Hello I-Naturalists!
I call myself a full-time I-Naturalist. I'm passionate about adding what I see in nature and what I learn to I-Nat because it brings me Joy! I'm an avid hiker-traveler, bird-watcher, bug-seeker, plant-finder, which takes me to many interesting natural places where I enjoy taking way too many photos of everything that grows, creeps, crawls, and flies. I love nature and find all living things fascinating and worth studying. I appreciate all comments, corrections and confirmations to my observations, and I look forward to seeing your sightings in nature too.

I-Nat tip: The more Projects you join that match your interests--the more expert eyes will see and confirm your observations.

As a former research/reference librarian, I'm always thrilled to discover new learning tools. Some of my favorite helpful resources:

PLANTS
Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers (and more) https://borregowildflowers.org/
Jepson eFlora: Plants of California https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/
Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012
Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts. Jim W. Dole and Betty B. Rose, Foot-loose Press, 1996
California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A. Munz, 1975
Southern California Plant Communities: http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/plantcommunities.html
Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (comprehensive website)
Native and Introduced Plants of Southern California by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/index.html
Leaf Shape and Arrangement diagrams: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg
Native American Ethnobotany: A database of plants used as drugs, foods, dyes, fibers, and more by Native People of North America. http://naeb.brit.org/
Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants, Lowell John Bean and K. Saubel, Malki Museum Press, 1972
Plants For A Future: A resource and information center for edible and otherwise useful plants: https://pfaf.org/User/cmspage.aspx?pageid=305
Flora of North America http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Main_Page
Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015,
Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019,
Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016,
Monterey County Wildflowers– a photographic guide https://montereywildflowers.com/index/
5-minute video of Fort Ord Flora and Fauna, produced by David Styer: https://fortordcleanup.com/archives/2020/natural-treasures-of-fort-ord-90-amazing-photographs/
(The) Monterey Pine Forest: Coastal California's Living Legacy, 2nd. ed, The Monterey Pine Forest Watch, 2018. (Excellent book)
Field Guide to Manzanitas: California, North America, and Mexico, 2nd edition. M.E. Kauffmann, T. Parker, and M. Vasey, Photographs by Jeff Bisbee. 2021.
Oregon Flora https://oregonflora.org/checklists/dynamicmap.php?interface=key
Calflora: Wild California Plants: http://calflora.org/ (search by county for species presence/absence)
Central CA coast Endangered Species Fact Sheets website http://www.elkhornsloughctp.org/factsheet/
California Native Plant Society https://rareplants.cnps.org/Search/Advanced
Geranium i.d. assist w photos https://www.inaturalist.org/posts/69454-geranium-observations-without-flowers-or-fruits
Thistles (non-native) https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/cwarneke/61995-thistles-with-white-in-their-leaves
Lupine (Lupinus) anatomy, etc. Pictorial Guide to Characteristics Needed for Lupine Identification, by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/identification.html
Conifers of Western North America https://www.conifers.org/topics/W_NA_trees.php by Christopher J. Earle
Tale of Big Tree Hunting In California by Christopher J. Earle https://www.conifers.org/topics/biggest.php
Oak Tree Species I.D. and Ecology: https://oaks.cnr.berkeley.edu/oak-tree-species-id-ecology/
Oaks of California, B. Pavlik, P. Muick, S. Johnson, M. Popper, 1991
Field guide for CA Tree Oaks written, designed, and illustrated by Joshua Zupan and free to download here:
https://joshuazupan.com/portfolio/tree-oaks-of-california-a-field-guide
Cacti, Agaves, and Yuccas of California and Nevada. Text and photos by Stephen Ingram. Cachuma Press, 2008
Cacti of California, E. Yale Dawson, 1966, 3rd printing 1975
San Diego Natural History Museum https://www.sdplantatlas.org/
Jepson Flora: Abbreviations and Symbols Used in The Jepson Manual, Second Edition https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/TJM2_abbrev_symbols.html
Australian website that makes huge keys more manageable https://keybase.rbg.vic.gov.au/projects/show/11?filter_id=55b17b2b4727a and https://keybase.rbg.vic.gov.au/ (set for CCo, Central Coast of CA)
Jepson eFlora: Filtered Keys--lists plants by California Provinces, Regions and Subregions https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/filter_keys.html?
Endangered (plant) Species Fact Sheets, and more http://www.elkhornsloughctp.org/factsheet/

BIRDS
Ebird with species description, range map and sound recordings: https://ebird.org/explore
Xeno-canto Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map: https://xeno-canto.org/explore?query=Meleagris%20gallopavo
Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/bird-guide
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008
The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/ (enter common name)
Merlin Bird ID (great app available for Iphones) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/
Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php
Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society
How to Tell a Raven From a Crow, ID Tips: https://www.audubon.org/news/how-tell-raven-crow

