Monsoon Beauty

Update - 1st August 2021

Dear Friends,

Thank you for being part of the Monsoon Beauty event.

1st August is being celebrated as International Friendship Day. We hope that through this monsoon event you have made new human friends and also become friends with nature around you.

The first 17 odd days of this event have been amazing. We have had the opportunity to see and enjoy beautiful sights and sounds from across the country.

As of writing this journal we are just past the 12000 observation mark. With 78 keen observers and 464 awesome identifiers who are helping to put a correct name to what is being put onto inaturalist.

Observations of the Day

Every day we trying to choose topical and relevant observations - an attempt to show case the rich Tree of Life with short notes on a particular taxonomic group.

You can see the posts on twitter here, While Instagram is visible here. Do tag us, share , follow - what ever your preference.

To Summarize the observations, we have highlighted so far, below is the list

16th July 2021 - Moths

1. the beautiful Thyas juno moth by @aibor

17th July 2021 - Birds

1. a male Oriental Magpie-Robin Copsychus saularis by @negi

18th July 2021 - Snails & Slugs

1. a Common Land Snail Order Stylommatophora by @rajkoranga

19th July 2021 Fungi; Insects ; and Amphibians

1. A Fan-shaped Jelly Fungus Dacryopinax spathularia by @hari_mt
2. A Giant Firefly Genus Lamprigera by @krishna31
3. An IUCN critically endangered Shillong Bubble-nest Frog Raorchestes shillongensis by @ti_eramal

21th July 2021 - Butterflies

1. A Peacock Pansy Junonia almana by @paulmathi
2. A Common Redeye Matapa aria by @navaneethsinigeorge
3. A Common Grass Yellow Eurema hecabe by @subbu107

22nd July 2021 - Domestic Mammals

1. Domestic Dogs Canis familiaris by @varsh1
2. A Domestic Cat Felis catus by @arvintrix

24th July 2021 - Reptiles

1. An IUCN category Vulnerable Indian Star Tortoise Geochelone elegans by @paulmathi
2. An Indian Vine Snake Ahaetulla oxyrhyncha by @chayantgonsalves
3. The most commonly seen reptile a Changeable Lizard Calotes versicolor by @hive

26th July 2021 - Spiders

1. An Ornamental Tree Trunk Spider Herennia multipuncta by @vivekbgirija
2. Web and a Typical Orbweaver Subfamily Araneinae by @kapil_chand

27th July 2021 - Flowering Plants

The first observations, on iNaturalist, of the Amorphophallus napalensis flower

1. Seen on 25th July 2021 by @ti_eramal near Shillong see images of the flower here
2. And seen a month earlier earlier by @aibor also near Shillong see images of the flower here

29th July 2021 - Tiger

1. On international tiger day we posted this picture of the Endangered Tiger Panthera tigris shared by @mirza8

31st July 2021 - Insect Group Orthoptera

Grasshoppers, Crickets and Katydids are the prominent members of this order

1. @jungli92 shared images of two Gaudy Grasshoppers Poekilocerus pictus the first image is here and the second here
2. @babloo_farswan shared this Grasshopper from the Infraorder Acrididea

So far these are the observations we have showcased on instagram and twitter

Timeline of Observation landmarks (Counts of 1000)

Through the course of the event we would like to acknowledge the efforts of as many contributors and observations as possible. Today's acknowledgment are statistical landmark posts

Like the 1st post and the 10000th

If you are curious as to which post was which the satiate your curiosity by browsing the landmark posts listed below :

1st Post by user @varsh1 of a Mogra Jasminum sambac

500th Post by user @ram_k of an American Lopseed Phryma leptostachya

1000th Post by user @pawan_singh_koranga of a Paper Wasps *Subfamily Polistinae *

2000th Post by user @nageshwaran_nageshwaran of a Crested Dogtail Grass Cynosurus cristatus

