So a Bunch of iNatters Meetup in Texas...
While people often refer to iNaturalist as an “app,” it really is also of a community, and that becomes obvious when you hang out with other iNaturalist users in the “real world” and explore nature together.
@sambiology and other Texans planned an iNaturalist meetup in the southwestern part of the state this past April and I was lucky enough to be able to attend. It really was incredible to be among 20+ other folks who will stop a car (safely!) to get a bird ID or revel in chasing down and photographing a new-to-them leaf-footed bug (see footage in the video below). While many of us on iNaturalist might prefer the company of bivalves, mosses, and slime molds to our fellow humans, it can be a lot of fun to bond over our shared interested in wildlife.
So it’s about five months late, but I wanted to share a little video montage I made of this “Southwest Texas iNat-a-Thon” and encourage you to organize meetups of your own. And if you have any stories of making new friends through iNat, definitely share them in the comments!
Southwest Texas iNat-a-thon 2018 from iNaturalist on Vimeo.
- Check out blog posts and interviews with gcwarbler and greglasley which were filmed during this meetup, and also take a gander at in interview with sambiology when he stopped by the California Academy of Sciences.
- Here’s a Collection project of our observations from the iNat-a-thon!
- @kueda wrote an eloquent Observation of the Week post about a previous Texas meetup back in 2016!
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Looks like a blast! A few familiar faces and a few more familiar names. Thanks for posting!
Wow! Looks like great fun.
Super video of a super event!
It was great seeing some familiar iNat users in action!
It was the BEST. :)
I highly suggest trying to host iNat gatherings in your local/extended community -- it's great to meet the screennames in real life. :)
What fun!
My favorite of our "meetups" so far I think. Great job on the video Tony.
It's worth reviewing the Collection Project: 7,717 Observations and 1,170 Species pulled out by only 23 iNatters.
YOWZA!
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/southwest-texas-inat-a-thon
This looks amazing. All of the Texas superstars in one place! I wonder if I could organize something similar for next year's City Nature Challenge here in my newly adopted state of Florida.
Great Video!
Looks like fun! I hope I can go to something like this some time. The closest I've had was the 2018 Ontario BioBlitz, which was fun, but not really iNat-focused.
Thanks guys! Cutting it together brought back many happy memories. It also made me realize that iNatting as an activity mainly involves crouching and stooping. And some occasional looking upwards through binoculars.
This was such an absolute blast! I love this! Thank you, Tony!
I agree @brentano, this was the best of our meet ups so far.
I am glad to see the Handmoths and Mayflies have been immortalized in video format :D
Great trip, can't wait for the next one!!!
I absolutely love this!!! Thank you for making the video and posting it. I feel like I belong in this community of unique individuals (discarded nerds/dorks, weirdos and settled on unique)
Amazing Video! I really regret not making this trip and I won't make the same mistake next time! Thanks for adding!
That was a really great trip for the nature aspect as well as just hanging out. I also wrote a short blog about my experience.
Cool! I’d be interested in hearing how one organizes such an event.
@driftlessroots Here's how Sam does it:
Gus Engeling WMA last year: https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/sambiology/10657-gus-engeling-wma-short-notice-saturday-july-8th-wanna-come
Del Rio (featured in the video) this year: https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/sambiology/13715-del-rio-details-inat-gathering-and-bioblitz-at-amistad-and-devil-s-river
Basically, find out who the most active iNat users are in your general area, have an idea for a time and/or place, and write a journal post tagging all of those people. You may be surprised how far people will go for a good outing! The Del Rio trip had plenty of people coming from out of state.
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