1000 Consecutive Days of an iNat Upload

It was with great joy that I read on Facebook the other day about my birding friend Ted's accomplishment of reaching 1000 days in a row of submitting an eBird checklist. I am struggling to keep my streak going for a year. I make them daily, I forget to send them in from my app. Stupid, I know.

Ted, amazing citizen science. Thank you.

When I read his post, I understood what an accomplishment his data collection achievement was, because I knew I was coming up on a 1000 day streak of my own. Though it is not the streak I thought I would be celebrating this day, today, sometime in the rain this morning at LaBagh Woods, while leading the COS bird walk there, I made an observation of these Chicken of the Woods (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/95776786), and that made 1000 consecutive days of uploading an iNaturalist.org observation to help in my own modest way to create a citizen science record, legacy, of the life I see here on Spaceship Earth in my time, and in my places.

My journey began on Friday, December 28th, 2018, with five bird species observed and documented on and near the Diversey Turning Basin on the Chicago River behind Diversey Bowl. One of those 5 observations was this Ruddy Duck (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/19392419).

500 days later on Friday, April 10th, 2020, I saw the first Spotted Salamander I ever recall seeing (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/41840575), down in the Palos Preserves of Cook County. It was one of 14 observations I made that day.

Between December 28th, 2018, and today, September 22nd, 2021, when I added 9 observations to iNat, I have made 15,593 iNat observations of 3592 species of organisms. 11,914 of those observations of 2969 organisms have been peer IDed, or confirmed by others on iNat.

Some interesting stats: 14,936 of those observations were made in Illinois. 12,735 were made in Cook County. 8141 were in Chicago proper, and 3655 of my observations in that 1000 day span were made at my patch, LaBagh Woods. I also made 1531 observations at my small urban residence on Chicago's NW side in that time span. Probably the most iNat observations at a single residential address in all of Chicago, LOL.

The world will little note, or likely care about this modest achievement. Hell, the world takes little note of the damage it is doing without concern to Spaceship Earth, so of course not.

And though I rage on and on about that lack of concern, I have made it my mission to think globally and act locally, doing what I can to be one of those who does stewardship at LaBagh Woods. Additionally, everywhere I go, I do my best to create a record of what I see living there. When all is said and done, besides my two children, I hope, this may be the most important legacy I can leave to the future: A nearly anynomus documentation of what was living here, in this time, and in these places, where I have been.

I am good with that. I am really good with that. I believe it will matter.

Where to from here?

To Wednesday, June 19th, 2024. That will be my second 1000 days of consecutive observations.

Who is with me?

Said in that way only the future Senator Bluto Blutarsky could (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7vtWB4owdE).

Posted on September 23, 2021 04:45 AM by skrentnyjeff skrentnyjeff

Observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)

Observer

skrentnyjeff

Comments

Congrats on reaching this milestone, Jeff! One of the many exciting things about iNat for me is knowing the data I've contributed might be useful in the future, but not knowing exactly how. You're probably the person who first introduced me to iNat, so thank you for that :-)

Posted by maureenclare over 2 years ago

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