Activating for Citizen Science's Journal

August 21, 2022

iNaturalist tip from the Greg

As you record you learn over time. I suggest you go back to the beginning of your recordings filter to Needs ID and recheck/identify your observations.
Why? Because if you are like me, you know way more now than you did even a year ago. I've managed to identify many of my older observations. This is specifically useful if you are a plant person.
I hit gold with this older observation from January 2021. Back then I identified this vine as Parsonsia fulva but last night I rechecked and now know that this is the "Endangered" Parsonsia largiflorens. Even better, this location could a new one for this species. It's super rare and it has only 27 records on ALA. The story is that this species was "missing" is SEQ up until 10 years ago when a botanist found it up on the Blackall range nearby. Out of interest I have contacted our herbarium and asked a few questions.

Parsonsia largiflorens ©Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC-BY-SA)

The only issue with the above is that location for this observation was recorded a few hundred metres away from the forest over a freeway in a field. I think this was one of those observations where GPS played up.

Nooooo!

I will need to go back and find this plant again.
Adapted from a post by @gregtasney

Posted on August 21, 2022 12:17 PM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 3 comments | Leave a comment

July 15, 2022

April to June 2022 Challenge - summary

Well I have been quite busy over the past few months with other things so time to catch up on how have we been tracking in our Monthly Challenge over this time with another splendid effort, in the last month we all contributed a massive effort. The numbers will only go up as people may upload observations in the next few weeks. As of writing, we have contributed
April
Observations 10, 377 (10, 144 in Australia alone)
Species 3, 079
Identifiers 706
Observers 72 (28 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)
observations been made?

May
Observations 6, 457 (6, 196 in Australia alone)
Species 2, 198
Identifiers 583
Observers 60 (21 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)
observations been made?

June
Observations 5, 368 (5,023 in Australia alone)
Species 1, 999
Identifiers 493
Observers 61 (21 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)
observations been made?

Join the 'Activating for Citizen Science' project

Together our 62 Australian observers accounted for substantial contributions to the overall records made all contributing;
April 8.9 % of the 114,327 observations recorded in Australia
May 6.2 % of the 100,315 observations recorded in Australia
June 6.3 % of the 79,476 observations recorded in Australia

months around 6.7 % of all observations within Australia over the month of February (at the time of writing) while constituting only just over 1% of all Australian iNaturalists observers active during each month.
Over the three months, the number of observations exceeded 100,000 Australian iNaturalist observations, twice in both April and May but fell away in June to just below 80,000 possibly due to the cooler weather experienced across southern Australia. It is fantastic to see so many observations being made.

As we come into Orchid season in southern Australia and I encourage you all to level up with Wild Orchid Watch, the Australian citizen science project that has its own app that collects extra data, that feeds into inaturalist.
You can install the Wild Orchid Watch (WOW) app on your mobile device, simply by typing in your internet browser: app.wildorchidwatch.org (or select the button below) and follow the prompts. The WOW app is a progressive web app, so it sits on the web, not in the app store, but looks just like a regular app once installed.

The most observed species in April 2022

The most observed species in April was the Stink Bug, Bromocoris souefi with 67 observations all from Queensland.

Bromocoris souefi, observed by
@natashataylor at Graceville Parks, QLD.

The most observed species in May 2022

The most observed species in May was the White Garland House Hopper Maratus scutulatus with 46 observations all from Queensland,

White Garland House Hopper Maratus scutulatus, observed by
@natashataylor at Graceville Parks, QLD.

The most observed species in June 2022

Posted on July 15, 2022 01:06 AM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 0 comments | Leave a comment

May 26, 2022

250,000 records!

Our ongoing engagement project #AASitizenScience has hit 250,000 records!
what a fantastic achievement congrats all.

250,127 observations
17,782 species
6,302 Identifiers
114 Observers

top 10 species
1504 observations Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen
1045 observations Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus moluccanus
945 observations Green Tree Frog Ranoidea caerulea
939 observations Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala
882 observations Australian White Ibis Threskiornis molucca
830 observations Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula
823 observations European Honey Bee Apis mellifera
820 observations Silver Gull Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae
736 observations Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae
728 observations Ornate Burrowing Frog Platyplectrum ornatum

Posted on May 26, 2022 08:05 AM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 0 comments | Leave a comment

April 10, 2022

March 2022 Challenge - summary

Our Monthly Challenge continues with another splendid effort, in the last month we all contributed a massive effort. The numbers will only go up as people may upload observations in the next few weeks. As of writing, we have contributed
Observations 6,722 (6,300 in Australia alone)
Species 2,213
Identifiers 576
Observers 67 (19 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)

Where have our observations been made?

