Back in April of 2020, during the early days of the pandemic, when we were mostly all inside, I bought my first real camera. I had been using iNaturalist for a few months, but realized I wasn't getting very far with my cell phone camera. So I bought a nice camera online and went out for a big day of observing. That day, I got 29 photos, and to me, that seemed like a gigantic haul.
My first day observing like that was when I lived in Eureka, California. I walked along Humboldt Bay. The Humboldt Bay area, from a naturalist perspective, is probably one of the most productive and diverse places in the United States. And on that day, going out on a major expedition, I got 29 pictures... (I was still learning to use my camera and how to get good bird pictures).
The past few months, especially since I have gotten some back-up batteries, I have had a number of days here in Oregon where I easily got over 100 observations, in a few hours. I am so into observing that instead of waiting for something to jump out at me, I can go to a local park and easy find a few dozen observations in around a half hour. Things that used to be "bugs" are now something I can identify and I think are interesting.
But I might be overloading myself. Two problems with this: it takes a long time to upload all those pictures! Including uploading time, as well as geolocating and identifying taxa, and writing notes, it can take several hours to upload all those photos. (I am usually doing something else at the same time, but still)
Observing also can sometimes ruin my enjoyment. It can enhance, or degrade. Getting to know more about nature is fun, as well as sharing it. But...its gotten to the point that I can be on a walk in the park, and I want to take a picture of every weed and bug. "What if this is actually an ultra rare maple! I have to take a picture in case it is!" So it can be distracting.
Just a thought. I am sure I will continue to observe, but also I have to remember it is okay if the world doesn't know about every dandelion I see.
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