For a long time now, I've been terrible at getting around to sharing photos. I love to take them, but when I go on the kind of trip or have the kind of adventure that many people my age would immediately plaster all over Facebook or Instagram, I tend to never get around to posting the photos. Instead I keep them tucked away on a hard drive as a visual diary to periodically revisit when I'm feeling nostalgic. But now iNaturalist seems poised to change that in its own way.
Last weekend we took a little jaunt to the Fergus Scottish Festival in Fergus, Ontario where I took many wonderful photos of pipe bands and caber-tossers and adorable children dancing the highland fling. A week later, those photos still sit tucked away in my digital vault. Perhaps I'll get around to sharing a few later this weekend, but my first instinct was to make sure that I got my iNaturalist updates in, posting the plants and animals I encountered in the nearby Elora Gorge.
Is it because I feel like there's more of a point to iNaturalist? Maybe, but I certainly believe there's value in sharing fun experiences with people you love, too. Is it because I'm personally more interested in learning the name of a spider than remembering the name of a bagpipe-based rock band*? This seems more likely. Maybe I'm just more motivated by seeing a "Research Grade" listing over a "Like".
Whatever the appeal, I'm already thinking about past trips and trying to remember how many photos I took that would be close enough and clear enough to record a natural encounter. I have a feeling there might be a lot, and maybe now I'll actually give them a life outside my hard drive.
*They were called the Red Hot Chili Pipers, which is actually quite easy to remember whether or not I post about them on Facebook.
Impressive spider chilling on its web halfway down the staircase from the Elora Gorge Lookout into the Gorge itself
Standing guard over the parking lot of The Fry Shack / The Shake Shack, an outdoor-tables-only french fry and ice cream combo joint. Surprised there was only one gull in sight.
Bold little bunny right by the path, not overly concerned by passers-by. Gave the flash of white tail when it finally headed for the bushes.
Ferns growing beside the staircase leading from the lookout down into the Gorge.
Purple flower, tall stem, growing out of a rock wall where ferns were also growing. Staircase from the lookout down into the Gorge.
Taking iNaturalist's suggestion of Nipplewort. Several patches of these growing in the gorge at the bottom of the lookout.
White flower growing low to the ground down in the gorge.
Small yellow flower growing down in the Gorge (not sure why I didn't take the time to get a better photo!)
Very small, delicate looking spider on a wispy web. Black/brown with yellow markings; underside only. Very close to the water.
Comments
welcome to the community! : )
I use iNat as my field book all the time, and I get such pleasure from it. :)
Keep up the observations!
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