For the latest stats check out the March Challenge-Updated Stats

Together our 64 Australian observers accounted for around 6.7 % of all observations within Australia over the month of February (at the time of writing) while constituting only around 1.1% of all Australian iNaturalists observers active during the month.
This month the number of observations remained 100,000 Australian iNaturalist observations, the second time since September 2021 for the second time, the number of observations has dropped below 100K observations this may be due to the floods along Australias eastern seaboard and the lift on Covid 19 restrictions. This trend may continue in March as some of Australia's most prolific observers have been restricted to investigating their backyard Biodiversity. We look forward to the cooler months and many 'fungi forays', we would love to see you adventures over the coming months. For those in Australia we encourage you to join the " Fungimap Australia"

Orange Pore Fungus Favolaschia claudopus, © Reiner Richter, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC-SA) East Warburton VIC, Australia
@reiner
Fungimap records and maps fungi. Spreading the word about the ecological importance of fungi, they advocate for fungal conservation and investment in mycology.

For more information on Fungimap, please visit the main Fungimap web page

IDS: please only add identification to other people's records if you are absolutely certain. We are attempting to achieve the best data quality available, as it will appear in the Atlas of Living Australia. The best practice is to include the field guide or publication you have used to identify the species, to enable data checking to be as simple as possible.

The most observed species in March 2022

The most observed species in March is another Frog, the Green Tree Frog Ranoidea caerulea with 76 observations all from Queensland, you can check them all out here.


Green Tree Frog Ranoidea caerulea © Tony van Kampen, (
@aavankampen), some rights reserved (CC-BY-SA) Yengarie, Queensland, Australia


For the latest results of the current Month check the
March 2022 Challenge-Updated Stats

How does this compare with last year
March summary blog
March 2021 Challenge-Updated Stats

Highlights for the month

The orb weavers have been out in the parks, gardens and conservation areas across Australia with some fantastic observations being made like the one below.


Australian Golden Orbweaver Trichonephila edulis, observed by
@anthonypaul at Warren Conservation Park, SA ,

Orchids Orchids Orchids

In Southern Australia, Midge Orchids are budding and flowering (see observations below by @rwl ). Indeed, some are producing capsules. we would like to encourage people to make observations and start photographing and recording these orchids on iNaturalist so that we get a record phenology.

Rufous Midge-Orchid Genoplesium rufum,© Robert Lawrence (
@rwl), some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC), Williamstown, Australia.
Wild Orchid Watch AustraliaWILD ORCHID WATCH

There is amazing Biodiversity awaiting you, in the garden or in your nearby park so go for a walk this weekend and add to our knowledge of Adelaide's Biodiversity, and join for the CNC 2021 and the project!

Great Southern BioBlitz 2022

The 'Great Southern BioBlitz', or 'GSB' for short, is an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within several designated areas across the Southern Hemisphere in Spring.

Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz 2022 umbrella project, as it builds through the year




Check out how this compares to previous months

January Challenge-Updated Stats
December Challenge-Updated Stats
November Challenge-Updated Stats
October Challenge-Updated Stats
September Challenge-Updated Stats
August Challenge-Updated Stats
July Challenge-Updated Stats
June Challenge-Updated Stats
May Challenge-Updated Stats
April Challenge-Updated Stats
March Challenge-Updated Stats March summary
February Challenge-Updated Stats February summary
January Challenge-Updated Stats January summary
December Challenge-Updated Stats December summary
@gregtasney @natashataylor @twan3253 @stephen169 @scottwgavins @ethan241 @hatwise @ludwig_muller @nyoni-pete @zachmalcomson @donnamareetomkinson @streglystendec @martin487 @donna391 @anthonypaul @joswan12 @fairypossum @rodolfosalinas @leithallb @rsmalley @karenweaving62 @luis615 @rwl @grisper1 @pam275 @rich_fuller @sarinozi @chrisseager @aavankampen @nswanson @mary-a-crawf @owen65 @ethan_yeoman @larissabrazsousa @thbata1 @timothyshields @jacksonnugent @archgully @dragonette @sandy_horne @carl_ramirez @jeannie_bartram @danielthelion @bigpete @ellurasanctuary @adel_plainsgirl @melbo @naturemum101 @benfish @mj_taylor @seamus-doherty @littlellama @the_spangled_drongo @nikonoid @t-zeke @verna29 @coletteh @jennifer512 @diondior @natrydd @heathwallum @sandyp09 @co2co @bbrice @rubbery @diannezchilds @stekmer @mnetting @ichigo_ @rossivdb @teynomi @sammybee @savurs @alazm @gagars @jjr_photography_and_media @tonyandreata @reef_scientist @elfir @nancy1911 @becstummer @cheshirevixen @kdankiw @mozziemike @cat80 @mickey63 @fossil1513 @marionmackenzie @ourbeaches @craig_williams @mandyshepherd @wayneshore @christinejunewhite @david_k @vinialota @evdchijs @adel_plainsgirl

