ארכיון יומן של אוגוסט 2017

אוגוסט 1, 2017

The potential demise of Soundcloud

I'll admit, before I started using iNaturalist for Amphibian Watch I did not know what Soundcloud was. I got a little panicked when I saw this article today.

Anyone else watching this?

I haven't a clue how to save my frog voices any other way. :-/

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 1, 2017 06:23 אחה"צ על ידי alflinn329 alflinn329 | 11 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

אוגוסט 5, 2017

Seeing Red

Am I the only one who gets exited when I see I have a message waiting? [I think there were 12 a few minutes ago.]

Every now and again I am compelled to write a note of thanks to the curators and others who help "keep me on the straight and narrow" on this site. I have always been a "close enough" kind of girl. I was devastated to find out how many varieties of bluebonnet, prickly pear, and mesquite there are. I can no longer be satisfied with "close enough." At least here we get specific. Here we take good photos of "snail lips" (knowing we aren't going to "kiss 'em" but that the lip of that shell matters).

As much as I fight my phone and camera and chafe under the stresses of too many species, I do appreciate all the helpers out there!

Special thanks to those who have helped/are helping with the observations in Ireland. Going to a different state or different country is a bit overwhelming. I think back and realize I was quite mad - documenting everything that moved. iNaturalist and all you wonderful identifiers have helped me tame the madness.

--Amy, back to her senses in Texas

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 5, 2017 08:27 אחה"צ על ידי alflinn329 alflinn329 | תגובה 1 | הוספת תגובה

אוגוסט 6, 2017

Competing Databases

Has anyone else concerns about "competing" databases?

I continue to have questions about using both eBird and iNaturalist. Do we post in both? Do I only post in eBird when I miss the photo (because they trust me)? Does anyone else have their "rule of thumb" to share?

In working on blog posts about hikes in parks and reserves in Ireland I discovered they have their own database in Ireland - http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/ - the National Biodiversity Data Center. I had heard a vague mention about some database and had wondered why there were not more Ireland posts on iNaturalist. I wonder if it is an issue of competing databases.

I have not attempted to use the NBDC database (it looks much more time consuming than iNaturalist), but I have written them a note about partnerships and whether they want me to share the photographs I have from the trip.

Guidance is always appreciated.

Back to slogging through the blog.

[Yes, I am going to a workshop or two this fall. Yes, I know there is probably an article on this somewhere that I have missed.]
:-/

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 6, 2017 05:00 אחה"צ על ידי alflinn329 alflinn329 | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

אוגוסט 14, 2017

SoundCloud Issues - Maybe they should die

Yeah. I'm posting about SoundCloud again. Every now and again I have some issues with SoundCloud. I ONLY use it for iNaturalist. I don't use anything else except AudioCopy and SoundCloud.

I have had files go missing and had to upload them again in the past.

I just received a note that one of my uploads wasn't playing. So I investigated. SoundCloud says the file doesn't exist. I have gone to my account and less than 1/4 of my files are listed. Normally I would just go to my phone and upload again. But 1) that is a ridiculous waste of time if it keeps happening. 2) I changed phones and lost those copies.

I am more than a bit of a techno-peasant and have no idea what is happening, but I'm about to stop messing with recordings as this simply is not working for me. What backup are others using so you don't lose all your work?

I have found that I can still play the recording from my iNaturalist account ONE MORE TIME before it is in the netherworld. I am shushing everyone in the house and rerecording every one of my recordings on AudioCopy so that I do not lose them entirely (I'll be keeping this phone for a while).

I hear iNaturalist is going to do their own sound recording piece. It cannot happen soon enough.

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 14, 2017 10:24 אחה"צ על ידי alflinn329 alflinn329 | 4 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

אוגוסט 21, 2017

Frogs and toads on the Frio River 8-17 to 8-21-17

We regularly hear Leopard Frogs and Cricket Frogs at the river or in a nearby pond. We have not been serious about monitoring, but just practice our calls. I do a decent Blanchard's Cricket Frog click (also good for a Green Kingfisher which I saw twice on this trip).

I've wandered this spot (between the Rio Frio low water crossing and Garner Park) since I was 5. I've spent a good bit of time on the trails and in the meadows during the past 56 years. We've watched native "game" and exotic species with Dad, gathered and identified wildflowers with Mom, and "birded" with both of them. Since they have been gone we have been on our own - continuing to check prime spots for wildlife and coming up with our own ideas.

Last year we accidentally observed the results of a recent toad hatching - numbers of tiny Gulf Coast Toads along the river-side trails. We set up at the pond and monitored the Leopard Frog calls, recording and then "talking to the frogs" once our recordings were complete. We heard Cricket frogs only on the river and only once on that trip.

But this trip was different - the water is down because there has been little rain. The pond is quite dry and somewhat stagnant. There are still fish, turtles, and frogs, but nothing seemed to be moving much. Only the resident Mallards were active - one male, one female. There are usually more ducks and sometimes geese. We also often observe transient birds at this pond during our visits. Not this year.

We regularly heard Blanchard's Cricket Frogs on the river (never beyond CL-1) this trip. Some calls came from a slow moving creek that empties into the river where we swim. Other calls came from a small area that is cut-off from the main part of the river channel. Parrot Grass is thick there. I observed two different cricket frogs in that location. One was about an inch long, The other was about 1/2 inch. The frogs regularly responded to calls (whether my vocal "click" or using a couple of rocks to "click"). I taught a few children about calling the frogs and heard them throughout our last few days - calling and receiving a response from the frog(s).

I also called both cricket frogs and Leopard Frogs at the pond on the evening of the 17th. I normally don't call the frogs, but wait to see if they are calling. However, I was testing to see if we wanted to do a more organized monitoring the next day. I received a response from a cricket frog (CL-1), but none from the Leopard Frogs. I did observe and photograph one small Leopard Frog on the bank (iNaturalist observation 7547062). It may have been responding to my call. I have no way to know. We did not monitor later because of the poor response.

I will submit recordings of the cricket frogs once I decide how I plan to do it (following my problems with SoundCloud recordings disappearing).

On 8-21 I observed a small (perhaps 1.5 to 2 inch) Gulf Coast Toad on a river trail. There was no call. This observation is at iNaturalist 7592807.

It was a rich 5 days on the river. I will be working on identifications of plants and wildflowers for some time.

הועלה ב-אוגוסט 21, 2017 10:46 אחה"צ על ידי alflinn329 alflinn329 | תגובה 1 | הוספת תגובה