Archivos de diario de diciembre 2021

13 de diciembre de 2021

Welcome, Naturalista Uruguay! ¡Bienvenido, NaturalistaUY!

Today we officially welcome NaturalistaUY (iNaturalist Uruguay) as the newest member of the iNaturalist Network! NaturalistaUY is a collaboration with two Uruguayan organizations, the environmental education NGO JULANA and the scientific initiative Biodiversidata with support from the National Geographic Society.

¡Hoy damos la bienvenida oficialmente a NaturalistaUY (iNaturalist Uruguay) como nuevo miembro de la Red iNaturalist! NaturalistaUY es una colaboración con organizaciones uruguayas, la ONG de educación ambiental JULANA y la iniciativa científica Biodiversidata con apoyo de la National Geographic Society.

NaturalistaUY’s logo is the capybara, which is locally called the carpincho (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). It is an animal that people relate to and immediately recognise as typically Uruguayan, and that is distributed in every department of the country. Of course, it helps that they are very cute! Although the species is distributed throughout most of Latin America, the capybara is very characteristic of Uruguay. It is also the largest living rodent in the world (distant cousin of the largest that has ever walked the Earth, the Uruguayan and already extinct Josephoartigasia monesi).

Elegimos al carpincho como nuestro logo de NaturalistaUY (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). Queríamos que fuera un animal que nos representara a todas y todos, que la gente reconociera inmediatamente como típicamente uruguayo y que estuviera distribuido en todos los departamentos de nuestro país. Por supuesto, ¡ayuda el hecho de que son muy lindos! Si bien la especie se distribuye por casi toda Latinoamérica, el carpincho es muy característico de nuestro país y actualmente es el roedor más grande del mundo (primo lejano del más grande que haya pisado la Tierra, el uruguayo y ya extinto Josephoartigasia monesi).



The iNaturalist community in Uruguay has grown quickly since 2019, today, reaching more than 33,000 verifiable observations on the platform and exceeding the 3,900 species reported for the Uruguayan territory. With more than 1,400 people uploading records all over the country, iNaturalist has grown to be the largest citizen science platform in Uruguay. @flo_grattarola is the main point of contact for NaturalistaUY through her role as coordinator of Biodiversidata and member of JULANA.

La comunidad de iNaturalist en Uruguay ha crecido masivamente desde 2019, llegando hoy a más de 33.000 observaciones verificables en la plataforma y superando las 3.900 especies reportadas para el territorio uruguayo. Con más de 1400 personas subiendo registros en todo el país, iNaturalista ha crecido hasta convertirse en la mayor plataforma de ciencia ciudadana de Uruguay. @flo_grattarola es el principal punto de contacto de NaturalistaUY a través de su rol como coordinadora de Biodiversidata e integrante de JULANA.


About the iNaturalist Network

The iNaturalist Network now has 19 localized sites that are fully connected and interoperable with the global iNaturalist site. The sites are: Naturalista Mexico, iNaturalist Canada, iNaturalist New Zealand (formerly NatureWatchNZ), Naturalista Colombia, BioDiversity4All (Portugal), iNaturalist Panama, iNaturalist Ecuador, iNaturalist Australia, ArgentiNat (Argentina), iNaturalist Israel, iNaturalist Finland, iNaturalist Chile, iNaturalist Greece, iNaturalist Luxembourg, iNaturalist United Kingdom, iNaturalist Guatemala, iNaturalist Sweden, Naturalista Costa Rica, and now Naturalista Uruguay. Any iNaturalist user can log in on any of the sites using their same username and password and will see the same notifications.

La Red iNaturalist ahora tiene 19 sitios locales a nivel nacional que están completamente conectados y son interoperables con el sitio global iNaturalist. Los sitios son: Naturalista México, iNaturalist Canadá, iNaturalist Nueva Zelanda (antes NatureWatchNZ), Naturalista Colombia, BioDiversity4All (Portugal), iNaturalist Panamá, iNaturalist Ecuador, iNaturalist Australia, ArgentiNat (iNaturalist Argentina), iNaturalist Israel, iNaturalist Finlandia, iNaturalist Chile,iNaturalist Grecia, iNaturalist Luxemburgo, iNaturalist Reino Unido, iNaturalist Guatemala, iNaturalist Suecia,NaturalistaCR, y ahora NaturalistaUY. Cualquier usuario de iNaturalist puede iniciar sesión en cualquiera de los sitios usando su mismo nombre de usuario y contraseña y verá las mismas notificaciones.

The iNaturalist Network model allows for localizing the iNaturalist experience to better support regional communities and local leadership in the movement, without splitting the community into isolated sites. The iNaturalist team is grateful to the outreach, training, translations, and community support carried out through the efforts of the iNaturalist Network member institutions.

