3.5 months on iNat

So far I've had a great time reacquainting myself with Australian and introduced flora and fauna.

Unexpected discoveries have been many and varied.

Firstly it was mushroom season, which was a frequent period of interest while living in Yunnan. It was quite fascinating to see the diversity of species in Sydney, so much so that I got so tired of squatting and standing up so many times during walks that I got lazy to photograph some of the new ones! My family have all become avid mushroom hunters (my wife was already talented) so it's great when we can get an ID, as hard as this may be sometimes.

Secondly I was very impressed to see the community of aquatic iNaturalists around Sydney. I am sure there is some serious investment involved in diving or even snorkelling some of these areas as well as the general confidence and fitness required plus situational awareness re. boats, etc. Great stuff from all those people is consistently surprising.

Had a quick dalliance in to ferns due to spotting some interesting ones bushwalking. This lead to some interesting private messages with a local iNat user, an appreciation for how difficult they can be to germinate from spores after some emails to local fern experts and nurseries and the acquisition of the local reference work.

A cockroach I have never seen was ID'd in a relatively central part of Sydney as hailing from Suriname by an entomologist with a world cockroach collection. Awesome!

There are so many amazing people with specific interests on iNat. A Crimean entomologist ID'd a lacewing for me after 6 months of no motion.

All great stuff. I am learning a lot and this has been an invaluable resource in broadening our family's gardening horizons as new gardeners.

Can't wait to get back to China in six months and ID some of the species in local forest.

Gotta love nature!

Go iNat!

Posted on 19 June, 2020 00:15 by pratyeka pratyeka

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