sweet see through Lacewing insect on flower buds
sweet see through Lacewing insect on flower buds
On a hike today we found a snake on our path. It started buzzing at us from under a bush. Later we learned that snakes don't buzz.
I had assumed a rattler would be more maraca-like.
Here is a 6 second video of the buzzing sound.
Unfortunately we didn't get any pics of the snake.
#nature #snake #rattleSnake #bc #Canada #iNat
I signed up on #iNaturalist about 5 years ago and did a few postings/observations. Then, more recently I spoke with enough biologists who said they used the data and it was quite important and encouraged me to contribute to it, especially since I go to out-of-the-way places a lot (look at my observations map).
But, first, I took the time to read through their data/surveillance policy and, while I assumed bots would be *nonconsensually* scraping the data, contributing seemed useful enough to science that I could hold my nose and accept that. But direct, unmediated collaboration with Google and AI-anything is off the table for me.
Bummer, really.
Well...I cannot say I am pleased about iNaturalist partnering with Google to develop GenAI. While what iNat would like to do would be incredibly helpful, it can be done by other means (namely, uh, volunteer or employed actual experts?). My main concerns are simple, and yet, unaddressed by the iNaturalist post about this project:
1) How can we be assured that our data that we share with iNaturalist will NOT be shared with Google; as if anything it seems to suggest free sharing between iNat and Google to develop things using Google's GenAI; thus Google does have access even if indirectly.
2) Will we have an opt-out option, so our data is not used in this project
In the end, nature is about community, not machines. And I do not consent to feeding any of my data into Google's GenAI for any purpose.
Photo is one that was used in a presentation, and one of the questions asked by a 60-something year old Doctor of Biology was "That photo is so good! Is it AI?"
(If you want to see their announcement, https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/113184-inaturalist-receives-grant-to-improve-species-suggestions )
cool dark butterfly and landscape
beautiful dragonfly + flower
Swallowtail season. Genus: Papilio.
super cool tiny crab spider on a leaf
cool spider on plastic bucket
Boston, the City Nature Challenge from iNaturalist is in full swing this weekend. Are you joining in?
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2025-boston-area
#iNaturalist #inat #massachusetts #boston #science #nature #BostonKids #bostonGeek #citynaturechallenge
Today the City Nature Challenge starts! The Philly project on iNaturalist is here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/city-nature-challenge-2025-greater-philadelphia-area
One really useful tool is this website that checks what species haven't been observed yet during the challenge, sorted by how commonly they are observed:
So finding one of these species is an easy way to start helping. Let's show the world how much nature there is in Philly!
tiny bee on flowering tree
nifty black beetle on fallen tree
red beetle on fallen tree
@plants I haven't done very well getting #Alberta #MayPlantCount photos posted, after having taken piles...lol oh well! Viola nephrophylla Northern bog Violet, abundant here in both open and wooded wetland/edge sites on the farm. Just starting in late May when this was taken #WildflowerHour #nature #flowers more on #iNat #BloomScrolling #florespondence #NativePlants
A few things I saw while exploring today.
A few #beautiful bisected #mushrooms from my #iNaturalist adventures this week.