Posted on April 10, 2022 01:42 PM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 2 comments | Leave a comment

March 13, 2022

Froggy February 2022

Our Monthly Challenge continues with another splendid effort, in the last month we all contributed a massive effort. The numbers will only go up as people may upload observations in the next few weeks. As of writing, we have contributed
Observations 6,267 (6,174 in Australia alone)
Species 2,122
Identifiers 528
Observers 65 (31 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)

Where have our observations been made?

For the latest stats check out the February Challenge-Updated Stats

Together our 62 Australian observers accounted for around 7 % of all observations within Australia over the month of February (at time of writing), while constituting only around 1.1% of all Australian iNaturalists observers active during the month .
This month saw a drop below 100,000 Australian iNaturalist observations for the month, this is the first time since September 2021 for the second time, the number of observations has dropped below 100K observations this may be due to the floods along Australias eastern seaboard and the lift on Covid 19 restrictions. This trend may continue in March as some of Australia's most prolific observers have been restricted to investigating their backyard Biodiversity.

The most observed species February 2022

Dainty Green Tree Frog Ranoidea gracilenta


Dainty Green Tree Frog Ranoidea gracilenta © Greg Tasney (
@gregtasney ), some rights reserved (CC-BY-SA) Beaudesert - Pt A, Queensland, Australia


For the latest results of the current Month check the
February 2022 Challenge-Updated Stats

How does this compare with last year
February summary blog
February 2021 Challenge-Updated Stats

Highlights for the month


Tyler's Tree Frog Litoria tyleri © Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC-BY-SA) Brookfield (incl. Brisbane Forest Park), D'Aguilar, Queensland, Australia, The specific name honours Michael J. Tyler, an Australian herpetologist who taught memany years ago Adelaide University.


a beetle of the tribe Pentodontini, observed by
@streglystendec at Port Rickaby SA 5575, Australia, attracted to light at night in front yard of beach shack,

Great Southern BioBlitz 2022

The 'Great Southern BioBlitz', or 'GSB' for short, is an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within several designated areas across the Southern Hemisphere in Spring.

Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz 2022 umbrella project, as it builds through the year






Check out how this compares to previous months

January Challenge-Updated Stats
December Challenge-Updated Stats
November Challenge-Updated Stats
October Challenge-Updated Stats
September Challenge-Updated Stats
August Challenge-Updated Stats
July Challenge-Updated Stats
June Challenge-Updated Stats
May Challenge-Updated Stats
April Challenge-Updated Stats
March Challenge-Updated Stats March summary
February Challenge-Updated Stats February summary
January Challenge-Updated Stats January summary
December Challenge-Updated Stats December summary
@gregtasney @natashataylor @twan3253 @stephen169 @scottwgavins @ethan241 @hatwise @ludwig_muller @nyoni-pete @zachmalcomson @donnamareetomkinson @streglystendec @martin487 @donna391 @anthonypaul @joswan12 @fairypossum @rodolfosalinas @leithallb @rsmalley @karenweaving62 @luis615 @rwl @grisper1 @pam275 @rich_fuller @sarinozi @chrisseager @aavankampen @nswanson @mary-a-crawf @owen65 @ethan_yeoman @larissabrazsousa @thbata1 @timothyshields @jacksonnugent @archgully @dragonette @sandy_horne @carl_ramirez @jeannie_bartram @danielthelion @bigpete @ellurasanctuary @adel_plainsgirl @melbo @naturemum101 @benfish @mj_taylor @seamus-doherty @littlellama @the_spangled_drongo @nikonoid @t-zeke @verna29 @coletteh @jennifer512 @diondior @natrydd @heathwallum @sandyp09 @co2co @bbrice @rubbery @diannezchilds @stekmer @mnetting @ichigo_ @rossivdb @teynomi @sammybee @savurs @alazm @gagars @jjr_photography_and_media @tonyandreata @reef_scientist @elfir @nancy1911 @becstummer @cheshirevixen @kdankiw @mozziemike @cat80 @mickey63 @fossil1513 @marionmackenzie @ourbeaches @craig_williams @mandyshepherd @wayneshore @christinejunewhite @david_k @vinialota @evdchijs @adel_plainsgirl