El modelo de la Red iNaturalist permite personalizar la experiencia iNaturalist para apoyar mejor a las comunidades regionales y al liderazgo local del movimiento, sin dividir la comunidad en sitios aislados. El equipo de iNaturalist agradece la divulgación, la formación, las traducciones y el apoyo a los usuarios realizados gracias a los esfuerzos de las instituciones integrantes de la Red iNaturalist.

We encourage all Uruguayans to join NaturalistaUY platform and explore biodiversity!

¡Invitamos a todas y todos los uruguayos a unirse a la plataforma NaturalistaUY y a explorar la biodiversidad!

Publicado el diciembre 13, 2021 02:40 TARDE por carrieseltzer carrieseltzer | 8 comentarios | Deja un comentario

31 de diciembre de 2021

68 new-to-me places I explored in 2021

At the beginning of 2021, I set a goal of 52 new-to-me hikes. But really, my definition of “hike” is more like “explore an area where I haven’t made any iNaturalist observations yet.” And the area could be tiny and didn’t necessarily need to have a trail (e.g. small urban parks). I also revisited many parks I’d been to before, but hiked new trails. The idea was to average one new place each weekend so it kept me motivated to go outside, especially during the first few months of 2021.

I exceeded my goal and explored 68 new-to-me places in 2021! Where did I explore?

I did the most hikes in DC (31), followed by Maryland (20). Surprisingly, I only did one new-to-me hike in Virginia! It was with @ana_kaahanui in February at Huntley Meadows and we ran into @saw_it on the boardwalk.

While traveling, I also explored new areas in Delaware, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana.

In DC, I made a big effort to explore areas in Wards 7 and 8, east of the Anacostia River. The parks in that part of the city don’t tend to get as much attention as places like Rock Creek Park, so I really wanted to get to know them better and document the biodiversity there. Some of my favorite observations of the year were from there. I found a beetle that looks like a new genus for DC, a brilliant gold tortoise beetle, a barred owl, and my first box turtle in DC.

I’ve now hiked every trail in Fort Dupont (DC ward 7) and all but a tiny bit of the Hiker-Biker Trail that runs through Fort Dupont and other Civil War-era fort parks in southeast DC (these are collectively called the Fort Circle Parks because they encircled DC).

I can’t easily sort out the observations from the new-to-me places, but excluding the ones I’ve obscured is a decent approximation since that at least takes out everything from home. Here's the same with a photo-centric view.

Here's a few of my favorite photos, all from Washington, DC. You can click through to the observations to see where they were made.


White-tailed deer


barred owl


box elder flowers


mourning cloak

I hiked with 19 different friends or family members. 16 of the hikes I did alone. I hiked the most with my daughter (22), @dbarber (12), @maryeford (12), @mattgrosso (7), and my parents @angieseltzer and @daveseltzer (6). I enjoyed hiking with all of you so thank you for joining me on this adventure!

2021 was a pretty great year for me when it came to observations and species, even though it's the first year since 2013 that I haven't left the United States, I didn't fly anywhere, and the furthest I went from home was a day's drive. For a summary of everything I saw this year, you can check out my Year in Review. I did also manage to make at least one verifiable observation every single day this calendar year for the first time ever!

If you’re interested in the places I visited by state and name, here’s a breakdown:

State Place Name Count
DC Fort Circle Trail 10
Fort DuPont 4
Misc DC Parks 3
Rock Creek Park 2
Oxon Run 2
Kingman and Heritage Islands 2
US National Arboretum 1
Roosevelt Island 1
Pope Branch 1
National Mall and Memorial Parks 1
Misc National Capital Parks East - DC 1
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens 1
Fort Totten Park 1
Anacostia Park 1
DC Total 31
DE Cape Henlopen State Park 3
Delaware Total 3
IN Whitewater Memorial State Park 1
Indiana Total 1
MD Watkins Regional Park 2
Cosca Regional Park 2
Calvert Cliffs State Park 2
C & O Canal National Historic Park 2
Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary 2
American Chestnut Land Trust 2
Wells Run Park 1
Sugarloaf Mountain 1
Patuxent 1
Patapsco Valley State Park 1
Misc National Capital Parks East - MD 1
Guilford Woods 1
Greenbelt Park 1
Belt Woods Natural Environment Area 1
Maryland Total 20
MI Meijer Gardens 1
Ingham Park 1
Fitzgerald Park 1
Michigan Total 3
OH Possum Creek Metropark 1
Glen Helen Nature Reserve 1
Cooperrider-Kent Bog State Nature Preserve 1
Charleston Falls Preserve 1
Ohio Total 4
PA Powdermill Nature Reserve 1
Pennsylvania Total 1
VA Huntley Meadows 1
Virginia Total 1
WV Coopers Rock State Forest 3
West Virginia Botanic Garden 1
West Virginia Total 4
Publicado el diciembre 31, 2021 08:51 TARDE por carrieseltzer carrieseltzer | 5 comentarios | Deja un comentario