3000th Post by user @swatiudayraj of Skullcaps Genus Scutellaria

4000th Post by user @jaya_rakesh of a moth from the Genus Labdia

5000th Post by user @babloo_farswan of a Red Bistort Bistorta amplexicaulis

6000th Post by user @ti_eramal of a Large Crane Fly type insect from the Genus Leptotarsus

7000th Post by user @kapil_chand of a Hare's Foot Inkcap Coprinopsis lagopus

8000th Post by user @odonut of a Bird Feather

9000th Post by user @aadyathammaiah of a Coconut Palm Cocos nucifera

10000th Post by user @ram_k of a Pearl Moths Subfamily Spilomelinae

11000th Post by user @babloo_farswan of a Common Flower Flies Genus Syrphus

12000th Post by user @babloo_farswan of a Frogs and Toads Order Anura

Highlighting interesting observation or people or places

On iNaturalist if you feel any particular observation (or person) needs to be covered do tag us in the comments of that observation or send us the persons @tag (please use @ram_k @mountainjen @vijay_dixit) we will be happy to follow up.

And in case of any queries do write to us at indiasnature.01@gmail.com

Google forms to help us know you

In case you have not yet filled in the google form we request you to do so.

The google form is to help us know you and create niche support , when feasible,

This is the link

[https://forms.gle/6wFmQuk7zKpqsugP7||Monsoon Beauty Participant Google Form] Link

Thank you

Team India's Nature Monsoon Beauty

indiasnature.01@gmail.com

@ram_k @mountainjen @vijay_dixit

Monsoon Beauty

Thank you to our identifiers and Revisiting Guidelines (and Some Suggestions)

Update 3 - 10th August 2021

Dear Friends,

Over the past few days we have had to do some administrative housekeeping and attend to some of the vagaries of Community Based information exchange.

The Monsoons have severely affected internet access for the people running the Instagram and twitter feeds, we hope to resume normal service in a day or two.

Thank you to our identifiers

First, we would like to say a big thank you to our top 25 serious identifiers. Without them we would be hard pressed to make sense of what we are seeing.

So Thank you -

1. @haneesh (706 identifications)
2. @ram_k (643 )
3. @borisb (485 )
4. @muddytortoise (484 )
5. @anubhav-agarwal (402 )
6. @azhagu (366 )
7. @odonut (343 )
8. @unnikrishnan_mp (309 )
9. @subirshakya (290 )
10. @pierotoni10 (290 )
11. @amila_sumanapala (263 )
12. @pihlaviita (235 )
13. @firos_ak (230 )
14. @zebs (220 )
15. @teratornis (219 )
16. @elavarasan_mm (199 )
17. @nagabhushanjyothi (178 )
18. @naturalist_aditya (166 )
19. @navaneethsinigeorge (163 )
20. @awayk3n (154 )
21. @vasudhaivkutumbakam (145 )
22. @johnascher (133 )
23. @pranavchandrabose (129 )
24. @melodi_96 (126 )
25. @siddarthmachado (118 )

For those identifiers who are not mentioned here , or are not in the top 25. We thank you all very much as well- each one of you is as important to this event as is each one of the observers.

iNaturalist and Project Guidelines

One of the projects goals was to introduce new people to iNaturalist and to help them navigate both the technology and the complex nature of scientific taxonomy.Therefore we would like to take this opportunity to revisit some of the general guidelines under which iNaturalist (and events like this operate)

These help pages are a good place to start with to get to know iNaturalist in depth.

Identification Process

For new identifiers, or those unfamiliar with identification or the community process we urge you to specifically read this this section. And also read this Identification Etiquette on iNaturalist - Wiki

We encourage you to learn more about your favored / favorite taxa (group) and share your learnings.

In case of doubt leave the organism as a higher level - It is okay to do so - in fact it is better to do so rather than misidentify it to a wrong species. In which case it takes the other identifiers extra steps to explain the reason for not agreeing and providing a new / more accurate id.