Posted on March 13, 2022 01:24 PM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 0 comments | Leave a comment

February 11, 2022

January 2022

Our Monthly Challenge continues with another splendid effort, in the last month we all contributed a massive effort. The numbers will only go up as people may upload observations in the next few weeks. As of writing, we have contributed
Observations 8,617 (8532 in Australia alone)
Species 2,565
Identifiers 647
Observers 67 (26 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)

Where have our observations been made?

throughout 2021 our group of 98 observers have contributed an amazing number of observations! together we have contributed over 104,00 observations of 9,719 species. With 20 users contributing over 1000 observations, with the most observed organism being the Australian Magpie.

For the latest stats check out the January Challenge-Updated Stats

The 64 Australian observers contributing this month was the same as the previous month. Together our observations accounted for around 7.8 % of all observations within Australia over the month of January (at time of writing). While the 64 observers constituted only around 0.991% of all Australian iNaturalists observers active during the month.
In an amazing trend, January was the sixth time Australian iNaturalist observations exceeded 100,000 for a month, this has been a consistent pattern since September 2021 when for the second time, observations exceeded 100, 000.

The most observed species January 2022, was the Blue Tiger Tirumala hamata, like this one below which was observed by @donnamareetomkinson in Cooloola QLD

The most observed species is the


For the latest results of the current Month check the
February Challenge-Updated Stats

Check out how this compares to
January Challenge-Updated Stats
December Challenge-Updated Stats
October Challenge-Updated Stats
September Challenge-Updated Stats
August Challenge-Updated Stats
July Challenge-Updated Stats
June Challenge-Updated Stats
May Challenge-Updated Stats
April Challenge-Updated Stats
March Challenge-Updated Stats March summary
February Challenge-Updated Stats February summary
January Challenge-Updated Stats January summary
December Challenge-Updated Stats December summary

New find at Ellura Sanctuary

Brett Smith AKA @ellurasanctuary found an unusual bee the other day at Ellura Sanctuary, near Swan Reach Conservation Park, South Australia.
[Edit: Tobias has id'ed this as Leioproctus sp & we called it a Brown-mullet Bee 🙂 ]
It was ~12mm long. It looked similar to a European Honey Bee to the naked eye, but something was different about it. So caught it, photographed it & released it.


Check out the observation here

Brett tried using the free key, "The Australian Bee Genera. An Annotated, User-Friendly Key" by Tobias J. Smith

Not being confident he got the correct genus, Brett would appreciate a better id or confirmation, if possible.

  1. It's got 12 antennal segments, so a female
  2. Couplet 1: It's definitely got scopa
  3. Couplet 2: Primarily it's got scopa on the hind legs
  4. Couplet 3: I get a bit unstuck here. But going down couplet 4 leads to Ceratina sp, which is clearly wrong. So go with Scopa on Hind Femur.
  5. Couplet 5: Basal vein is weakly curved.
  6. Go to page 48, Colletinae
  7. Colletinae, Couplet 1: Hind Basitibial Plate is ill-defined or hidden
  8. Colletinae, Couplet 7: Unfortunately I didn't see the labrum, but the inner hind tibial spur is almost palmate. The mandibles are clearly bidentate and has some (white/silvery?) bands on the metasoma.
    So Trichocolletes. However, it seems these generally have a glabrous metasoma (abdomen), not hairy like here. And the mullet on the pronotum (back) is something from the '70's! 😉
    Any help would be much appreciated.

It must be a good month for bees as this Amegilla flava

while I managed to see a wide variety of new species on a hikeSturt Gorge Conservation park including this Common Wasp-mimic Bee Hyleoides concinna below you can read about it here

City Nature Challenge

At the end of April 2021 the City Nature Challenge will be held across the globe in South Australia will you join the challenge

During the 4-day challenge, if you are anywhere in the Greater Adelaide region, snap a photo of any wild plant or animal and upload it to iNaturalist platform, making sure to include the location.
sCity Nature Challenge Greater Adelaide website

