

About 40% of my 2016 observations were from my DC area home range. Some of my regular favorites: Huntley Meadows, VA (104 observations, 76 species, 4 day trips), Occoquan NWR, VA (82 observations, 64 species, 2 day trips), Idylwild WMA, MD (117 observations, 80 species, 4 day trips), Jug Bay, MD (26 observations, 22 species, 2 day trips), Bombay Hook NWR, DE (46 observations, 38 species, 2 day trips), Chincoteague NWR, VA (36 observations, 30 species, 1 day trip), and Little Bennett State Park, MD (36 observations, 28 species, 2 day trips). Some new sites for me: Governor Bridge Natural Area, MD (39 observations, 33 species, 9 life list firsts); Lums Pond State Park, DE (15 observations, 15 species, 2 life list firsts), Long Branch Nature Center, VA (22 observations, 18 species, 4 life list firsts), Sky Meadows State Park, VA (41 observations, 35 species, 6 life list firsts), and Pokomoke River WMA, MD (17 observations, 15 species, 4 life list firsts).

Finally, I traveled to Austin, Texas in May (222 observations, 142 species, 78 life list firsts) and northern California in July (Big Sur to Truckee: 64 observations, 41 species, 23 life list firsts). In TX, I was fortunate enough to reconnect with @greglasley to re-visit Hornsby Bend, and then spend 3 days at McKinney Rough State Park at @jcabbott and @kendrakabbott 's amazing BugShot macro photography workshop.

Species
In no particular order, here are some of my favorite species photos that I took in 2016, most of them life list firsts:

I observed a small leaf beetle on the shores of Rwanda's Lake Ruhondo. Many thanks to @borisb for ID help on this observation, and many other beetle observations.

On the same walk, I also saw a Giant Carpenter Bee, tentatively IDed as Xylocopa flavorufa.

Thanks to @fungee , my stinkhorn fungus on the Uganda-DRC border was identified as Lysurus corallocephalus.

A wattled lapwing impressed in Queen Elizabeth NP, Uganda.
A funky planthopper in Congo, seen in May.
An Acraea chrysalis from the same area in Congo.
Mazuca dulcis and Delorhachis viridiplaga, two attractive moths in Congo and some of the few I managed to ID to species. Of the 140 Lepidoptera observations I documented in Bomassa, only 26 have so far been identified to the Family level or below.

Western gorillas in Congo's Odzala National Park and Mountain Gorillas in Volcanoes NP, Rwanda.

Moray eels for sale in the Essaouira fish market, Morocco.
In a sand dune in SE Morocco, I found a spider in the Cebrennus genus, possibly the "flic-flac" spider featured in the New York Times. My own video was not as impressive but @jakob like it anyway.

Closer to home, I was thrilled to see my first Gray Petaltail in June, and then I observed one decapitated by a European Hornet.
Texas beetles observed during BugShot: a clown weevil(Eudiagogus pulcher), Ironclad Beetle (Zopherus nodulosus ssp. haldemani), and a buprestid (Polycesta elata).

My first iNat observation of a virus turns a pillbug purple.

Finally, not a life list first, but a revelation: dancing penguins are a diagnostic field mark to distinguish Forest Tent Caterpillars from Eastern Tent Caterpillars.

People
In 2016, I had the good fortune to meet up IRL with @carrieseltzer @judygva @nhmordenana @loarie @kueda @sapito @katja @greglasley @jcabbott @kendrakabbott @briangratwicke @naturelady @congonaturalist @mattluizza @stsang @katzyna @maryeford @alexshepard @joelle @jackcamino and of course @aamuir who deserves credit for spotting most of the things we saw together. And a huge THANK YOU to @jakob @greglasley @aguilita @borisb @john8 @kevinhintsa @nlblock @maractwin @johnnybirder and @gcwarbler who were the top 10 identifiers to my observations. And another thank you to @joelle who (I think) was behind my favorite new thing about iNat in 2016 -- the revamped Observations page. Happy New Year everybody!

2017 Goals

• SE Arizona, August w/ @finatic @jaykeller et al
• Sumatra
• Central African Republic
• Dolly Sods Wilderness, WV
• Ophiogomphus, Lanthus vernalis, more new odes
• Learning a new way to contribute to iNat

Posted on January 13, 2017 04:14 AM by muir