Whenever possible / feasible provide a reference to an identification made by you. Ideally you should always be ready to provide an explanation or a reference as to how you arrived at an id (even an “agree” id)

Computer Vision

One of the important tools on iNaturalist is the AI based Computer Vision System (CVS) suggestions on species (or Genus). We request new users to be cautitious in using this tool. especially in India. iNaturalist Computer Vision is based on existing data from a geographic region or a biological taxon. Every few months the Computer Vision Tool is “trained” with new data sets making it richer and more accurate. However as India is as yet a a low data region it will be some time before the CVS because more reliable and accurate.

Till then we recommend cautious use and the following

1. Cross check the suggestion made by the CVS by following the link that shows up to the suggested Genus/ Species.

Specifically read the “About” section to know if that species is found in your geographic area

Look at the map. Usually species whose maps which show little or now previous observations from your region should be treated with caution

In case of doubt leave the organism as a higher level - It is okay to do so - in fact it is better to do so rather than misidentify it to a wrong species. In which case it takes the identifiers extra steps to explain the reason for not agreeing and providing a new / more accurate id.

Captive / Captured Species

When making an observation of garden plant, cultivated crop, domesticated animal or a zoo organisms we encourage you to mark that observation as Captive/ Cultivated

Killing organisms to make observations

We strongly discourage killing of any organism, even the smallest of living creatures for the sake of an iNaturalist observation. In our guidelines we have clearly stated that. We encourage observers to read the recommended ethical guidelines to be followed while observing nature

Observation Grade (Casual, Verifiable / Needs Id, Research Grade)

The primary objective of the Monsoon Beauty event is to encourage observations. This is one reason that any observation is eligible for the project.

Under ideal conditions we would like most of the observations to be research grade. However that may not be feasible during the project period or for many of the taxa / organisms that need physical examination or very specific type of information to be collected. Some exotics, domesticated organisms etc will always remain at Casual Grade - but we encourage these observations as well so that we do not ignore some of life that we are closely connected to on a daily basis.

Feedback and Comments

We look forward to your feedback and comments - direct message us via the handles provided below

Thank you

Team India's Nature Monsoon Beauty

indiasnature.01@gmail.com

@ram_k @mountainjen @vijay_dixit

Sounds Around Us - Monsoon Beauty Update - 18th August 2021

Sounds are around us
Sounds surround us
Yet on iNaturalist India they don't abound

We don't have a Cow's Moo or a Cats Meow
Let alone a dog barking or barking deer

Time to change that

Add a horse's neigh or a donkey's bray
A beetles click
or songs that make birds tick

Monsoons Bountiful Beauty is around you
Sharing sounds would be welcome too

About Sounds

Of all the senses and phenomenon that we (humans) perceive digitally we are, so far, only able to share Static Pictures, Sounds and the phenomenon of Motion. The best we can do with taste, touch and smell is describe them which are a sad way to experience them.

Even with the senses we can share the overwhelming contributions (on Inaturalist) are static visuals. This is despite sounds being such an integral part of our daily life - in communications, in entertainment, work , the very ambiance of life is created by the soundscape around us.

As much by visual cues we also live life attuned to sounds around us.

Yet as of the time of writing this India has only 1174 sound observations or 0.16% of all observations out of total of 732,528 observations

Almost all of us have at our disposal incredibly great devices that reproduce sound, and these are also excellent tools to record & share audio.

Below is a short guide on how to record sound and edit using your mobile phones (and if available then PC's for sound editing)

Sharing, of course, is easy via the inaturalist App.To know a little bit more see this Inaturalist - How to Uploads Sounds

When uploading to iNaturalaist do consider the following

1. For recordings where the target sound is mixed up with other sounds or is faint do point out the time sections so that listeners know where to pay attention.
2. if required describe the sound
3. Sounds may accompany pictures or vice versa
4. If feasible and you are positing only a sound do consider posting a still image of a spectrogram.
   
5. Providing a reference sound - since documentation / links to other sounds is not so easy, nor does iNaturalist Computer Vision work for sounds, so it would make it easier for people to match sounds from an already established reference.

