California Fire Followers 2020's Boletim

Hello everyone,

The California Fire Followers Project first began in March of 2021. During that time, we have accomplished so much together. It is difficult to believe that we are entering our third year already!

THANK YOU

With that said, thank you all for the overwhelming support these past few years and for continuing contributing to the project. We are excited for what will come next this season. We are almost at 140,000 observations and looking at last year's rate, I would not be surprised if we hit 200,000 by autumnal equinox in September! I would also like to take this time to thank and acknowledge some of the top contributors to the project:

Top Observer‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Top Identifiers

We cannot emphasize it enough that the California Fire Followers Project would not be what is without YOU ALL.

Details

Lose an hour, win some merch!
With our 2nd Year Anniversary right around the corner, and Spring just on the horizon we are excited to see all the new observations as we “spring forward” to the arrival of Spring! As a quick reminder, daylight savings begins this Sunday 3/12! We encourage everyone who can access nature safely to make as many observations as possible starting this Friday (3/10) through the arrival of Spring on 3/20! We will be recognizing our top observer with a Fire Followers shirt and we will also award the first and second runners-up with a Fire Followers pin!

Resources:

As always, we want to provide you with some valuable resources to help you get started on iNaturalist.

The Real Spring [Plant Identification] Training
In case you missed our Spring Training early last Spring, check out the recordings here. Watch as our “coaching staff” for plant identification demonstrate how to sharpen your skills. boschniakia
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Wildflowers of the Bay Area - California Native Plant Society and POST
https://www.youtube.com/live/MRMmYmlO3lA?feature=share

Hey, Hey we’re the Monkees! We’re too busy evolving to put anybody down
Additionally, From Friends of the Chico State Herbarium, be sure not to miss out on this recording by Steve Schoening on Monkeyflowers!
https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/html5/html5lib/v2.85/mwEmbedFrame.php/p/670832/uiconf_id/29182902/entry_id/1_0fx6lrq4?wid=1_kghtigge

AI: Andrea vs Identotron - Getting the most out of computer-aided plant ID
Check out this webinar by Andrea Williams, a botanist who can help you get the most out of iNaturalist’s suggestions! A lot of us simply accept without question the computer-aided suggestions in iNaturalist, but check again! Is the plant suggested even found in that region? Does it match the description in a flora? Check out the recorded webinar for the tips and tricks to get the best ID suggestion to your ability.

Also, check out what is happening with our California OakWatch Project!
If you have not heard of the project already, I invite you to join and help us reach our goal to protect young oaks by collecting data and mapping where they are and are not!
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/california-oakwatch]

To help you get started with oak identifications, check out this identification guide:
https://usercontent.one/wp/www.globalconservationconsortia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Identification-Guide-for-Priority-Threatened-California-Oaks.pdf

California OakWatch Training Webinar