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Hey, NF Community! Just wondering if there are any other iNaturalist addicts and/or other assorted nature nerds (hikers, photographers, explorers, citizen scientists, professional scientists) who would like to share here! "Nature stalking," as I like to call it, has really helped me connect with my surroundings, get outside more, log more hikes, explore new places, and learn so much about the creatures we share the environment with! If anyone is interested, jump on in! If you have questions about getting more outdoorsy, please feel free to shout those out, too! To kick this off, I wanted to share a few of my iNat pics (I'm personally very fond of bees!) and a few resources. iNaturalist - upload observations of living creatures to help with data collection and analysis, and use an amazing AI system to identify your photograph! (available on desktop, iPhone, and Android) * More info in my conversation with @InnerFire, below. QuestaGame - individuals and teams photograph and identify living organisms for points (similar to iNaturalist, but made into a game) SciStarter - Citizen Scientist project center Geocaching - outdoor treasure hunting (yes, really!) World Wildlife Fund Panda Ambassadors - WWF volunteering What else should I add to this list?? - Odynne (TIPSYwithWATER) BEE SPECIES PICTURED: Perplexing Bumble Bee, Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Eastern Honey Bee, Eastern Carpenter Bee, Western Honey Bee

Exactly what it says on the tin. Gonna tame some monkeys so I can catch back up in my classes, ace the finals, ace my scale jury, graduate, and figure out what I'm going to do with my life!

Challenge Nine! NINE! Blimey. Wanderlust is upon me as usual and it's getting warm(ish) enough(ish) that I can go do something about it! It's adventure tiiiime! Last time: - I worked out the number of calories I need to eat in order to start losing weight in practice as opposed to in theory (1400, which surprised me too). - I managed to maintain almost a challenge long workout streak (then my knee did funny things and I missed two sessions right at the end). - I poured a litre or more of water into my facehole every day - I converted my crafting pit into a tiny laboratory This time: - I miss the hobbity adventures I went on in about my third or fourth challenge. I also miss writing about them, so I'mma do that again this time; I need some endurance exercise anyway. So, GOALS: Main Goal: Hobbit about, do things that make me feel healthy, be happy. Not that specific, I know, but it's less of an overarching goal and more of a target trajectory for life. Goal 1: Stick to 1400kcal/day. - By consulting the list of my own calorie-counted recipes - By replacing dull filler foods like bread and rice and pasta (which I spend lots of unnecessary calories on) with nutritious alternatives like not-having-bread, and vegetable mash, and courgette fake-pasta. - By making sure I do proper shopping every week instead of rummaging round the corner shop for pot noodles whenever I run out of healthy food. - By drinking at least a litre of water a day (this was pretty easy last time, so I'm incorporating it into my food goal) - Bonus protein shake on training days. The ones I have are about 150kcal. +5 CON Goal 2: Keep going with strength training, 3 x a week - I realised that I should have swapped every other deadlift set for a power clean set a while ago, so current routine looks like this: - Warm up - Front Squat, 3 x 5 - OH Press or Bench Press, 3 x 5 (alternate days) - Deadlift or Power Clean, 3 x 5 (alternate days) - Cool down. - My main motivation for this is the terror I am filled with if I get to go to the April Fort William meetup and the Crossfit instructor we visited last time sees I'm not even 10kg above my start weight on the deadlift. Meep. Also, strength training is very satisfying. But mostly fear. - Need to watch form so I don't hurt my knees. I know this. - Bonus yoga once a week if I can find the time. +4 STR (or +3 STR and +1 DEX if I can do all six sessions of yoga) Goal 3: Go out, into the outside, into the place that is not inside, and remain in the place that is outside the place that is inside for a continuous period of a couple of hours every week. Hoof about in that place, and then write a short adventure story for that place that is completely different to the ones you wrote last time. EVEN IF IT IS RAINING. You have waterproofs! And scarves! And a snorkel from Poundland if it's really that bad! Places to visit: - Cramond Island - The Hermitage of Braid - Portobello beach - Figgate Park (I had no idea this even existed until recently and I can't believe it's in the city) - Somewhere in the Pentlands (which will be an adventure because I have absolutely no idea where to go) - The Water of Leith walkway (I put the Botanic Gardens here first but honestly, if I go there, I will just walk about for five minutes and then eat scones.) +2 STA, +1 CHA Life Goal: Do science to those outside places. - I want to look at what aquatic microorganisms are where. So I'll be collecting a few vials of water from each place and examining the tiny, flagellating and pootling things within. - I want to see how community compositions differ between comparable sites (I bloody love community ecology). That'll be a study for another challenge, but I can lay the groundwork for it in this one by learning about what species there are, learning how to identify them, and wistfully wishing I had a boat and some Niskin bottles instead of leaky boots and some old camera film tubs. +3 WIS Monitoring: Using HabitRPG because I want presents, and it's easier to keep track that way. Must get over a 60% completion rate to pass each goal, must pass all 3 challenge goals to win challenge. - Did you avoid bread/rice/pasta? (Habit) - Did you stick to calorie limit? (Daily) - Did you drink 1 litre of water? (Daily) - Did you lift? (Mon, Wed, Fri) - Did you go outside and stay there? (Saturday) - Did you do yoga? (Sunday) - Have you done food shopping? (Sunday) - Did you collect water samples? (Saturday) - Did you write an adventure? (Sunday) - Did you look at the water samples? (Sunday) - Weigh-ins on Sunday mornings. Maybe tape measurements, but I screw those up a lot. - Also, going to make the page for the weight-loss Accountabiddlydoodlies in a bit. Seriously, look at Figgate Park. Preeetty... Time to get cracking, then!

There was a biology student who was studying equilibrium in sea birds with a specific focus on terns. He proposed that giving measured doses of THC (from, of course, marijuana) and observing their flight patterns would give some insight to the problems of equilibrium in three dimensional space. This proposal being given in a more liberal era, the student got the funding. He filled out mountains of forms, set up a lab with a ready supply of terns, and proceeded on his way. After a year of diligent work, groveling monthly before the review committee to get his stipend, and living with drugged terns, he completed his study. With trembling hands, he delivered his 247-page report, complete with charts and graphs, to the review committee. The august body peruses his study, asking penetrating questions and reducing our student to jell-o. Finally, the department head rises. The light reflects off her steel rimmed glasses as she stares down at our student. "There is a lot of good work here," she says. "But we can't accept this report. You have detailed marvelously the effects of THC on terns but you forgot one essential step: you have no control group." Our student turns pale and says, "You don't mean..." "Yes. I'm afraid so. You left no tern unstoned."