We look forward to your idea of natures sounds (within the limitations of inaturalist) and hope to hear wonderful naturescapes

Apps and Software for Recording Sounds

Since most of us would be recording using our Mobile Phones we would be covering some apps and good ways to use them. If you do have access to a higher quality recording device the techniques remain the same, while detailed guides are linked below.

There are many different paid and free apps and software available. We are providing some examples of free to use tools. If you know of better or alternative tools kindly so share in the comments or by direct messaging us.

Recommended Recording Apps

Inaturalist Mobile App

The iNaturalist app has an inbuilt sound recorder. Simple to use - one just open the app, selected new observation, chooses the Record sound option and get started. The great advantages are that the sounds are directly imported as an observation with location also registred.

The disadvantage is that there is no control on the sound being inputted.

RecForge II - Audio Recorder

This is the google play store link

For most purposes the free version is adequate. It provides all the basic and some advanced controls as well as a db meter which indicates how loud / not loud the recording is. Details on the recommended settings and how to use are shared below

Recommended Editing Apps or Computer Software

Lexis Audio Editor - Android App(Do not use for recording )

Google Play Store Link

This is an on phone audio editing software. Fairly simple to use and it exports to .wav format. Once again details on its effective use are shared below

PC Audio Editing Software (open source or free software)

1. OcenAudio (https://www.ocenaudio.com)
   a. Detailed tutorial on using OcenAudio for Bird sounds is shared here

2. Audacity
   a. Detailed tutorial on using Audacity for Bird sounds is shared here

3. The editing techniques provided for various software are most common for most nature sounds. The Ultrasonic Sounds of Bats, and sounds of underwater organisms is a chapter being left for another day.

Recording Sounds

Using Rec Forge II App

If you have chosen the settings above the most important feature is the preview option.

1. Once you open Rec Forge II you will be presented with a message about the version and some warnings. You can choose to discard / or ok the message.
2. After that you will be presented with a mic icon to the bottom right. Pressing that will open the preview mode.
3. On the right edge of the screen will be a Tall Sound Meter - the louder the sound the colour bars will move from blue to light blue to whice.
4. In the main screen will be the rolling image of the sound - complete with spikes and all
5. On the bottom is the db decibel meter - this can be moved to the right (highest is +20) or the the left (lowest is -20 db). Depending on how loud your target sound is (or is not) you may choose to increase or decrease the db meter. Caveat - recording on the higher db is not always effective as in many cases other sounds apart from the target sound also get extraordinarly large boosts , and the target sounds are often too jagged.
6. Once you are satisfied with the Preview you must press the white tick on the left bottom to start the recording. You will know the recording is happening based on the time meter.
7. To stop the recording use the square stop button on the right bottom
8. To pause the recording (not recommended) use the round pause button on the right.

Tips for Good sound recordings

1. The phone mic is usually at the bottom of the phone – point that in the direction of the sound you are recording
2. Keep the phone still and stay silent for the duration of the recording to avoid handling noises

a) Turn off your message and alarm tones so that those sounds don’t also get recorded. If need be turn the phone to airplane mode and start recording

b) Any comments or commentary of the object of the recording should, ideally, be shared at the end

1. Try and take longer recordings when possible (minimum 30 seconds is a good start). For example there are a fair number of birds which have long complex songs , while some toads / frogs also change their calls / song some time into the sequence
2. Focus on the target sound – sometimes by taking longer recordings you will get sections that are very clear and good quality. During this time do not try and do other things that may create distracting and detracting noises - like handling / walking/ using a noisy camera (DSLR) /. These other action sounds greatly affect the quality of the sounds being heard.
3. At the end of the recording do make comments (a short commentary) about what you recorded at the end. These could include

• Name of the Creature seen (or if unknown then describe it hear - size, colors, form, etc)
• Any notes on what you saw and heard, behavior observed or anything that was special about the recording.
• What it was doing d. or where it was (specific location - flying in the air, inside a bush, on a tree trunk, in your hand etc e. approximate location & altitude -(Audio recordings via rec forge II / or most audio apps are not GPS tagged so it is ok to mention it here for both notes and future relevance

1. Practice a few recordings - once you are familiar with the process it will be easier to snap take recordings

• Practice changing the db levels on the fly in Rec Forge II

The bottom bar shows you what level the recording is set at -

The right side bar shows you how high the recording levels are - if they are reaching the top and spilling over the top they are too high which you can just adjust from the bottom EQ bar

Editing the Recordings

Nothing fancy – only suggestion is normalizing the sounds so that the recorded target sound and the commentary are approximately the same volume, and also to ensure that the target sound is at “good” audible volume for human hearing.

