A community record begins with looking
Discover what lives around you.
I use iNaturalist to learn about the plants, fungi, animals, and other life Nathan and I encounter. You can begin wherever you are: notice what catches your attention, photograph it, and learn alongside a worldwide community.
My growing record
159 observations and counting.
Observations add up quickly when you look close.
Community science gives ordinary people a way to notice, document, and share the living world around them. Curiosity is enough to begin, and you don't have to know every species by name. Thirty-eight of these observations have reached Research Grade through community agreement, while others remain open for identification and continued learning. Some observations can also become part of focused tracking projects; my Red-Eared Slider sighting, for example, was added to one.
Your first observation might be a flower beside the sidewalk, a fungus after rain, an insect on the porch, or tracks at the water's edge. A photograph, date, and place can preserve an encounter you might otherwise forget. On iNaturalist, that record can also become part of a larger conversation about what lives where and when.
How Nathan and I look
A cove, a feeder creek, and time to explore.
Nathan and I are always together on these outings. We find a cove and feeder creek off Laurel River Lake, then explore around it until something stops us.
The record often begins with a color visible from the water, a small shape against moss, or an organism almost absorbed into leaf litter. I photograph the encounter first as a reference for my artwork, then gather several angles and enough surrounding habitat to remember where it belonged. The Color Guide follows that path from first impression to closer evidence →
Not every record comes from Laurel River Lake. The Lake Keowee bear is a field-trip entry, and the guide names that broader location instead of folding it into the Kentucky record.
How to use iNaturalist
Notice. Photograph. Ask. Return.
A useful observation begins with evidence, not certainty. You do not need to know the species before you share what you found.
01 · Notice
Start with what interrupted your attention.
Color, movement, texture, sound, or an unfamiliar shape is reason enough to stop. Look around the organism as well as at it: the setting may explain part of what you are seeing.
02 · Photograph
Preserve the encounter, not only the prettiest view.
Begin with a clear photograph, then record features another person may need: undersides, stems, bark, leaves, attachment points, scale, and the surrounding habitat. Keep multiple views of the same organism and encounter together.
03 · Ask
Share what you know—and leave room to learn.
Add the date and place, then identify the organism as narrowly as the evidence supports. A broad starting point such as Plants, Fungi, or Insects is useful. Community members may offer a name, another interpretation, or a question.
04 · Return
Let the observation remain a conversation.
Check the activity later. Compare suggested names with your photographs, ask which feature helped, add another useful view, or return to the place in a different season. The record can grow as your attention does.
Ready to try it? Follow iNaturalist's official guide to making an observation →
Community identification
What the iNaturalist labels mean.
The labels describe an observation's current place in iNaturalist's community process. They do not measure whether an encounter was worth recording.
Needs ID
Needs ID means the observation is still open for identification or additional agreement. It may already have a thoughtful identification, be waiting for another person, or lack a diagnostic feature needed to go narrower. The label does not necessarily mean I am uncertain about what I encountered.
Research Grade
Research Grade generally means the observation has the required evidence and details, represents a wild organism, and currently has a community-supported identification meeting iNaturalist's data-quality criteria. It does not mean a professional scientist personally verified it, that the identification can never change, or that every scientifically useful detail was photographed.
Read iNaturalist's complete Data Quality Assessment explanation →
Returning to what I find
One species can hold several outings.
When Nathan and I find the same species again, the new encounter may reveal a different season, setting, color, or angle.
I sometimes bring those sightings together in one Field Guide or Color Guide entry so visitors can see more of the organism at once. On iNaturalist, every encounter remains separate with its own photographs, date, place, and identification history.
I describe habitat and place only from what I recorded, photographed, wrote about, or reviewed individually. My live iNaturalist record is the best place to see the latest observation total and community identifications.