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS
Butterflies of Monterey County: A comprehensive guide to finding and identifying 91 species of butterflies in Monterey County, Chris Tenney and Jan Austin, August 2023
Coming soon: Companion website to Butterflies of Monterey County: https://www.montereybutterflies.online/
Bug photographs from the U.S/Canada for I.D: https://bugguide.net
Butterflies and Moths of North America https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species_search
Butterflies Through Binoculars: The West: a field guide to the butterflies of western North America, by Jeffrey Glassberg, 2001
Butterflies of Central and Northern California: a guide to common and notable species, Jim Brock, laminated pamphlet, 2023
Glossary of butterfly terms: https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/resources/glossary
Caterpillars: INaturalist Project https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-caterpillars
Common Butterflies of California, Text and Photographs by Bob Stewart, 1997
Kaufman Field Guide to Butterflies of North America. Brock and Kaufman, 2003,
Butterflies & Their Favorite Flowering Plants: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park & Environs, Lynn and Gene Monroe, 2004
Southern California Butterflies http://socalbutterflies.com/index.htm
Wagner's Caterpillars of Western North America "last we heard 1450 species accounts were in progress" thebals 6/6/23.

ANIMALS/INSECTS/SPIDERS
Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of California: https://californiaherps.com
California Snakes Range Maps: https://californiaherps.com/snakes/snakesmaps.html
Reptile Database (worldwide) https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/
Bug photographs from the U.S/Canada for I.D: https://bugguide.net
Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, Eaton and Kaufman, 2006,
Lady Beetle Key for North America https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Ladybug&cl=llp
Native Bees: Get to Know Native Bees of the Santa Cruz Mountains with Obi Kaufmann. May 6, 2020 https://openspacetrust.org/blog/native-bees/
Bumble Bees of the Western United States, 114 page PDF (7.6 MB), by By Jonathan Koch, James Strange, Paul Williams, a comprehensive, well written resource, with excellent diagrams and photos. https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/2018-05/12-053_01_Western_BB_guide.pdf
The Fly Guide https://sites.google.com/view/flyguide/species-guides
Field Guide to Spiders of California and the Pacific Coast States, RJ Adams and Tim Manolis, 2014
Spiders in Your Neighborhood: A Field Guide, Revised and Expanded Paperback, 2022, Patrick Stadille
Spider Eye Arrangements (for each family) Lynette Elliott: https://bugguide.net/node/view/84423

GALLS
I.D. Galls. Select "Identify" and type the host name: https://www.gallformers.org/id
Galls. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/galls-of-california/journal/44203-where-to-learn-more-about-galls

MUSHROOMS/LICHENS/SLIME MOLDS
Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California, Siegel and Schwarz, 2016.
An iNaturalist Introduction to Mushrooming, 6-minute Utube video by Christian Schwartz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKF_pIY0Zpc
California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide, D. Desjardin, M. Wood, and F. Stevens, 2nd printing 2019.
Fungi of California: Home page https://www.mykoweb.com/index.html and https://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/ and https://mykoweb.com/CAF/skey.html and https://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/keys/index.html
A Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, 2014.
The Curious Observer's Guide to Slime Mold: of Santa Cruz and Beyond, Carrie Niblett, 2nd ed. 2021.
Slime Molds: 27 references, websites, videos, and other resources compiled by @ regularslimeguy https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/169310771

SEA LIFE
Beachcombers's Guide to Seashore Life of California, J.D. Sept, Rev. ed. 2009,
SEANET Hopkins Marine Station for "Nearshore Plants and Animals of the Monterey Bay" https://seanet.stanford.edu/
Field Guide to Seaweeds of the Pacific Northwest, Dr. Bridgette Clarkston, Harbour Publishing, 2015,
Algaebase https://www.algaebase.org/
Limpets - cap-shaped snails: https://seanet.stanford.edu/Limpets
Limpet I.D: https://seanet.stanford.edu/limpet-table
Pacific Northwest Shell Club http://www.bily.com/pnwsc/web-content/Northwest-Shells.html
Abalone Identification Guide: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Marine/Invertebrates/Abalone/Abalone-ID
https://wildwhales.org/speciesid/dolphins-and-porpoises/
Whale barnacles https://scienceline.org/2010/03/how-do-barnacles-attach-to-whales/
Mer Society (Marine Education and Research Society), dedicated to marine conservation through scientific research, education, and marine wildlife rescue. https://www.mersociety.org

Favorite Taxa

View All