When editing the sound file do not cut and chop – leave the flow of the recording as it it – cutting and chopping changes the nature of the call and is not useful for either future research or comparisons.

Do not use filters - Once again in the long run the use of filters detract from the future value of the recording and also importantly cut out ambient sounds that provide context and enrich the sound.

Editing On OcenAudio or Audacity

In OcenAudio one has the option to view both Waveform and Spectral Form simultaneously. In this view one can see heat maps of where the sounds are and are good visual cues to “listen” out for when hearing the recording

Target Sound

Select the sound portion you want to normalize (The target / focus sound) Normalize to -3db or in case the original recording is too low normalize to -1 or -2db. If there are no “unnatural” sound spikes in this section then you will see a change in the soundscape. If there are sound spikes the normalization will not be very as effective.

Commentary

Select the commentary – normalize this to -8 or -10 db. The soundscape should show that the commentary is less volume than the target sound (if feasible)

Editing On Lexis Audio Editing App

1. Selecting a File for editing. - Use the open option to find a file you want to edit

a) Rec Forge Files are usually stored in /RecForge with the names are described in the settings

1. Selecting Sections of the Audio

a) Because the app is free it does not allow selecting the the whole audio section at the same time.

b) Move the start (left selector icon a bit in - a fraction will do) - do the same at the end (right side) - The proceed to the 3 vertical dot menu on the upper right → effects -->normalize

1. Do the normalization separately for the Target Sound Section and the Commentary Section **Remember the normalization is relative to your highest / tallest spike - which are usually not part of the target sounds - they could handling noises or message tones, vehicle horns etc.
2. If you want more control over how much you want to normalize you could use the ...--> Effects —> Equalizer Amplifier option and change the amplification there.
3. Export - Once you are done with the editing you can use the “Save” option - top centre to export the file. There is an option to choose the file type you are exporting to. You could choose to export to .wav (recommended) , or .mp3, or m4a (any file format that is acceptable to inaturalist)

Recommended Settings for Rec Forge II App

Audio Settings

Audio Record - wav, 48 kHz - Stereo (Mono x 2)
Use the .Wav format. (this is the non lossy file format that retains the best quality sound)

Source - Front Microphone (at the bottom of your phone usually)

Recording Name format - - Use the full date_24 hour time format (will look like this yyyymmdd_hhmmss,wav)

try and not rename the file - as the default name will provide you date and time of recording for later reference

will be 20200622_2031

YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS

YYYY = Year
MM = Month
DD -Day

_ underscore

HH = Hour
MM = Minute
SS = Seconds

Disable AGC - Keep this Selected

Meta Data - You may enter what details you want here – who is the recordist etc,

Other Settings

Prevent phone from sleeping - Yes (Tick this)

Conversion Settings

For now let this be (do not select or tick)

Interface Settings

Auto Switch to wave view - Tick (Yes)

Preview Mode - Tick (Yes)
(please read the notes of preview mode in the using Rec-Forge II Section)

Vibrate when Pressing Keys - Tick (optional )

Others Guidelines for Audio recording and editing

Ebird - Audio preparation and upload guidelines

Macaulay Library resources on Audio recording, editing, uploading and more.

Websites that Host Nature Audio or have interesting Audio Projects

The Dawn Chorus Project

Ebird as an excellent repository of [Birds Pictures, Songs and Calls]. The audio spectrograms are a very effective way to learn bird calls

The Macaulay Library one the world’s premier scientific archive of natural history audio, video, and photographs.

Xeno-canto is a website dedicated to sharing bird sounds from all over the world

Feedback and Comments

Do share your thoughts, any other links or anything else with us via direct messaging or through the comments section

Team India's Nature Monsoon Beauty

indiasnature.01@gmail.com

@ram_k @mountainjen @vijay_dixit

India’s Nature – Monsoon Beauty

Biodiversity Treasure Hunt

4th & 5th September 2021 (Saturday, Sunday)

Dear Friends

We are entering the last 10 days (and two weekends) of the Monsoon Beauty Event

For the last weekend of the event period (that is 4th and 5th September) we are proposing a Biodiversity Nature Walk and Treasure Hunt.

An opportunity for new or inexperienced nature observers i& nat users to join up with local experts and learn about nature, nature walking, exploring the tree of life, and how to effectively use iNaturalist.

==========================

The following are the proposed ideas for the walk

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1. Nature Walk for beginners*

a. lead by an experience iNat user / Guide
b. Locations and trip leaders will be shared by 1st Sept 2021

2. Exploring the Tree of Life The Biodiversity Treasure Hunt

a. Tick off as many life groups as possible during the weekend
b. Popularly seen organisms
c. (we will share a Tree of Life format for easy reference)

3. Introduction to iNaturalist

a. How to take images; post; id / tag
b. Judicious use of Computer Vision
c. Responding to messages (Activity)
d. Project Participation

1. First week of Big Butterfly Month India 2021.

Any other objectives as per the iNaturalist Trip leader

Any one interested in organizing a nature walk in their location please direct message on iNaturalist to @ram_k, We will help with guidelines and promoting the event.

Feedback and Comments

Do share your thoughts, any other links or anything else with us via direct messaging or through the comments section

Team - India's Nature (Monsoon Beauty 2021)

indiasnature.01@gmail.com

@ram_k @mountainjen @vijay_dixit

@saumya_singh's observation of an organism from the Genus Hispa - a member of Tortoise and Hispine Beetles (Subfamily Cassidinae) has been chosen as the iNaturalist observation of the day

Congratulations ! Saumya, well done.

Definitely a beetle in the bag for the Monsoon Beauty Event.

Hello Friends

1st September 2021 is the start of the second edition Big Butterfly Month India (BBMI 2021)

Definitely a project to help one learn butterflying skills.

Join others in documenting the rich colourful diversity of Butterflies across India.

for any queries about BBMI 2021 and the complete range of activities direct message @vijaybarve or @shan_tanu

PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCE MATERIALS

There are a fair amount of printed resources on Butterflies available. Some of them are listed below

FREE PDF Book on BUTTERFLIES

Common Butterflies of Delhi-NCR A Beginner's Guide

Authors Varsha Koli & Shantanu Dey (@shan_tanu) (2021) have share this ebook, provided, free. It is an excellent resource to start Butterfyling with.

Download it here

Cover Page

PRINTED BOOKS / FIELD GUIDES / KINDLE BOOK

There are a range of printed books (and one Kindle Book) available. A list of such books , their costs and availability is provided below.

Isaac Kehimlkar's Book is great for all India, while Sondhi & Kunte's book is an excellent resource for Uttarakhand.

Butterflies of India - BNHS Field Guide. Author Isaac Kehimkar. 2016 Rs 2200

Butterflies of Uttarakhand A Field Guide Paperback. Sanjay Sondhi & Krushnamegh Kunte. 2018. Rs 695

A Naturalist’s Guide to the Butterflies of India. Author Peter Smetacek 2016 Rs 349

Butterflies of India. Author Arun Pratap Singh - Paperback and Kindle Rs 618 / 419

South Indian Butterflies: Field Guide. Author by Gunathilagaraj K, 2015

Feedback and Comments

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If you know of more locally relevant Butterfly Guides, Posters, Pamphlets etc please do share in the comments.

We look forward to your other feedback and comments - direct message us via the handles provided below

Thank you

Team India's Nature Monsoon Beauty

indiasnature.01@gmail.com

@ram_k @mountainjen @vijay_dixit