Excitement in the common species -- regional species are new to other folks!
So, we were quite lucky in the DFW metroplex to have @tiwane and @joelle come down from California for a short visit. Several of the iNat heavy hitters came out to explore just a couple of the neat places on the west side of the DFW metroplex: @kimberlietx @brentano @tadamcochran @briang @tfandre @dfwuw @elizrose @butterflies4fun @cgritz @wildcarrot @valt (I'm sure I'm missing some folks... Anyone?)
In the morning, many of us met at Southwest Nature Preserve in Arlington at about 9:30. By around 9:45, we realized today was going to be a hot one... the hottest day in DFW so far this year! SWNP was dragonfly-crazy -- the ponds here were swarming with various species of dragonflies. We grabbed some BBQ at Angelo's in Fort Worth at noon, and then headed up to the Fort Worth Nature Center in early afternoon. We stayed until about 5, then headed back into town and went to Tandy Hills Natural Area. At the end of the day, we got some good Tex-Mex in Bedford.
On Saturday, several of us went down to Acton Nature Center -- I was leading the citizen science training class for the Rio Brazos Master Naturalists. Tony videoed some of the presentation and little practice walk after. It was loads of fun, but again, quite hot! We got some BBQ ribs for lunch, then went back out to Acton Nature Center in the afternoon. After that, a few of us when by the Brazos River to do a bit more exploring.
Overall, it was a great weekend -- really glad that Tony and Joelle came to visit and that we had some of the great DFW iNatters join up.
Something did strike me though -- and I had this discussion with others before... The common species in a region can be super amazing to folks that are unfamiliar with them. I experienced the same thing when I visited California -- EVERYTHING was new! Even the most common of species was exciting to find. I guess that's another beautiful thing about iNaturalist -- as we post the species that we see commonly, others can feel that excitement through our observations. iNaturalist definitely makes traveling more exciting for me. :)
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I had a ton of fun in Texas, thank you Sam and everyone else who were such amazing hosts; everyone was welcoming, funny and tried so hard (sadly in vain) to help me find some snakes. iNatting does make travel more fun, it's cool to see the "normal" stuff that you guys have, you're blessed with some amazing wildlife. Come out out to California!
I had a great time, and I got some really good pics that day! Great to meet you guys!!
I lived my entire life in western Washington state until I moved to Texas in 2013, and didn't get into iNat until a year or so later--so EVERYTHING I've been seeing in Texas (and anywhere else I go) is new to me. I've always been interested in nature, but without a good way to keep records and look things up, I would just take pictures and forget about them. Last night I went through all the photos on my desktop (so I could add them to iNat, of course), and going back more than 10 years ago I'm finding picture of birds, bugs, and spiders that just amaze me. How could I not have been as excited when I took those pictures as I was to find them now?
So yes, iNat is the best. True life saver. My life would be so boring without it.
I agree that it's great to be in a new place and getting to see new things. That's pretty much the reason I travel. Related to that is the excitement of visitors when you show them what you consider your common things. That always renews my enthusiasm for what I may have become blind to because I see it every day. There's something to see everywhere!
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