Share Your Bethpage State Park Nature Observations on iNaturalist!

Have you ever found yourself in the right place, at the right time, for an eye-catching wildlife experience? Perhaps you had a moment on our golf course to witness a fierce Red-tailed Hawk scoop up its prey or a Monarch butterfly fluttering on wild milkweed growing in a rough! Maybe you are on the other side of our park, strolling along one of our nature trails, when you discover an elusive Pink Lady's Slipper orchid growing deep in the woods!

With so many acres of space and hours of recreation, fascinating sights of nature are everywhere at Bethpage State Park. Sometimes you spot a species you are familiar with, while other times it's an animal or plant you have never seen. Whatever your observation may be, I am here to tell you that there is a great place to share it.... on iNaturalist!

Both a website and a mobile app, iNaturalist is a fun and easy way to put your nature findings to good use. All you have to do is create an account, submit a picture and with a few simple clicks, you are able to share it with others in your neighborhood, country and around the world!

What makes iNaturalist even more enticing is that it is the perfect educational tool! I have yet to find a more user-friendly outlet that verifies what you see outdoors while rewarding you with feedback from nature enthusiasts. Let me explain in further detail:

When you upload a photo it will ask for a species name. If you know what you observed, that's great! If you are unsure, iNaturalist will automatically make a suggestion for you. This is based on an algorithm that compares your photo to other similar photos already in the iNaturalist database. For example, when I uploaded this picture I took of a butterfly on the Green Course, iNaturalist suggested it was a Painted Lady! 

In addition to typing in a species name, make sure to include a date, location and any field notes regarding your find. Once you click submit, your observation is open to the community floor where other iNaturalist users can confirm it!

After just one confirmation, your observation becomes "Research Grade". This means your sighting is verified and now a valuable data point for science research! The more data you contribute on iNaturalist, the more of an active player you become in the overall understanding of Earth's biodiversity. Being an iNaturalist user is truly the simplest way to become a citizen scientist!

Other features that make iNaturalist a gratifying resource to use are listed below:

• iNaturalist will generate a list of all the species you've ever seen and organize it by taxa for you.

                

• iNaturalist is an ideal platform for gazing at beautiful wildlife photography! The website lets you favorite others' observations too.
• Even if you are unable to go outside to take pictures, iNaturalist allows you to submit old photographs. Think about all those vacation photos of animals you have stored on your computer...did you ever consider it to be scientific data? Well now it can be! Just keep in mind, iNaturalist prefers wild species (not domestic or cultivated).  
• On your dashboard, you are able to follow other users and their observations (similar to the format of Facebook). This is a great way to discover what is being seen in your own town or in remote places you have never been.
• Most importantly, your observations can be a part of an on-going local project. For example, there is a project page on iNaturalist called "The Ecology of Bethpage State Park". This means that if you upload any pictures of species that you claim were found at Bethpage State Park, it will automatically be submitted to this page. Hit "follow"on this project page to stay in touch with what is out-and-about or blooming here all year-round. An added bonus is that project pages lets you compare your stats against other observers. Feel free to get competitive or go on a scavenger hunt to find species that have not been documented at the park yet!   

                  

If you are not already on iNaturalist, I hope this post has inspired you to join! Perhaps you want to share your natural discoveries with me or park visitors. Perhaps you can become an identifier and use your expertise to help others confirm what they see! Maybe you just want to join for the sole purpose of curiosity! Whatever your reason may be, I encourage you to check out this wonderful resource and have fun connecting with nature.