County map of my iNat observations

I just found out that you can download your iNat observations as a CSV data file. This is exciting news for me because, in addition to the plant identification nerd stuff, I’m also really into data visualization. So, here is my first effort: a map I created in R that shows the counties from which I have uploaded observations. Mostly they are in the Chicago area and eastern Iowa near my family’s farm in Louisa County, with a couple of trips to Madison and Milwaukee as well.

Looking ahead to warmer weather, I hope to take a few train/bike trips to new areas to log some observations. A few years ago (before I started using iNat) I took Amtrak to La Crosse and biked a trail along the Mississippi. It was a beautiful trip, and I’m looking for other Amtrak-accessible destinations. At the top of my list are southern Illinois, Michigan, and the Driftless region. I also plan to continue exploring southeast Iowa wetlands—there are some really interesting sites near our farm. At the end of the year I’ll update the map and hopefully there will be a lot more green.

Posted on February 14, 2020 03:09 AM by joelmc joelmc

Comments

Very cool -- this reminds me of the personal county, state and country maps on eBird, which I find very satisfying.

Posted by maureenclare about 4 years ago

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