Great Southern BioBlitz 2022

The 'Great Southern BioBlitz', or 'GSB' for short, is an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within several designated areas across the Southern Hemisphere in Spring.
Check out the review blog 'That's it! Thanks Everyone! GSB 2021 Overview' by Peter , and leave a comment if you like it!
For those more grapphicly minded check out the results page 2021 highlights by @larissabrazsousa

Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz 2022 umbrella project .
Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz 2021 umbrella project .
check out last years project here Great Southern Bioblitz Umbrella- 2020


Yellow-striped Flutterer Gehyra dubia © Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC-BY-SA) Beaudesert , Queensland, Australia







@gregtasney @natashataylor @twan3253 @stephen169 @scottwgavins @ethan241 @hatwise @ludwig_muller @nyoni-pete @zachmalcomson @donnamareetomkinson @streglystendec @martin487 @donna391
@anthonypaul @joswan12 @fairypossum @rodolfosalinas @leithallb @rsmalley @karenweaving62 @luis615 @rwl @grisper1 @pam275 @rich_fuller @sarinozi @chrisseager @aavankampen @nswanson @mary-a-crawf @owen65 @ethan_yeoman @larissabrazsousa @thbata1 @timothyshields @jacksonnugent @archgully @dragonette @sandy_horne @carl_ramirez @jeannie_bartram @danielthelion @bigpete @ellurasanctuary @adel_plainsgirl @melbo @naturemum101 @benfish @mj_taylor @seamus-doherty @littlellama @the_spangled_drongo @nikonoid @t-zeke @verna29 @coletteh @jennifer512 @diondior @natrydd @heathwallum @sandyp09 @co2co @bbrice @rubbery @diannezchilds @stekmer @mnetting @ichigo_ @rossivdb @teynomi @sammybee @savurs @alazm @gagars @jjr_photography_and_media @tonyandreata @reef_scientist @elfir @nancy1911 @becstummer @cheshirevixen @kdankiw @mozziemike @cat80 @mickey63 @fossil1513 @marionmackenzie @ourbeaches @craig_williams @mandyshepherd @wayneshore @christinejunewhite @david_k @vinialota @evdchijs

Posted on February 11, 2022 12:00 PM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 0 comments | Leave a comment

January 14, 2022

December 2021 Challenge - summary

Our Monthly Challenge continues with another splendid effort, in the last month we all contributed a massive effort. The numbers will only go up as people may upload observations in the next few weeks. As of writing, we have contributed
Observations 8,159 (8056 in Australia alone)
Species 2,616
Identifiers 632
Observers 64 (18 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)

Where have our observations been made?

Over 2021 our group of 96 observers have contributed an amazing number of observations! together we have contributed 102,906 observations of 9,611 species. With 20 users contributing over 1000 observations, with the most observed organism being the Australian Magpie.

For the latest stats check out the December Challenge-Updated Stats

The 64 Australian observers contributing this month was an increase on the previous month. Together our observations accounted for around 7.9 % of all observations within Australia over the month of December (at time of writing). While the 58 observers constituted only around 1.1% of all Australian iNaturalists observers active during the month .
In an amazing trend, December was the fifth time Australian iNaturalist observations exceeded 100,000 for a month, this has been a consistent pattern since September 2021 for the second time, exceeded the previous high by around 20, 000! it is fantastic to see such amazing engagement

this member of the 'True Velvet Mites' Mesothrombium sp. was spotted by the ever-alert @natashataylor© Natasha Taylor, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC) and identified with some help from @owen_seeman

The most observed species December 2021


©donnamareetomkinson, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
@donnamareetomkinson
The most observed species is the Dainty Green Tree Frog Ranoidea gracilenta with 97 observations through the month

Interestingly there was also 182 observations of threatened species registered across our network during December 2021. This included amphibians, Marsupials, birds, butterflies and several plant species.

For the latest results of the current Month check the
December Challenge-Updated Stats

Check out how this compares to
December Challenge-Updated Stats
October Challenge-Updated Stats
September Challenge-Updated Stats
August Challenge-Updated Stats
July Challenge-Updated Stats
June Challenge-Updated Stats
May Challenge-Updated Stats
April Challenge-Updated Stats
March Challenge-Updated Stats March summary
February Challenge-Updated Stats February summary
January Challenge-Updated Stats January summary
December Challenge-Updated Stats December summary

Great Southern BioBlitz 2021

The 'Great Southern BioBlitz', or 'GSB' for short, is an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within several designated areas across the Southern Hemisphere in Spring.
Check out the review blog 'That's it! Thanks Everyone! GSB 2021 Overview' by Peter , and leave a comment if you like it!
For those more grapphicly minded check out the results page 2021 highlights by @larissabrazsousa

Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz 2021 umbrella project .

check out last years project here Great Southern Bioblitz Umbrella- 2020



@gregtasney @natashataylor @twan3253 @stephen169 @scottwgavins @ethan241 @hatwise @ludwig_muller @nyoni-pete @zachmalcomson @donnamareetomkinson @streglystendec @martin487 donna391
@anthonypaul @joswan12 @fairypossum @rodolfosalinas @leithallb @rsmalley @karenweaving62 @luis615 @rwl @grisper1 @pam275 @rich_fuller @sarinozi @chrisseager @aavankampen @nswanson @mary-a-crawf @owen65 @ethan_yeoman @larissabrazsousa @thbata1 @timothyshields @jacksonnugent @archgully @dragonette @sandy_horne @carl_ramirez @jeannie_bartram @danielthelion @bigpete @ellurasanctuary @adel_plainsgirl @melbo @naturemum101 @benfish @mj_taylor @seamus-doherty @littlellama @the_spangled_drongo @nikonoid @t-zeke @verna29 @coletteh @jennifer512 @diondior @natrydd @heathwallum @sandyp09 @co2co @bbrice @rubbery @diannezchilds @stekmer @mnetting @ichigo_ @rossivdb @teynomi @sammybee @savurs @alazm @gagars @jjr_photography_and_media @tonyandreata @reef_scientist @elfir @nancy1911 @becstummer @cheshirevixen @kdankiw @mozziemike @cat80 @mickey63 @fossil1513 @marionmackenzie @ourbeaches @craig_williams @mandyshepherd @wayneshore @christinejunewhite @david_k @vinialota @evdchijs

Posted on January 14, 2022 11:12 AM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 3 comments | Leave a comment

December 15, 2021

November 2021 Challenge - summary

Our Monthly Challenge continues with another splendid effort, in the last month we all contributed a massive effort. The numbers will only go up as people may upload observations in the next few weeks. As of writing, we have contributed
Observations 6480 (6387 in Australia)
Species 2146
Identifiers 525
Observers 60 (19 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)

where have our observations been made?

For the latest stats check out the November Challenge-Updated Stats

The 58 Australian observers contributing this month was an increase on the previous month by 10 users. Together our observations accounted for around 6.2 % of all observations within Australia over the month of September (at time of writing). While the 58 observers constituted only around 1% of all iNaturalists observers active during the month Australia.
November was the third time observations exceeded 100,000 for a month, this follows on from September when it did this for the second time, exceeded the previous high by around 20, 000! it is fantastic to see such amazing engagement

exceeding 100K observations

In October 2021 Australian onsevations on iNaturalist exceeded 100K for only the Third time this follows on from September when Australian observations exceeded 100K for the second time

Red Triangle Slug Triboniophorus graeffei © Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC-BY-SA)

For the latest results of the current Month check the
December Challenge-Updated Stats

Check out how this compares to
October Challenge-Updated Stats
September Challenge-Updated Stats
August Challenge-Updated Stats
July Challenge-Updated Stats
June Challenge-Updated Stats
May Challenge-Updated Stats
April Challenge-Updated Stats
March Challenge-Updated Stats March summary
February Challenge-Updated Stats February summary
January Challenge-Updated Stats January summary
December Challenge-Updated Stats December summary

Some amazing flying Ducks

towards the end of the month, it appears that Mike (@streglystendec ) came across several Large Flying Duck Orchid Caleana major Near trail among native shrubs and eucalypt on sandy soil.

He also found some Small Duck Orchid Caleana minor

Great Southern BioBlitz 2021

The 'Great Southern BioBlitz', or 'GSB' for short, is an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within several designated areas across the Southern Hemisphere in Spring.

The purpose of this event is to highlight both the immense biodiversity spread across the Southern Hemisphere in the flourishing springtime, as well as to engage the public in science and nature learning using the citizen science platform iNaturalist. As we are international, in Spanish we are known as 'Gran Biobúsqueda del Sur', while in Portuguese we are known as 'Grande BioBlitz do Hemisfério Sul'. By the end of October, the natural world is on full throttle. Flowers are blooming, insects are emerging, birds are singing, and reptiles are coming out of their winter hibernation. It makes sense for the Southern Hemisphere to observe life at this time of year! The #GSB21 will be held from Friday the 22nd of October until the end of Monday on the 25th of October, incorporating different communities, areas and regions across the Southern Hemisphere.
How did we go?
Check out the review blog 'That's it! Thanks Everyone! GSB 2021 Overview' by Peter , and leave a comment if you like it!
For those more grapphicly minded check out the results page 2021 highlights by @larissabrazsousa

Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz 2021 umbrella project .

check out last years project here Great Southern Bioblitz Umbrella- 2020
The most observed species is the Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog with 97 observations through the month

Just outside the #GSB2021, but a great observation A first for iNat recorded last weekend in October 'Acupalpa glossa' not the best photos but hey. Thanks, @shaun-winterton for the ID, and @phycus for tagging him.


sorry for the short post this month!

Greg Tasney
I got up early for a trip to Mt Edwards to complete the Moogerah Peaks trifecta. I mostly stuck to the path and found that Mt Edwards had less plant diversity than the other two peaks. The walk from start to end wasn't easy. Tough on the heart on the way up and tough on the knees on the way down. It was 30 degrees, very humid and the path is steep and heavily eroded. I saw not one person in 4 hours...excellent!

Posted on December 15, 2021 11:45 AM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 2 comments | Leave a comment

November 13, 2021

October 2021 Challenge - summary

Our Monthly Challenge continues with another splendid effort, in the last month we all contributed a massive effort. The numbers will only go up as people may upload observations in the next few weeks. As of writing, we have contributed
Observations 14, 066 (13,871 in Australia)
Species 3, 300
Identifiers 706
Observers 71 (31 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)

where have our observations been made?

For the latest stats check out the October Challenge-Updated Stats

The 61 Australian observers contributing this month was an increase on the previous month by 10 users. Together our observations accounted for around 7.1 % of all observations within Australia over the month of September (at time of writing). While the 51 observers constituted only around 1.1% of all iNaturalists observers active during the month Australia.
September 2021, was the second time observations exceeded 100,000 for a month for the second time, with the previous record exceeded by around 20, 000! it is fantastic to see such amazing engagement

Australian observations in September exceeded 100K for only the second time


Large Flying Duck Orchid Caleana major © Greg Tasney, some rights reserved (CC-BY-SA)

For the latest results of the current Month check the
NovemberChallenge-Updated Stats

Check out how this compares to
October Challenge-Updated Stats
September Challenge-Updated Stats
August Challenge-Updated Stats
July Challenge-Updated Stats
June Challenge-Updated Stats
May Challenge-Updated Stats
April Challenge-Updated Stats
March Challenge-Updated Stats March summary
February Challenge-Updated Stats February summary
January Challenge-Updated Stats January summary
December Challenge-Updated Stats December summary

Great Southern BioBlitz 2021

The 'Great Southern BioBlitz', or 'GSB' for short, is an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within several designated areas across the Southern Hemisphere in Spring.

The purpose of this event is to highlight both the immense biodiversity spread across the Southern Hemisphere in the flourishing springtime, as well as to engage the public in science and nature learning using the citizen science platform iNaturalist. As we are international, in Spanish we are known as 'Gran Biobúsqueda del Sur', while in Portuguese we are known as 'Grande BioBlitz do Hemisfério Sul'. By the end of October, the natural world is on full throttle. Flowers are blooming, insects are emerging, birds are singing, and reptiles are coming out of their winter hibernation. It makes sense for the Southern Hemisphere to observe life at this time of year! The #GSB21 will be held from Friday the 22nd of October until the end of Monday on the 25th of October, incorporating different communities, areas and regions across the Southern Hemisphere.
How did we go?
Unoficail Overview
183,443 observations
21,048 species
3,227 Identifiers
5,789 Observers

Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz 2021 umbrella project .

check out last years project here Great Southern Bioblitz Umbrella- 2020
The most observed species is the Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog with 97 observations through the month

Just outside the #GSB2021, but a great observation A first for iNat recorded last weekend in October 'Acupalpa glossa' not the best photos but hey. Thanks, @shaun-winterton for the ID, and @phycus for tagging him.


Acupalpa glossa

sorry for the short post this month!

Posted on November 13, 2021 10:52 AM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 0 comments | Leave a comment

October 13, 2021

September 2021 Challenge - summary

Our Monthly Challenge continues with another splendid effort, in the last month we all contributed a massive effort. The numbers will only go up as people may upload observations in the next few weeks. As of writing, we have contributed
Observations 8, 671 ( 8,541 in Australia)
Species 2, 437
Identifiers 527
Observers 61 (23 with more than 50 observations at the time of writing)

@gregtasney @natashataylor @streglystendec @twan3253 @stephen169 @ethan241 @hatwise @nyoni-pete @karenweaving62 @aavankampen @chrisseager @leithallb @zachmalcomson @rsmalley @sarinozi @rwl @rodolfosalinas @anthonypaul @nswanson @owen65 @mj_taylor @martin487 @pam275 @melbo @thbata1 @mary-a-crawf @rich_fuller

where have our observations been made?

For the latest stats check out the September Challenge-Updated Stats

The 61 Australian observers contributing this month was an increase on the previous month by 10 users. Together our observations accounted for around 7.1 % of all observations within Australia over the month of September (at time of writing). While the 51 observers constituted only around 1.1% of all iNaturalists observers active during the month Australia.
September 2021, was the second time observations exceeded 100,000 for a month for the second time, with the previous record exceeded by around 20, 000! it is fantastic to see such amazing engagement

Australian observations in September exceeded 100K for only the second time

The most observed species observed in the month was Ornate Burrowing Frog Platyplectrum ornatum (below © Greg Tasney ) with 77 observations, all made by Greg. find out more about this species here

For the latest results of the current Month check the
OctoberChallenge-Updated Stats

Check out how this compares to
September Challenge-Updated Stats
August Challenge-Updated Stats
July Challenge-Updated Stats
June Challenge-Updated Stats
May Challenge-Updated Stats
April Challenge-Updated Stats
March Challenge-Updated Stats March summary
February Challenge-Updated Stats February summary
January Challenge-Updated Stats January summary
December Challenge-Updated Stats December summary

Great Southern BioBlitz 2021

The 'Great Southern BioBlitz', or 'GSB' for short, is an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within several designated areas across the Southern Hemisphere in Spring.

The purpose of this event is to highlight both the immense biodiversity spread across the Southern Hemisphere in the flourishing springtime, as well as to engage the public in science and nature learning using the citizen science platform iNaturalist. As we are international, in Spanish we are known as 'Gran Biobúsqueda del Sur', while in Portuguese we are known as 'Grande BioBlitz do Hemisfério Sul'. By the end of October, the natural world is on full throttle. Flowers are blooming, insects are emerging, birds are singing, and reptiles are coming out of their winter hibernation. It makes sense for the Southern Hemisphere to observe life at this time of year! The #GSB21 will be held from Friday the 22nd of October until the end of Monday on the 25th of October, incorporating different communities, areas and regions across the Southern Hemisphere.
So far this year we have a massive contingent with 19 countries represented and 138 areas included! so i encourage you all to join in!
Check out the Great Southern BioBlitz 2021 umbrella project .

check out last years project here Great Southern Bioblitz Umbrella- 2020

we have had some great contributions this month including some amazing observations by Sandy Horne (@sandy_horne ) who is active on Twitter if you are on the platform i encourage you to follow her @SandyHorne61


Above left, Adelaide Rosella Platycercus elegans ssp. adelaidae Sandy Horne, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC) right, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita
we have had some othe amazing observatiosn localy in south Australia with
@anthonypaul again showing his amazing observation skills with these two amazing observations

Phytotrypa pretiosella left and Grey Fantail Rhipidura albiscapa right© anthonypaul, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

have you hear of the #BirdsSeenIn2021 - Hashtag Challenge

Calling all Australian birders/bird photographers. To find out which species are missing from the #BirdsSeenIn2021 year list for Australia . Can you help to fill in the blanks by tweeting photos taken this year with the hashtag during the Great Southern Bioblitz?

Please remember selecting the appropriate copyright is important, we recommend that you select a default that allows observations to be loaded to GBIF

Thank you to all those that contributed this month, I hope you will continue to be involved.
@gregtasney @ethan241 @natashataylor @zachmalcomson @hatwise @stephen169 @nyoni-pete @rodolfosalinas @ludwig_muller @aavankampen @karenweaving62 @mj_taylor @thbata1 @nswanson @donnamareetomkinson @naturemum101 @owen65 @streglystendec @rich_fuller @rwl @fairypossum @nikonoid @anthonypaul @leithallb @luis615 @pam275 @ethan_yeoman @sandy_horne @grisper1 @timothyshields @jacksonnugent @chrisseager @mary-a-crawf @seamus-doherty @the_spangled_drongo @bigpete @heathwallum @jeannie_bartram @elfir @ichigo_ @natrydd @craig_williams @dragonette @marionmackenzie @sammybee @savurs


Posted on October 13, 2021 12:24 PM by saltmarshsteve saltmarshsteve | 1 comment | Leave a comment