2,000
Wow...I didn't expect to make my 2,000th observation today (I thought I'd have made it yesterday when I was walking and deliberately searching for wildlife). However, between meetings I heard a familiar cry in the air outside my little huis, so I grabbed my camera and stepped outside to be rewarded with three osprey circling over the lake where I'm currently located. They were circling over several small fishing boats and I sensed a display of skills oncoming.
Sure enough, those osprey dove and retrieved fish with all the ease and grace of the most experienced ballerinas... for an audience of clearly envious fisherpeople.
And that's the beauty of iNaturalist: over the course of making these 2,000 observations I've become so much more aware of the world around me - the sights, smells and sounds of wildlife. I've learned that it's worth it to drop everything, grab the camera and step outside (sometimes even without the camera) to enjoy the awesomeness that is wildlife. And I enjoy it not just for myself, but with the knowledge that maybe these photographs will help a scientist somewhere - help with tracking migration patterns perhaps, or fishing technique or invasive species etc.
It's also made me want to be a better photographer - and I'm trying my best but I know I have so much more to learn. It's incredibly challenging to not let my enthusiasm of watching wildlife overtake my barely steady hand and ability to focus a camera - I'm still giddy every time I see or hear a bird... and my face hurts from all the happy every time I get a "good" photograph. Maybe some of these osprey photographs are good... maybe they'll be useful (there haven't been many osprey observations at this lake - but I'm hopeful that there will be more osprey observations made here... by better photographers or even newcomers to iNaturalist).
Thank you, @greatspaceflamingo for getting me into this iNaturalist life....you've been making me so much more aware of our world since the day you were born - I'm super proud of you and so grateful you introduced me to iNaturalist.
