October may be Alligator Lizard month, but so far we only have one Alligator Lizard observation thanks to garrettt331 (obs 912742). Otherwise, October is tracking well compared to last year. For this month, we have 217 observations of around 75 species compared to October 2013; which had 282 observations of about 85 species. With a week to go, I bet we can top both the number of observations and species! Good luck out there, we look forward to seeing what you can find!
As I casually perused the H.O.T. page this morning, I noticed something special. The number of observations posted to the project has nearly reached ten thousand (9,999). Who/what/where will be lucky observation # 10,0000 and what will the next 10K observations teach us about the herps of Texas?
As we go into fall, there are still great herping opportunities. For example, more Alligator Lizard have been reported in October than any other month of the year. With all this rain, this is a great time to go herping and we look forward to seeing what you find!
Our friends at the LA Museum of Natural History obviously care as much about their data as we do. They just posted on the importance of assigning accuracy to your observations. This is critical to how we use the data. Always remember, make it count, assign accuracy! You can see the post here:
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/959/journal/3263
We are now over 9,000 observations. At this rate we will be over 10,000 observations later this summer!
We already have over 2,200 observations of over 160 species for 2014! Check out the leader boards:
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/reptiles-of-texas-big-year-2014
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/amphibians-of-texas-big-year-2014
We also have some great news on prizes. Animal Equipment by Stoney and Snake Days have both offered to sponsor the prizes for the competition. Snake Days will be offering a selection of field guides to the winners, and Stoney has offered some awesome gear. Specifically, the winners will get to choose from a stump ripper, a Mamba hook, and a viper hook. Check out this gear and more here:
http://www.aestoney.com/
Of course, there is no better path to winning these prizes than to participate in Snake Days later this month. There are going to be some excellent talks, and you will see a bunch of species with some very knowledgeable herpers. We fully expect a shake up of the leader board after the event. To register and learn more go to:
http://www.snakedays.com/
Final note, don't forget to assign accuracy to your observations! http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/herps-of-texas/journal/1869
Happy New Years! 2013 was our first full year, and it was a good year. During 2013 we made 3,593 observations of 188 species. This includes 57 species of amphibians and 131 species of reptiles. The MVH’s (Most Valuable Herpers) of 2013 were Toby and Conner22. Toby found a total of 108 species, and made 283 observations. Conner22 was a strong second with 92 species and 157 observations. To see the top ten leaders for observations and species, check out the leaderboards for 2013:
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/amphibians-of-texas-big-year-2013
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/reptiles-of-texas-big-year-2013
Toby and Conner22 have set a high bar for what you can see in Texas in a year, but we are sure people can top it. For 2014 we are starting a competition to see who can find the most species of Reptiles and Amphibians and who will post the most observations. Unfortunately for Toby, and fortunately for everyone else, curators cannot win. So it appears that Conner22 is the person to beat in 2014. We will see….. The winners will get to choose from some HOT herp gear: stump ripper, headlamp, reflective vest, field guides, and more.
You can check the 2014 leaderboards over the course of the year here:
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/reptiles-of-texas-big-year-2014
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/amphibians-of-texas-big-year-2014
Terms of the competition:
-Observations must be added to the Herps of Texas Project
-Each species must have at least one research grade observation with a photograph or a sound recording
-The Curators of Herps of Texas will resolve any disputes in species identification.
-Herps of Texas Curators may not win the competition.
-Participants may win in one of three ways:
1. Observe the most species of Reptiles in Texas in 2014.
2. Observe the most species of Amphibians in Texas in 2014.
3. Post the most observations of Reptiles and Amphibians in Texas in 2014.
October is a great month for herping in Texas. Cooler weather and precipitation make for excellent amphibian conditions and many species suddenly seem much more abundant that just a few weeks ago. Young-of-year lizards, snakes, turtles, and frogs appear in the darnedest places. This month is probably your best bet for finding a Texas alligator lizard since they seem to be most active in March and October. Fluctuating temperatures means we will continue to encounter baby rattlesnakes and other species until the cold sets in next month. Get out there and have fun!
As the Herps of Texas Project grows, 4,094 observations and counting, we are starting to look at ways that we can use the data. With Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), we are working with NatureServe to help Herps of Texas communicate directly with TPWD’s Texas Natural Diversity Database. With some species, we will also be using the observations for distribution modeling. In any case, we want to make sure that observers are aware that by submitting your observations, they will be used. For the sake of clarity, we are adding the following phrase to the Project Terms:
“By adding your observations to this project, you are giving the curators and affiliated institutions permission to use the observations for conservation and research purposes. This use includes the potential back up of photographs for verification purposes, but does not grant permission for the publication or other commercial use of photographs.”
Please let us know if you have any questions or comments. We look forward to posting any interesting highlights here in the project journal.
Smartphone photos are convenient because they add GPS coordinates to every photograph, but what about when you want to use a camera without a GPS? You can mark an observation with the iNaturalist App, but that takes time in the field. The most efficient method is to record your track with your smartphone or a GPS, and use the track file to assign GPS coordinates to your photographs on your computer. It takes a little time to figure out, but once you do, it makes it really easy and fast to geotag your photos.
Steps:
GPS: You can use any GPS to create a track log (.gpx); a number of models called GPS loggers are small enough to easily fit in your pocket. You can also use your smart phone; a mobile app called GeotagPhotos (http://www.geotagphotos.net) makes this exceptionally easy because it automatically uploads the tracks to dropbox. GPX Master (http://www.rangdasoftware.com/GPX_Master.html) is a free app that does the same thing, and there may be others. If you use a GPS logger then you have the added step of uploading the gpx file to your computer, but it won’t be using your batteries on your phone. Either way, make sure your camera is set to the right date, time, and time zone.
If you have a GPS that does not export the track as a GPX file, GPS babel (http://www.gpsbabel.org/) is free software that will convert the file to GPX.
Assigning coordinates: Once the track file (GPX) is on your computer it is easy to assign coordinates to photos with most photo management software. In Adobe Lightroom it takes about two clicks to geotag all the photos from a trip. If you don’t have software that will do this, there are free options that will:
http://www.earlyinnovations.com/gpsphotolinker/
http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/
http://www.geosetter.de/en/
This youtube video shows how easy it is to geotag photos with the GeotagPhotos app and Adobe Lightroom:
Geotagging your photos makes adding them to iNaturalist a breeze. You can just drag and drop them into iNaturalist, and iNaturalist will automatically create the location based on the coordinates in the metadata. It will also automatically bring in the name and comments if you filled out the metadata. The only thing it doesn’t do is assign the accuracy, which can be done with a quick batch edit. Here is a link to the photo uploader:
