2018 venture vermont: sign up for inaturalist and use it to find five species new to you

last year they had us sign up for a thing that was way less useful. i mean it was pretty, but it was more like suggestions of places to go rather than a comprehensive usable trove of information you might be looking for.

but i digress.

this year i am all over this new thing, inaturalist.

i am all over this thing. not only can you use it to identify species new to you, but you can use it for citizen science reporting and you can use it to help other people learn species you know.

i am experimenting with using it to create a field guide.

it also manages your lists.

i am learning so much.

and getting that "research-grade" banner on one of your observations is like crack. i spend hours there.

i am way over five species new to me, but here are some of my favorites:

northern rough winged swallow
wild sarsaparilla
acanthocephala terminalis
stream bluet
black swallowtail

seriously. i'd never seen a black swallowtail before.